Monday, October 12, 2009

Happy Birthday Eleanor Roosevelt

From the Pough Keepsie Journal:
Born 125 years ago, Eleanor Roosevelt helped usher in a host of changes for women in the workplace that continue to reverberate through our culture 45 years after her death.

Her advocacy for women's and human rights helped establish limits on the work week, a minimum wage, overtime pay and day care. As a businesswoman, lecturer, writer and as first lady, she encouraged women to enter the work force. She also was a role model for the advocates who would follow her in the 1960s through today.

There have been major changes in the workplace since Roosevelt was a girl. In 1890, women represented 20 percent of the national labor force. Today, they are the majority - about 60 percent of American workers are women, said Ann Davis, professor of economics at Marist College.


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