Arlene Horowitz
Encyclopedia
Arlene Horowitz is an American
women's activist and the author the Women's Educational Equity Act.
payments, she was able to earn a bachelor's degree in political science from Hunter College in 1967. [She went on to earn a master's degree from Rutgers University in 1993.]
In 1968 she moved to Washington, D.C.
and worked in a series of low-level jobs on Capitol Hill, including staff assistant to an education subcommittee in the House of Representatives.
Frustrated by lack of job advancement and the overt acceptance of discrimination against women, she helped organize other women on Capitol Hill and helped to launch the first survey comparing employment practices and salary differentials between male and female employees. Asked to become an original member of the Legislative Core of the then-fledgling National Women's Political Caucus
, she gave a workshop on legislative process at the NWPC's initial organizing conference in Wichita, Kansas
in 1973.
In Backlash Susan Faludi
explains, "[t]he woman who first proposed WEEA wasn't even one of those 'radical feminists' from NOW
; Arlene Horowitz was a clerical worker in a congressional office, a working woman who understood from personal experience —trying to live off her skimpy paycheck— that unequal schooling could have painful and long-term consequences."
Horowitz was threatened by dismissal for her activism in the women's movement. Using a $70 portable typewriter and her legislative knowledge gained in Congress, she worked nights and weekends to draft what was to become the Women's Educational Equity Act.
She authored the Women's Educational Equity Act
(WEEA) enacted as part of P.L. 93-380. She was cited in the July 30, 1974 Congressional Record by Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink for "diligent and able work." and listed on the National Women's History Project Path of the Women's Rights Movement for 1974. First documented in National Politics and Sex Discrimination in Education by Andrew Fishel and Janice Pottker in 1977, the WEEA has been funded by Congress to the present-day.
It is not clear if Arlene Horowitz is still alive.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
women's activist and the author the Women's Educational Equity Act.
Biography
Horowitz was born to Jewish immigrant, working-class parents in The Bronx, New York. She was orphaned in 1962 at the age of 15. Believing that the only hope she might have for a decent life was education, thanks to the lucky combination of a free higher education offered to academically-qualified New York City residents and her father's Social SecuritySocial Security (United States)
In the United States, Social Security refers to the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program.The original Social Security Act and the current version of the Act, as amended encompass several social welfare and social insurance programs...
payments, she was able to earn a bachelor's degree in political science from Hunter College in 1967. [She went on to earn a master's degree from Rutgers University in 1993.]
In 1968 she moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and worked in a series of low-level jobs on Capitol Hill, including staff assistant to an education subcommittee in the House of Representatives.
Frustrated by lack of job advancement and the overt acceptance of discrimination against women, she helped organize other women on Capitol Hill and helped to launch the first survey comparing employment practices and salary differentials between male and female employees. Asked to become an original member of the Legislative Core of the then-fledgling National Women's Political Caucus
National Women's Political Caucus
The National Women's Political Caucus is a national bipartisan grassroots organization in the United States dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting women who seek elected and appointed offices....
, she gave a workshop on legislative process at the NWPC's initial organizing conference in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas
Wichita is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas.As of the 2010 census, the city population was 382,368. Located in south-central Kansas on the Arkansas River, Wichita is the county seat of Sedgwick County and the principal city of the Wichita metropolitan area...
in 1973.
In Backlash Susan Faludi
Susan Faludi
Susan C. Faludi is an American feminist, journalist and author. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism in 1991, for a report on the leveraged buyout of Safeway Stores, Inc., a report that the Pulitzer Prize committee thought showed the "human costs of high finance".-Biographical...
explains, "[t]he woman who first proposed WEEA wasn't even one of those 'radical feminists' from NOW
National Organization for Women
The National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
; Arlene Horowitz was a clerical worker in a congressional office, a working woman who understood from personal experience —trying to live off her skimpy paycheck— that unequal schooling could have painful and long-term consequences."
Horowitz was threatened by dismissal for her activism in the women's movement. Using a $70 portable typewriter and her legislative knowledge gained in Congress, she worked nights and weekends to draft what was to become the Women's Educational Equity Act.
She authored the Women's Educational Equity Act
Women's Educational Equity Act
The Women's Educational Equity Act of 1974 is one of the several landmark laws passed by the United States Congress outlining federal protections against the gender discrimination of women in education. WEAA was enacted as part of P.L. 93-380...
(WEEA) enacted as part of P.L. 93-380. She was cited in the July 30, 1974 Congressional Record by Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink for "diligent and able work." and listed on the National Women's History Project Path of the Women's Rights Movement for 1974. First documented in National Politics and Sex Discrimination in Education by Andrew Fishel and Janice Pottker in 1977, the WEEA has been funded by Congress to the present-day.
It is not clear if Arlene Horowitz is still alive.