October 4, 1887Birth
of Miriam Van Waters, University of Oregon graduate and
prison reform advocate. As superintendent of the Massachusetts
Women's Reformatory in Framingham, Dr. Van Waters pioneered
in rehabilitation of young female "delinquents," many
of whom were imprisoned for "sexual offenses," and
regarded as "morally insane."
October 5, 1904
With $1.50, Mary McLeod Bethune opened what
became Bethune-Cookman College, later founded the National Council
of Negro Women and worked with Eleanor Roosevelt to advocate
for African Americans.
October 5, 1905 "Abigail
Scott Duniway Day" honoring the famous Oregon suffragist
at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland.
October 11, 1884Birth
of Eleanor Roosevelt, First
Lady who became her husband's public representative, a voice
for women and minorities, international peace advocate, United
Nations delegate, and primary author of the 1948 UN Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
October 16, 1992 Mayan
Indian Rigoberta Menchu won the Nobel Peace Prize for human
rights work in her native Guatemala.
October 16, 1916 Labor
leader and nurse Margaret Sanger opened her first birth
control clinic in Brooklyn for which she was jailed for violating
the Comstock Act, which prohibited distribution of contraceptives.
She went on to found the American Birth Control League, which
later became Planned Parenthood.
October 21, 1824Birth
of Abigail Scott Duniway, Oregon Trail pioneer, newspaper
editor, lecturer, feminist and suffragist.
October 29, 1966
Founding of the National Organization for Women.
