[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 16741]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF 100 YEARS OF ACTIVISM BY THE WOMEN'S CITY CLUB OF NEW YORK

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 8, 2016

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay 
tribute to the Women's City Club of New York (WCCNY) in recognition of 
a century of activism. Committed to giving women a voice, WCCNY has 
been a leading advocate for women's rights and equality.
  In 1915, women in New York still could not vote, but they took their 
citizenship very seriously. After realizing that they would soon gain 
the ballot, 100 suffragettes gathered in New York City to found WCCNY 
as a place where they could learn about issues and influence public 
policy. These women wasted no time in tackling the complex problems of 
their day, such as the abuse of women in sweatshops, intolerable 
tenement living conditions, and the lack of opportunities for many 
people in our society.
  Many celebrated women joined the organization. Eleanor Roosevelt 
became a member when she was first lady of New York State and served as 
WCCNY's legislative director. Frances Perkins, a NYC labor leader who 
later became the first female cabinet member in the history of the 
United States when she was appointed as Franklin D. Roosevelt's 
Secretary of Labor. As Secretary of Labor, she helped create Social 
Security, which kept millions of seniors and disabled people out of 
poverty. Other notable and highly respected members included Alice Duer 
Miller, WCCNY's first president; Ida Tarbell, legendary muckraking 
journalist; Virginia Gildersleeve, a WWII WAVES commander and Dean of 
Barnard College; Dorothy Schiff, president and publisher of the New 
York Post; celebrated actress Helen Hayes; and nurse-midwife Ruth 
Watson Lubic, who was the founder of the National Association of 
Childbearing Centers and winner of a 1993 MacArthur ``Genius Grant.''
  Since its inception in 1915, WCCNY has accomplished astounding feats 
for women in New York City and set a precedent for future generations 
of women's rights activists. In the early days, suffragettes took on 
many issues including a campaign to allow physicians to legally 
dispense birth control information in 1917, opening the nation's first 
free maternity center in 1918, and ensuring the passage of WCCNY's 
draft of New York State's first child labor laws in the 1940s. More 
recently, the organization has created videos that promote HIV/AIDS 
awareness among youth, worked to improve campaign finance reform laws, 
advocated for national health care reform, and had a major role in the 
NYC Charter Revision.
  Continuing to make a difference in New Yorkers' lives is at the heart 
of WCCNY's work. To ensure that government fairly and effectively 
serves all of the city's residents, WCCNY undertakes a rigorous process 
of identifying and analyzing major issues facing the city and state. 
Having reached its centennial year, citizen participation remains the 
organization's primary focus, along with the continuation of its game-
changing advocacy on issues that most impact New Yorkers.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the Women's 
City Club of New York for a century of civic achievements and in 
celebrating its current and past members for their perseverance and 
advocacy in the fight to end injustice and ensure equality for women.

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