THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS AT THE JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM
3 Elementary
and Middle
School Lesson
6 High School
Lesson
10 Kennedy
Library Forums
Highlights
11 19th Amendment
Centennial
Conference
HIGHLIGHTS
continued on page 2
A Growing Women’s Movement and
the Equal Pay Act of 1963
I
n 1960, forty years after
women gained the right
to vote, many barriers
continued to limit their rights
in the workplace and in
society as a whole. Although
they made up 1/3 of the
workforce, women were
often barred from higher
positions and, on average,
paid only 60% as much
as men. In response to
this inequality and
discrimination, an
ever-growing women’s
movement continued
to advocate for greater opportunities and rights for women.
During the 1960 presidential campaign, Senator John F. Kennedy and his party
expressed support for women’s equality. Many women, especially those in the
Democratic Party and labor unions, backed his candidacy and helped to elect him
president. Under the new administration, some women’s groups were disappointed
to see how few women were named to leadership positions. Women held less than
3% of appointed positions and, for the first time since Herbert Hoover, no women
were included in the cabinet. One of the women President Kennedy named to a
leadership position was former lobbyist and labor activist Esther Peterson. As head
of the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor, Peterson, with extensive
expertise in women’s issues, was afforded a larger role than was typical for the
position – a policymaking role.
At her urging, President Kennedy created the Commission on the Status of Women
by Executive Order 10980 in late 1961. He appointed Eleanor Roosevelt its chair
and Peterson executive vice chair. The bi-partisan Commission was charged with
advising the president on women’s rights and labor issues including evaluating and
President Kennedy meets with the President’s Commission on the
Status of Women on February 12, 1962. The Commission’s chair
Eleanor Roosovelt is on the left and Esther Peterson, the vice chair
is on the right of the president. Washington, DC.
ISSUE 28 H SUMMER 2020
ABBIE ROWE. JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.
Learn from Home with
the Kennedy Library!
The Department of Education
and Public Programs has a
wide range of resources for
at-home learning.
A new “Hands-on History” webpage
brings popular activities from the
Library’s public programs, such as the
annual Presidents’ Day Family Festival,
to students and families at home.
There are history-based crafts for all
ages that can be made with materials
found around the house. Organized
by theme, each activity provides
instructions and templates in a
downloadable format. They promote
creativity and critical thinking, and
can be used in conjunction with a
lesson plan or as stand-alone lessons
for classroom discussion. Visit
jfklibrary.org/learn/education/
families/hands-on-history.
Visit jfklibrary.org/teachers to explore:
• Curricular Resources with classroom-
ready lesson plans for grades 3-12
• Past issues of New Frontiers:
A Newsletter for Educators
• Video and transcripts of past
Kennedy Library Forums
During the COVID-19 health crisis,
Teaching and Learning Tuesdays,
a weekly digital resource guide
provides easy-to-use materials on
a variety of topics for elementary,
middle, and high school grades.
Visit jfklibrary.org/learn/education/
teachers/jfk-librarys-teaching-and-
learning-tuesdays. To sign up for
these emails, contact educationjfk@
nara.gov.
H
★
2 New Frontiers
A Growing Women’s Movement and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, continued
making recommendations for the improvement of the legal,
social, civic, and economic status of American women. At
the same time, the president directed several federal
departments and agencies to work closely with the
Commission and to provide it with any information it
needed. The creation of the Commission called attention
at the very highest level of government to the problem of
inequality and discrimination against women that needed
to be redressed.
At its first meeting in February 1962, one of the issues the
Commission discussed was the legislative initiative on equal
pay. The initiative was not new. In 1870, Congress had
passed an amendment to an appropriations bill that had
required that female clerks hired by the government receive
pay equal to their male counterparts. In order to pass the
legislation, the language was weakened and, consequently,
limited the law’s effectiveness. In 1945, a comprehensive
Women’s Pay Act was introduced to Congress, but failed
to pass as had other similar proposals in the subsequent
seventeen years. The Commission endorsed the renewed
effort and Roosevelt reported to the press that unequal
wages for comparable work were “contrary to the concept
of equality and justice in which we believe.” In July 1962,
in response to the Commission, Kennedy also directed
federal executive department and agency heads to open
more federal jobs and promotions to women.
With Peterson’s leadership, the Women’s Bureau organized
the legislative effort. She and her staff collected data on pay
discrimination, built coalitions and garnered support from
opponents to the initiative. Many segments of the business
community, including the US Chamber of Commerce,
opposed the legislation on the grounds that women were
more expensive to employ. Consequently, it was an uphill
battle. In March of 1962, hearings were held with
representatives from various labor unions, The National
Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs,
the American Association of University of Women and the
National Councils of Jewish, Catholic, and Negro Women
testifying. Eleanor Roosevelt and actress Bette Davis
presented testimony as well.
Of major concern to opponents of the draft legislation
was the requirement of equal pay for “comparable work.”
They argued that comparability would be challenging, if not
impossible to determine; while advocates expressed concern
that “equal” would be interpreted as the same or identical
with small differences being the justification for unequal
wages. A compromise was reached calling for “equal pay
for equal work.” This less controversial language meant
there would be gender-based pay equity for “jobs requiring
equal skill, effort, and responsibility, which are performed
under similar working conditions.” Congress passed the
legislation as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards
Act which had established procedures for investigating
violations of standards and well-defined penalties, a strategy
the business community favored.
On June 10, 1963, President Kennedy signed the bill into
law. In his remarks, he noted that the act, “represents many
years of effort… to call attention to the unconscionable
practice of paying female employees less wages than male
employees for the same job. This measure adds to our laws
another structure basic to democracy…. While much
remains to be done to achieve full equality of economic
opportunity – for the average woman worker earns only
60 percent of the average wage for men – this legislation
is a significant first step forward.”
Historians consider these three initiatives of the Kennedy
administration – the creation of the President’s Commission
on the Status of Women, the order prohibiting
discrimination on the basis of sex in hiring federal
employees, and the signing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 –
to have been significant, and in the opinion of some, the
most significant since the early twentieth century in
furthering the rights of women. The Equal Pay Act marked
the first time the federal government entered the arena of
safeguarding the right of women to hold employment on the
same basis as men.
Today, women earn approximately 82% of the income for
men and represent roughly 50% of the workforce in the
US. Whose voices are being heard today on this issue? And
whose voices will be heard in the future? Two lesson plans
on the Equal Pay Act of 1963 for elementary and secondary
school audiences respectively are featured in this edition and
provide correlations to the issue today.
H
Moving the Needle
on Women’s Rights
TIME LINE
1776: On March 31, Abigail Adams urges John Adams and
the Continental Congress, in framing the laws of a new
government, to “… remember the Ladies and be more
generous and favorable to them than your ancestors.”
New Frontiers 3
I
n this lesson, elementary students conduct historical
research on individual and collective efforts to achieve
gender equality in the United States. First, students
investigate the fight for voting rights for women by listening to
and discussing Elizabeth Started All the Trouble, a nonfiction
picture book by Doreen Rappaport. Then, they analyze an
historical photograph from the Kennedy Presidential Library
and Museum archives to learn about the Equal Pay Act of
1963 and the actions Esther Peterson, the highest-ranking
woman in the Kennedy Administration, took to achieve its
passage. Lastly, an assessment brings a civic engagement
component to the lesson as students research the gender
pay gap today, and take action to address that issue.
Historical Background
In 1960, although women made up more than one third of
the labor force, they earned only about 60 cents for every
dollar earned by men. Although legislation to advance equal
pay had been attempted in 1870, and from 1945 through
1963, a new effort during the Kennedy Administration would
result in another step forward towards gender equality.
President Kennedy appointed Esther Peterson, a former labor
organizer and lobbyist, as Director of the Women’s Bureau in
the Department of Labor and later as the Assistant Secretary
of Labor Standards. At her urging, Kennedy created the
Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and
supported her work in organizing the passage of the equal
pay legislation. Her leadership in collecting data and bringing
together key lawmakers, community and religious leaders,
and labor activists was essential in the effort.
When President Kennedy signed the historic legislation on
June 10, 1963, he remarked that it was a “significant step
forward,” but acknowledged that “much remains to be done
to achieve full equality of economic opportunity…” Historians
consider the passage of the Equal Pay Act to have been one
of the most significant initiatives since the early twentieth
century in furthering the rights of women.
Today, women continue to earn less on average than men.
According to 2018 data reported by the National Women’s
Law Center, women were paid 82% of the income for men.
Essential Question
How have women worked to fight for equal rights?
Goal
Using children’s literature and primary source material,
students will learn about women who fought for equal
rights and the strategies they used and continue to use
to achieve change.
Objectives
Students will:
• Analyze a work of non-fiction to learn about three
barriers women faced in history and three ways women
worked to achieve equal rights.
• Analyze a photograph with Esther Peterson, Assistant
Secretary of Labor in the Kennedy Administration and
learn about her essential role in the passage of the Equal
Pay Act of 1963.
•
Research the current gender wage gap and take an action
to
address the issue.
Materials
• Elizabeth Started All the Trouble by Doreen Rappaport
• Photograph AR7965-G of the signing of the Equal Pay
Act on June 10, 1963 from the collections of the John F.
Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
Note: You can retrieve photo by typing AR7965-G in the
SEARCH function at jfklibrary.org or visit jfklibrary.org/
asset-viewer/archives/JFKWHP/1963/Month%2006/
Day%2010/JFKWHP-1963-06-10-B?image_
identifier=JFKWHP-AR7965-G.
• List of True/False statements about the status of women
in 1960
LESSON PLAN
H
Elementary and Middle School
Fighting for Equality: Esther Peterson Leads the Way on Equal Pay
continued on page 4
1848: On July 19-20, the first Women’s Rights Convention,
organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Jane Hunt, Lucretia
Mott, Mary Anne McClintock, and Martha C. Wright, takes
place in Seneca Falls, New York.
1850: The first National Women’s Rights Convention takes
place in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 23-24. Annual
conventions are held for the next ten years – with the
exception of 1857.
★
4 New Frontiers4 New Frontiers
Procedure
1. Read and discuss Elizabeth Started All the Trouble by
Doreen Rappaport. Have students indicate barriers faced
by women or unequal treatment as the story is read.
List students’ suggestions.
2.
Reflect on the story. Who were some of the women
who
led the movement for equal rights? What did
they do to achieve change? What were some of their
greatest achievements? How did the suffragists move
President Wilson to support the 19th amendment to the
Constitution which would give women the right to vote?
3. Focus on the last two pages of the book and the text, “The
women had triumphed after battling for the vote for seven-
ty-two years. But they knew their work was not over. There
were still many unfair laws to change so that women could
have true equality with men.”
“And we’re still working on it.”
4.
Introduce the
topic of equal rights for women 40 years after
the passage of the 19th amendment by having
students respond to True/False statements about women
in 1960, including one on equal pay.
Suggested statements for the True/False activity.
In 1960:
a. White women age 21 and older had the right to vote.
(True – the 19th amendment to the Constitution
was ratified in 1920 but women of color were
often prevented from voting by poll taxes, literacy
requirements and physical threats.)
b. A woman could lose her job for being pregnant.
(True – The Pregnancy Discrimination Act was not
passed until 1978.)
c. Airlines could fire women flight attendants who gained
weight. (True – it was not until the late 1960s that laws
were passed to prevent this type of discrimination.)
d.
John F. Kennedy asked a woman to be Secretary of
State.
(False – Kennedy did not appoint any women to
top level positions but there were many women who
worked in the White House and in other departments.)
e. In the early 1960’s, women were paid the same as men
for the same work. (False – Women earned about 59
cents for every dollar men earned in the early 1960s.)
5. Transition to discussion of Equal Pay Act. Project the
photograph AR7965-G and explain to students that it
was taken on June 10, 1963 after President Kennedy
signed the Equal Pay Act, a law which made it illegal
to pay women less money than men for the same job.
jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/ JFKWHP/1963/
Month%2006/Day%2010/JFKWHP- 1963-06-10-B?
image_identifier=JFKWHP-AR7965-G (or use AR7965-G
in search function at jfklibrary.org).
a. Ask students, “What is going on here?” As students
provide observations and interpretations, ask “What
do you see that makes you say that?” Keep prompting
students with, “What more can you find?”
b.
If students do not notice the pens in the photograph,
draw
attention to them and ask what they might be
and why they are in the photo.
LESSON PLAN
H
Elementary and Middle School
Fighting for Equality: Esther Peterson Leads the Way on Equal Pay
continued from page 3
TIME LINE
1851: In May, Sojourner Truth gives a
speech advocating for the voting rights
of all people, regardless of race or gender,
that galvanizes listeners in Akron, Ohio.
President Kennedy signs the Equal Pay Act in the White House, Washington,
DC. AR7965-G
1865-1870: The ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865 ends slavery. In 1868, the
ratification of the 14th amendment grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized
in the United States”, and declares that all male citizens over twenty-one years old
should be able to vote. While in 1870, the ratification of the 15th Amendment affirms
that the right to vote “shall not be denied...on account of race.”
ABBIE ROWE. JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.
★
New Frontiers 5 New Frontiers 5
c. Notes on people, places and things:
• Ceremonial pens on President Kennedy’s desk –
directly to his left, there is a stand with several
pens in it. It is common for a president to hold
a ceremonial signing when they sign a bill into
law. People who have been instrumental to the
passage of the law are invited to the signing. The
president often uses several pens to sign their
name and then distributes them to those present.
•
Esther Peterson (directly behind President Kennedy)
served
as Director of the Women’s Bureau in the US
Department of Labor and Assistant Secretary of Labor
for Labor Standards. It was at Peterson’s urging that
Kennedy established a Commission on the Status of
Women which was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt.
Peterson led the effort to pass the Equal Pay Act. She
worked with women’s organizations, labor unions,
legislators, and citizens – some of whom are pictured
in the photo – to gather information and support.
For a full listing of who is in the photograph, visit
jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/ JFKWHP/1963/
Month%2006/Day%2010/JFKWHP- 1963-06-10-B?
image_identifier=JFKWHP-AR7965-G.
• President Kennedy is handing a pen to Dorothy
Height President of the National Council of Negro
Women from 1957 – 1997. She was one of the
most important leaders in the civil rights movement
and helped plan the March on Washington for Jobs
and Freedom with Martin Luther King Jr. and other
civil rights leaders. She served on the President’s
Commission on the Status of Women.
•
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was the first law in
which the federal government addressed pay equity
for women.
6. President Kennedy supported the initiative and signed the
bill into law. The women and men pictured with him,
along with many others, conducted research, gave speeches,
held meetings, and even protested in their efforts to secure
the passage of the Equal Pay Act.
Assessment
Students research equal pay today. Using the evidence they
gather, they plan an action to promote the cause of equal
pay. This could include writing a letter to a federal legislator,
giving a speech, creating a pamphlet, or writing an editorial
to send to a local paper.
Recommended website:
• Association of American University Women:
Infographics, graphs, and charts with specific information
on women of different ethnicities, pay gaps in specific job
areas, and an interactive map of the US with information
on each state. https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-
truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
•
Fact Sheet on the wage gap from the National Women’s
Law
Center: https://nwlc-ciw49tixgw5lbab.stackpathdns.
com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/The-Wage-Gap-Who-
How-Why-and-What-to-Do-2019.pdf
• National Committee on Pay Equity: Information on Equal
Pay Day (held on the day that “symbolizes how far into the
year women must work to earn what men earned in the
previous year.” (Equal Pay Day was March 31, 2020.)
Includes an “Equal Pay Day Kit”, descriptions of activities
on past Equal Pay Days, and a list of actions individuals
and organizations can take to work towards equal pay.
https://www.pay-equity.org/day.html
H
1868: The Equal Rights Association
is established by Susan B. Anthony
and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
1869: The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) is established and
delegates from across 19 states appoint Elizabeth Cady Stanton as president.
The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) is founded by Henry Blackwell,
Lucy Stone, and Mary Livermore.
6 New Frontiers
★
A
lthough women represent nearly half of the labor
force, according to 2018 data reported by the
National Women’s Law Center, they were paid
82% of the income for men.
For more than a century, various organizations have
attempted to achieve pay equity for women and men.
In 1870, Congress passed an amendment to an
appropriations bill that would give equal pay to female
clerks hired by the federal government. In order to pass
the bill, however, the original language was weakened,
limiting the law’s effectiveness. In 1945, a comprehensive
Women’s Equal Pay Act, was introduced to Congress, but it
failed to pass. For the next 17 years, many similar proposals
were sent to Congress without success.
In the early 1960s, although women made up one third
of the labor force, they were paid 60% as much as men.
Women also tended to be employed in low wage jobs that
were considered appropriate for their sex.
At the urging of Esther Peterson, Director of the US
Women’s Bureau, President Kennedy created the President’s
Commission on the Status of Women in 1961 to evaluate
and make recommendations to improve the legal, social,
civic, and economic
status of
American
women.
The panel,
chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt until her death in 1962 and
administered by Peterson, provided greater visibility of the
difficult issues facing women. President Kennedy hoped that
the Commission would “indicate what remains to be done
to demolish prejudices and outmoded customs which act
as barriers to the full
partnership
of
women
in our
democracy.” (https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/
archives/JFKPOF/093/JFKPOF-093-004)
On July 24, 1962, President Kennedy ordered the Heads of
Executive Departments and Agencies not to discriminate
by sex in appointing or promoting employees of the federal
government, a power that Attorney General Kennedy
advised the president he could exercise under existing law.
(https://www.jfklibrary.org/sites/default/files/archives/
USPCSW/001/USPCSW-001-010/USPCSW-
001-010-p0047.jpg)
In addition, through the efforts of Assistant Secretary
Peterson, who had been appointed Assistant Secretary
of Labor, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed by
Congress and President Kennedy signed it into law on
June 10, 1963. On signing the law, the President said,
“It is a first step. It affirms our determination that when
women enter the labor force they will find equality in their
pay envelopes.” (https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/
archives/JFKPOF/045/JFKPOF-045-001)
Historians consider these three initiatives on behalf
of women’s rights of significant importance.
I
n this lesson plan, students discuss the issue of
gender pay equity and examine the Equal Pay Act
of 1963 for its strengths and weaknesses.
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
• discuss the issue of gender pay equity in the past and today.
• evaluate the Equal Pay Act of 1963 for its strengths
and weaknesses.
•
analyze the significance of the signatures, stamps, and
markings
on an official document.
Materials:
All materials available with the complete lesson plan at
jfklibrary.org/learn/education/teachers/curricular-resources/
high-school-curricular-resources/examining-the-equal-pay-act-
of-1963
•
Brief Reading: “The Historical Context of the Equal Pay
Act
of 1963”
• The signed Equal Pay Act of 1963: https://catalog.archives.
gov/id/299880
•
Handout: “An Examination of the Equal Pay Act of 1963”
LESSON PLAN
H
High School
Examining the Equal Pay Act of 1963
TIME LINE
1878: The amendment for Woman Suffrage
is introduced in Congress.
1890: The NWSA and AWSA combine and form the National
American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) with a new
focus on changing the laws within the states.
New Frontiers 7
Procedure
1. For homework, ask students to read “The Historical
Context of the Equal Pay Act of 1963” and visit the
National Women’s Law Center website to find the most
currently available data on the pay gap between men and
women: https://nwlc.org/issue/measuring-the-wage-gap/.
Ask them to compare the current information with the
pay gap in the early 1960s.
2. In class the next day, as an icebreaker, ask students if they
have heard about the issue of equal pay for women and
advocacy for equal job opportunities.
Students may want to discuss the 2019 US women’s
soccer team demanding pay equity with male players or
even whether or not a woman could be elected president.
3. Provide students with a copy of the signed Equal Pay Act
of 1963.
4.
Organize students into small groups and provide them
with
the handout “An Examination of the Equal Pay Act”
that asks the following questions:
a.
What is the law meant to do?
“To
prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the
payment of wages by employers engaged in commerce
or in the production of goods for commerce.”
b. Why was it necessary? (Provide at least 3 reasons)
The existence of wage differentials based on sex in
industries engaged in commerce: “depresses wages and
living standards for employees necessary for their health
and efficiency; prevents the maximum utilization of the
available labor resources; tends to cause labor disputes,
thereby burdening, affecting, and obstructing commerce;
burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce;
and constitutes an unfair method of competition.”
c. What are the provisions noted in Sec. 3 as additional
subsection (d)(1) to Section 6 of the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938? What exceptions were made?
The law says employees, regardless of sex, must
be paid equal pay “for equal work on jobs the
performances of which requires equal skill, effort,
and responsibility and which are performed under
similar working conditions.”
Exceptions: when unequal payment is made because of
“(i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system
which measures earnings by quantity or quality of
production; or (iv) a differential based on any other
factor other than sex.”
d. Based on these provisions and exceptions, do you
see any “loopholes” that might affect its impact?
Answers might include:
1.
How do you define “equal”? Jobs that may be
comparable,
but not exactly the same, are not
covered by this law. What if an employer merely
changes a job title to make one job look superior to
another? (Esther Peterson, who was the driving force
behind the law, wanted the word “comparable” in
the law, not “equal.”)
2.
Exception for seniority: Women may have to take
time
off for childbearing and childcare which might
impact their seniority.
3.
Exception for a merit system: Women may not be
included
in professional development opportunities
that provide more “merit” for jobs of equal pay
with men.
4. Number (iv) is so vague that it may include reasons
such as personality. This provision could provide a
large loophole for paying women less.
e. Which elected officials signed the document? Why were
all signatures needed?
Signers: Speaker of the House, John McCormack and
President of the Senate, Vice President Lyndon Johnson;
President John F. Kennedy. For a bill to become a law,
it must be passed by both Houses of Congress and
signed by the president.
1913: Organized by the National American Woman Suffrage
Association, and strategically planned for the day before
the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson, the Woman
Suffrage Parade takes place on March 3 in Washington, DC.
1916: The National Women’s
Party is established by
Alice Paul and Lucy Burns.
1917: The National Women’s
Party pickets for women’s
suffrage in front of the
White House.
continued on page 8
★
8 New Frontiers
f. When was the document received
by the White House? When was
it signed by the president? Where
did the document go after it was
signed? Why?
Received by the White House
on May 29, 1963, signed June
10, 1963 at noon (President
Kennedy wrote: “Approved June
10th 1963, The White House,
Washington District of Columbia.
United States of America. John
Fitzgerald Kennedy. 12:00 P.M.
U.S.A. J.F.K.” The last word
on the page is illegible.) It was
transmitted to and received by the
General Services Administration
– NARS office of the Federal
Register – on June 10, 1963 at
3:30 pm where it would be given
a public law number and prepared
for publication. The document was
made official by the signatures
and by receiving a number from
the National Archives and Records
Service (which became a separate
entity in 1985 known as the
National Archives and Records
Administration) – Public Law
88-38 – noted at the top of
the page.
Assessment
Have students write a 1- to 2-page essay
answering the following prompts:
•
What were some of the barriers facing
women
workers in the early 1960s?
• How did the Equal Pay Act of 1963
address these issues?
•
What were some strengths and
weaknesses
of the law?
LESSON PLAN
H
High School
Examining the Equal Pay Act of 1963
continued from page 7
TIME LINE
1919: The women’s suffrage amendment, first introduced
in 1878, passes the House of Representatives (with 304 yeas
and 89 nays) and the Senate (with 56 yeas and 25 nays).
The 19th Amendment is sent to states for ratification.
August 26, 1920: The 19th Amendment is ratified making it
law that “the right of the citizens of the United State to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of sex.”
Press copy of President John F. Kennedy’s remarks upon signing the Equal Pay Act of 1963,
June 10, 1963, page 1.
JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.
★
New Frontiers 9
Extensions
• Have students research the laws that
were passed after 1963 until today to
minimize the gender wage gap. Have
them consider why a gender pay gap
still exists.
• In his remarks on signing the Equal
Pay Act of 1963, President Kennedy
provided data about women in the
labor force and mentioned the dearth
of licensed day care centers for children.
Have students research current issues
related to child care for working parents
in either their state or the nation.
Additional Resources
• Video: What Did the Equal Pay Act
Do? From the History Channel, this
brief video discusses the history of the
Equal Pay Act and subsequent laws
that have helped narrow the gender
pay gap. https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=MR41T36LhMA
• Esther Peterson Oral History #2
from the Kennedy Library. This oral
history, taken January 20, 1970,
includes Peterson’s discussion of the
Equal Pay Act of 1963 (p. 45-54).
https://www.jfklibrary.org/sites/
default/files/archives/JFKOH/
Peterson%2C%20Esther%20E/JFK
OH-EEP-03/JFKOH-EEP-03- TR.pdf
• The Narrowing, But Persistent,
Gender Gap in Pay. This Pew
Research Center report from
March 2019 analyzes 2018 data that
illustrate the gender pay gap. https://
www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/
019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/
H
1923: The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), written by Alice
Paul, is introduced into Congress and every session until 1970.
1961: At the request of Esther Peterson, Director of the United
States Women’s Bureau, President John F. Kennedy establishes
the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and
appoints Eleanor Roosevelt as the chair.
Press copy of President John F. Kennedy’s remarks upon signing the Equal Pay Act of 1963,
June 10, 1963, page 2.
JOHN F. KENNEDY PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM.
★
10 New Frontiers
TIME LINE
1963: President Kennedy signs the Equal Pay Act of
1963 into law on June 10, 1963, amending the Fair
Labor Standards Act with the goal of ending the
wage gap that exists between women and men.
1971: The ERA is approved
without amendments by the
US House of Representatives
(354 yeas and 24 nays).
1972: On March 22, the ERA
is approved by the full Senate
(with 84 yeas and 8 nays).
Highlights from the Kennedy Library Forums
K
ennedy Library Forums are a series of public affairs programs offered by the John F. Kennedy Presidential
Library and Museum to foster public discussion on a diverse range of historical, political and cultural topics
reflecting the legacy of President and Mrs. Kennedy’s White House years. Videos of past Kennedy Library
Forums are available for class viewing at jfklibrary.org/forums.
Listed below are a variety of Forums highlighting both the strides made and the remaining challenges in the fight for
women’s full participation in our society – from science and technology to politics and the arts. Videos may be sorted by
year or by selecting “Women” in the subject menu including:
October 14, 2013
In 1961, President Kennedy established the President’s Commission on the
Status of Women. Chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt until her death in 1962, the
Commission published its report in 1963.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and the Radcliffe
Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University partnered to host a two-day,
dual-site conference to mark this important historical milestone and to reflect on
the status of American women 50 years later.
Allida Black,
Eleanor Clift, Sue Cobble, Jill Ker Conway, Ellen
Fitzpatrick,
Sandra Fluke, Aileen
Hernandez,
Anita
Hill
, Tracy Roosevelt, and Hilda Solis spoke at “The 50th Anniversary of the Presidential Report on American Women,”
an afternoon conference and discussion.
March 24, 2016
Historian Ellen Fitzpatrick discussed her book, The Highest Glass Ceiling:
Women’s Quest for the
American
Presidency,
about
the campaigns of Victoria
Woodhull (1872), Margaret Chase Smith (1964), and Shirley Chisholm (1972),
and how their journeys illuminate today’s political landscape. WGBH radio host
and television commentator Callie Crossley moderated. Former New Frontier
Network Steering Committee Member
Yasmin
Cruz
introduced
the forum.
August 28, 2017
Misty Copeland, a Principal
Dancer with the American
Ballet Theatre, discussed
her distinguished career with
Meghna Chakrabarti, host
and editor of On Point from
NPR and WBUR.
July 20, 2019
NASA Engineer Su Curley,
who works on crew survival
spacesuits and hardware for
the Orion Program, including
the journey to Mars, discussed
current spacesuit technology,
and showed visitors how suits
are used for spacewalking.
★
New Frontiers 11
1982: The ERA is stopped three states short of ratification in
June, and is officially reintroduced in the US Congress in July,
and for sessions from 1985-1992, but is held in committee.
2020: Virginia’s General Assembly passes a ratification resolution
for the ERA by the state’s House of Delegates (with 59 yeas and
41 nays) and in the state Senate (with 28 yeas and 12 nays),
becoming the 38th state to ratify the ERA.
Kennedy Library Forums are webcast live and recorded
whenever
possible.
Written
transcripts of
most recorded
events are also available. Visit jfklibrary.org/Forums or
visit our YouTube channel
to
view past Forums.
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November 5, 2019
Congresswoman
Barbara Lee
discussed
her
distinguished career and
contemporary civil rights
issues. Kenneth Mack,
professor of law and history
at Harvard University,
moderated.
December 3, 2019
Stacey Abrams, New York
Times
bestselling
author,
nonprofit CEO, former
Georgia House Democratic
Leader and 2018 Democratic
nominee for Governor of
Georgia, discussed her
distinguished career and
continuing work on voting rights and social issues with
Jonathan Capehart, opinion writer for The Washington Post.
Kennedy Library Forums are made possible with generous support from:
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SAVE THE DATE!
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Expanding Democracy: The 19th Amendment and Voting Rights Today
A Kennedy Library Conference on October 27th and 28th
T
his year marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. To commemorate this landmark
anniversary, the Library will present
Expanding
Democracy: The 19th Amendment and Voting Rights Today –
a conference exploring the history of the suffrage movement and how efforts to broaden voting rights have evolved
over time. The conference begins on the evening of October 27th with a special Kennedy Library Forum on the role of
women in elected office. Panels featuring notable historians, authors, and leaders examining the origins and development
of suffrage and contemporary voting rights issues will follow on October 28th.
Featured speakers will include:
• TIME’s Molly Ball, author of the forthcoming book, Pelosi
• Susan Page, USA Today’s Washington Bureau Chief and author
of Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Arc of Power
• Ellen DuBois, UCLA professor emeritus of history
• Rachael Cobb, Suffolk University professor of government
• Martha S. Jones, Johns Hopkins professor of history
• Erin O’Brien, University of Massachusetts Boston professor
of political science
• Manisha Sinha, University of Connecticut professor of history
• Theda Skocpol, Harvard University professor of government
and sociology
• Marjorie Spruill, University of South Carolina professor
emerita of history
• Lisa Tetrault, Carnegie Mellon professor of history
• Brenda Wineapple, author
Join us for this milestone anniversary event! Teachers and
students are encouraged to attend. Email [email protected]
to receive a special educator invitation prior to the opening
of registration. H
Columbia Point
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
T JFK/UMass
617.514.1600
www.jfklibrary.org
The Kennedy Library
Department of Education and
Public Programs offers free
Museum passes to teachers
considering a field trip to the
Library. Please call 617.514.1600.
Museum Hours
Daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed Thanksgiving,
Christmas, and New Year’s Day
PRSRT FIRST CLASS MAIL
US POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO 157
BOSTON MA
Additional support for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum’s history and civic education programs is provided by
Kenneth R. Feinberg & Camille S. Biros, of The Law Offices of Kenneth R. Feinberg, PC and:
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t is never too early to register
your students to participate in
the 2020 election!
This voter education program actively
engages K-12 students in state and
national campaigns. The program
emphasizes the importance of voting
and the power of their ballots. Register
your school to participate and receive
curriculum packets featuring candidates’
biographies, their positions on the issues,
and classroom activities. Visit
jfklibrary.org/MockElection
for more information.
The Kennedy Library will once
again serve as state coordinator.
Massachusetts educators may register
by emailing [email protected].
Educators outside of Massachusetts
may sign up at www.2020nsme.com.
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“I wish that all qualified Americans permitted to vote were willing to vote... [for the
right to vote is] the most precious and powerful right in the world.”
– President John F. Kennedy
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2020 National Student/Parent Mock Election
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