Veteran Feminists of America
CHARLOTTE KLEIN The National Women's Hall of Fame at Seneca Falls, New York, to which outstanding women of achievement are added every year, originated at the 1965 World's Fair in New York. It was created by feminist Charlotte Klein, to solve a problem for a public relations client and to make a major statement about equality for women.
The Purex Corporation had sponsored a Women's Hospitality
Center at the Fair that failed to draw traffic.The PR agency at which Charlotte was Executive Vice President was
asked to develop a plan that would create national attention and be a dynamic draw for women to that Center. A
Hall of Fame had opened in 1901 at an NYU site and had never had a woman nominated to it. Charlotte thought "why
not establish a Hall of Fame just for women?" Purex agreed. She arranged for a Nominating Committee, with
the cooperation of the Fair's Women's Advisory Council, which included Margaret Truman Daniel. A list of 100 names
of outstanding women of the 20th Century (to 1965) was developed. Women's Page Editors of news papers nationwide,women
broadcasters, and editors of women's magazines were the electorate and the 10 living and 10 deceased who had the
most votes would comprise the women's Hall of Fame. All living nominees were sent a consent form and asked for
a copy of their preferred photograph. Left to Right: All TV and radio networks and local New York stations covered the event, as well as AP and UPI.37 major newspapers carried the story on their front page,with photos (many in color). Several ran editorials. All newspapers in the top ten primary markets and 85% of the next 30 primary trade areas printed the story. Traffic to the Center increased by 400%. Charlotte supervised the entire promotion and press campaign. In 1969, she gave the women's Hall of Fame to the Seneca Falls Historic Preserve, where they added key suffragettes of the 19th Century. The Women's Hall of Fame of 1965 was a forerunner of and a catalyst for the new Feminist Revolution. Contact Charlotte here: kleintravis@earthlink.net |