THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Jacquelin E. Washington
1932 – 2019
“Maintain the gains we have made. There will always be battles to be fought and women are going to have to be as vigilant as ever.” – Jackie’s advice for the 3rd wave
Social Worker. Organizer. Champion for children and women’s rights. Helped organize and chair the first Violence Against Women Committee for the National Organization for Women, Detroit Chapter. First African-American elected to serve as president of the national NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund. First African-American ACLU of Michigan President. Co-founded the personnel agency New Options in 1975. President and CEO of the Pontiac Area Urban League from 1988 – 1992. First African-American President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of Southeast Michigan. Board president of Wayne State University Board of Governors. Co-founder and president of the Sojourner Foundation, 1990.
Interview provided by Carol King, NOW National Board Member 1980 – 1986, from an excerpt of the documentary, Passing the Torch.
Photo 1. Circa 1970. Photo 2. circa 1990.
More About Jackie:
- Jackie’s obituary
- ACLU Michigan
- Jackie Washington: Fighting for minority’s rights By Cornelius A. Fortune June 22, 2006
- Walter P. Reuther Library Detroit-Area Feminists Oral Histories, Jackie Washington, July 9, 2003
- Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame 1995
- Passing the Torch, a documentary produced by Michael Rose Productions, Inc. is a behind the scenes look at the role Michigan women played in one of the most profound social movements of the 20th Century.
- Cited in Barbara Love’s book, Feminists Who Changed America, pages 479 – 480