THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Laurie Shields
April 17, 1920 – March 3, 1989
“‘We’re in our middle years and caught in an era of rising expectations for women that we’re not prepared for. What we need is help in that transition period between dependency and self-sufficiency.”
Women’s advocate, journalist, author. Co-founder, Alliance for Displaced Homemakers. Organizer of the White House Mini-Conference on Older Women, 1980. Along with Tish Sommers, co-founded Older Women’s League (OWL), 1980. Author, Displaced Homemakers: Organizing for a New life, 1981. Co-author, Women Take Care: The Consequences of Caregiving in Today’s Society, 1987. Coordinator for displaced homemaker organizations, National Organization for Women, 1989.
Photo. Laurie Shields (left) and Tish Sommers.
More About Laurie:
- Obituary, New York Times
- Displaced Homemakers: Organizing for a New Life, by Laurie Shields, 1981
- Displaced Homemakers: Then and Now, by Michele Sharpe
- Displaced Homemakers Center Archives, D-216, Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis.
- The Older Women’s League (OWL) website
- Older Women’s League on C-SPAN
- Video, OWL celebrated 25 years on October 6-9,2005 in Sacramento, CA.