THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Mary Jo Walsh
March 24, 1935 – November 15, 2020
“Was I Erased from Civilization?” – Mary Jo Walsh questioning why her credit card could only be in her husbands name, not hers.
Detroit NOW president, two terms, NOW National Board. NOW’s Women’s National Task Force on Women and Religion. Partner in New Options Personnel, an agency specializing in job placements for women and minorities. Head of the Great Lakes region of NOW, the first woman from Michigan to hold the post.
Photo 1. Mary Jo, 1972. Photo 2. With husband Jim, a proud member of NOW.
Mary Jo Walsh, from the film Passing the Torch.
More About Mary Jo:
- Mary Jo is highlighted in the film Passing the Torch, a documentary produced by Michael Rose Productions, Inc. – a behind the scenes look at the role Michigan women played in one of the most profound social movements of the 20th Century.
- Michael Rose discusses ‘Lake of Fire’, an abortion-themed documentary by Tony Kaye with Carol King, Michael’s wife and chair of NOW’s first abortion task force and Mary Jo Walsh, a Catholic clinical social worker and served on NOW’s board, January 2010
- Select newspaper articles
- “Why Am I a Feminist”, by Mary Jo Welsh, August 20, 1972
- On the Ordination of 11 Episcopal women in Philadelphia, July 31, 1974
- NOW Conference to be held in Detroit in 1976, October 28, 1975
- Mary Jo on her thoughts regarding the Good Housekeeping Magazine poll of who is admired most, December 22, 1975
- Walter P. Reuther Library Detroit-Area Feminists Oral Histories
