THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Patricia Ann Housman

January 22, 1941 – March 8, 2012

“She was such a genius leader and ground breaker for women. She helped grow feminism in the state (MI) and nationally. As the chairperson of The Coalition for Non-Sexist Education, she strategized to change so many sex discriminatory programs and policies of the State Department of Education. We owe a great debt to her work. Love to all of her family. Thank you for sharing her with the women’s movement.” – Liz Homer

Educator. Organized Labor. Expertise in collective bargaining, arbitration, organizing, representation, leadership training, community relations and effective communications. Elected president of the United Staff Organization at the MEA in East Lansing, MI from 1988 to 1994. Led diverse affiliate groups in collective bargaining, grievance processing, arbitration, representation and political action. Kalamazoo County Democratic Party, Michigan Democratic Women’s Caucus, Kalamazoo chapter of the National Organization for Women chairwoman, NOW’s Education Task Force chairwoman. MEA Women’s Caucus president. BA and MA degrees in education from Western Michigan University.