THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Sherrye Henry

“If you look back from when I came of age, back in the ’50s, we have come so far. We have just made so many changes. Yes, we haven’t yet broken the highest glass ceiling of a woman president, and I’m not sure we will in my lifetime, but we’ve broken so many glass ceilings, and I’m so proud of all that we have done.”

The first woman in America to broadcast editorials for WCBS TV. Created the first TV show for women on WCBS TV in 1972 called Woman! to express the feminist point of view on political and cultural issues. Broadcasted the first radio program for working women on WOR Radio in 1973; her show ran for 16 years. Appointed by Bill Clinton to run the Women’s Office at the U.S. Small Business Administration, 1996. Along with SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez, increased the number of Women’s Business Centers to all 50 states and founded the first interactive website where businesswomen could get the help they needed, instituted a program when women got pre-approval for bank loans before going to the bank, and started the first women’s venture capital fund. Reporter, WMCA Radio, 1968. Producer/host Channel 13 News, 1970. Editorial broadcaster WCBS TV, 1970. Host, “Sherrye Henry Program” on WOR Radio 1973-1989. Communications Director, Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, 1994. Staff, Rep. Louise Slaughter’s DC office, 2000-2005. Major Gift Officer, Episcopal Relief and Development, 2006-2010. Author of numerous magazine pieces in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Ran for New York State Senate from District 1, 1992. Author of Alone Together, novel published by Doubleday 1982, and author of The Deep Divide: Why American Women Resist Equality, published by Macmillan, 1994.

Interviewed by Muriel Fox, Chair of the Board, VFA, January 2025

Photo 1. Sherrye Henry interviewing Joan Baez for TV show Woman!, 1972 [Photo courtesy of Getty Images, CBS Photo Archive]. Photo 2. Carol Jenkins, Hillary Clinton and Sherrye Henry, 2022.