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VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT: SISTER AUSTIN DOHERTYadmin2021-11-15T14:24:38-05:00

THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Sister Austin Doherty

August 10, 1927 – February 8, 2015

“Austin Doherty was a warm and inspiring teacher who changed individuals and institutions to advance women’s place in the world.” Mary Jean Collins ’63 Alverno College

Sister Austin had a deep concern for social justice and the inequalities facing women in society. Member, School Sisters of St. Francis. She attended the organizing conference for the National Organization for Women (NOW) held in Washington D.C., October 29-30, 1966, and was elected to NOW’s first board. Helped establish the first Milwaukee chapter of NOW in 1967. Worked to end the sex-segregated employment ads at the Milwaukee Journal, 1973, and for WI ratification of the ERA.  Helped establish the Alverno College Research Center on Women (RCW) in 1970. As co-director of RCW, Doherty organized many feminist conferences, seminars and projects.  Doherty helped organize and served as co-chair of the first conference of women theologians.   Hosted the 1974 conference for the Wisconsin Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, Homemaking and the Family: Changing Values and Concerns, held at Alverno College. She was an individual delegate to the 1977 National Women’s conference in Houston.

Photo 1. Sr. Austin was a featured speaker at a NOW meeting in Chicago, Illinois, July 16, 1970. Photo 2. Sr. Austin Doherty, Sr. Joel Read and Sr. Kathleen O’Brien, 2001.

More About Sister Austin:

  • Remembering Austin Doherty, Alverno Chapel, March 24, 2015
    • Mary Jean Collins, ’63 Alverno College, thoughts on Sr. Austin Doherty and Sr. Joel Read, 2019
  • Sister Austin Doherty, S.S.S.F.  A Life of Service and Education.
  • “Sister Austin Doherty’s Influence Left an Indelible Mark on Alverno College,” March, 23, 2015.
  • Veteran Feminists of America Conference
    • Sr. Kathleen O’Brien’s remarks, “Empowering Women: A Tale Of Two Generations,” Alverno College, Milwaukee, WI, September 15, 2012
  • “Step by Step: Building a Feminist Movement,” August 17, 1998, PBS Wisconsin, American Archive of Public Broadcasting. Sister Austin Doherty clip begins at 28:10
  • Honoring Our Founders & Pioneers, National Organization for Women
  • 20th Anniversary of NOW with Sisters Joel and Austin and Catherine Conroy, 1986
  • Alverno College website
  • Cited in Barbara Love’s book, Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975, page 121

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