Faye Wattleton
| Faye Wattleton | |
|---|---|
2009
|
|
| Born |
Alyce Faye Wattleton 8 July 1943 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Feminist activist Author and regular news commentator Registered Nurse |
| Website | Official website |
Faye Wattleton (born Alyce Faye Wattleton; 8 July 1943) is the first African American, the youngest president ever elected to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the first woman since Margaret Sanger to hold the position. She is best known for her contributions to the family planning and reproductive health, as well as the pro-choice movement.
Wattleton was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1943, the only child of a construction worker father and a mother who was a seamstress and a Church of God minister. During her childhood, her mother's calling meant that the family traveled frequently, and Wattleton saw the emotional effect her mother's preaching had on the congregation. Although her mother never approved of her work in reproductive rights, Wattleton considers the principle of nonjudgment espoused by the faith of her upbringing to have had a deep impact on her future work in family planning.
Entering Ohio State University at the age of 16, she was awarded a bachelor's degree in nursing in 1964, and went on to teach at a nursing school in Dayton, Ohio for two years. She earned her Master of Science degree in maternal and infant care, with certification as a nurse-midwife, from Columbia University in 1967. While working towards her master's degree, she interned at a hospital in Harlem. There, she saw first-hand the "life-threatening effects of unsafe abortions performed on female patients" and she began to work in women's health advocacy. In 1967 Wattleton was an assistant director of Public Health Nursing services in Dayton, Ohio. In Dayton, she "began her career as an effective coalition builder for reproductive rights." The same year, she also joined the board of the local Planned Parenthood and shortly after, Wattleton became the president of the Planned Parenthood of Dayton. In 1970, she became the executive director for Planned Parenthood of Miami Valley. Wattleton has also received 15 honorary doctoral degrees.
...
Wikipedia