Dr. Marguerite Rawalt (16 October 1895 – 16 December 1989) was an American writer and lawyer who lobbied in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

on behalf of women's rights. She worked for the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

for 30 years, and served on the board of directors for numerous interest groups relating to women's rights issues. Rawalt was a member of the National Presbyterian Church.

Early life

Rawalt was the oldest of three children, and was born in Prairie City,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. Her family eventually moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and settled there. She attended the University of Texas in Austin for one year, then taught high school math in Lorena, Texas. From 1921–1924 she worked as secretary to Texas governor, Pat M. Neff. She received her bachelor's law degree in 1933 and her master's law degree in 1936 from George Washington Law School. In 1933, she started working as an attorney in the office of chief counsel for the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Women's issues and law

In 1943, Rawalt was elected as president of the

Federal Bar Association The Federal Bar Association (FBA) is the primary voluntary professional organization for private and government lawyers and judges practicing and sitting in federal courts in the United States. Six times a year, The Association prints ''The Fede ...

, the first woman to hold the position. During 1943 she also served as president of the National Association of Women Lawyers. In 1966, Rawalt became a member of the National Organization for Women, and acted as their first legal counsel. Rawalt became involved with President

Kennedy Kennedy may refer to: People * John F. Kennedy (1917–1963), 35th president of the United States * John Kennedy (Louisiana politician), (born 1951), US Senator from Louisiana * Kennedy (surname), a family name (including a list of persons with t ...

's Commission on the Status of Women under the invitation of

Esther Peterson Esther Eggertsen Peterson (December 9, 1906 – December 20, 1997) was an American consumer and women's advocate. Background The daughter of Danish immigrants, Esther Eggertsen grew up in a Mormon family in Provo, Utah. She graduated from Brig ...

. In 1964, Marguerite Rawalt wrote to members of Business and Professional Women and Zonta International, asking them to lobby for the passage of provision VII of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

, which prohibited discrimination by employers on the basis of sex. In 1972, Rawalt founded the Marguerite Rawalt Legal Defense Fund, a group focused on funding legal cases involving women's

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...

, particularly relating to financial equity. She retired from the IRS in 1965, having been employed by them for 30 years.

References

External links

In Memoriam: Marguerite Rawalt

Harvard University Library - Rawalt, Marguerite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawalt, Marguerite 1895 births 1989 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American lobbyists American Presbyterians George Washington University Law School alumni Illinois lawyers People from McDonough County, Illinois American women's rights activists 20th-century American women lawyers National Organization for Women people

Early life

Women's issues and law

See also

References

External links