Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Founding Member, Richard Graham Passes
“There is pleasure in having been part of the change.â€
~Richard Graham speaking to Newsday about the improvement in women’s rights, 1991
Richard Graham, once deputy to the Peace Corps director Sargent Shriver and a founding member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, has passed away at the age of 86. Graham was heralded as a trailblazer in the battle for women’s rights in America, working for equal job opportunities for all women. Graham was once quoted as saying mothers are “the most stable workers in the labor market.†Richard’s pursuits in this area lead to his founding the National Organization for Women (NOW).
Graham grew up in the Midwest and earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cornell. He later served in Army Air Forces in Iran during World War II.. Later in his career Graham was named President of Goddard College, where he helped found the Goddard-Cambridge Center for Social Change, one of the earliest centers for women’s studies.
NOW has posted a brief online memorial on their website for Richard Graham. A more detailed memorial on his life and accomplishments can also be found in the Times online obituary.
