Women's History Month: Aileen Hernandez

Equal Employment Opportunities Commission

EEOC Commissioner Eileen Hernandez and colleagues in 1965.

When Congress adopted the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it established the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to enforce its provisions against workplace discrimination on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, and national origin." 

Among the EEOC's first appointees was Aileen Hernandez, a graduate of Howard University and UCLA, labor organizer, and civil rights visionary. When the EEOC refused to act on complaints of sex discrimination, Hernandez quit and helped fellow activists Pauli Murray, Betty Friedan and others establish the National Organization for Women.

Hernandez also helped organize the Women's Strike for Equality, the National Women's Political Caucus, and Black Women Organized for Action, and served on the governing boards of Ms., the ACLU, the NAACP, and more. 

Find out more about Aileen Hernandez.