Griswold, Jacqueline Perkins, 1931-1992

Jacqueline Perkins was born in Philadelphia; graduated from Temple University in 1953 and taught in the Philadelphia public schools while attending Temple's law school at night for two years. While living in Philadelphia, she married John Griswold and they moved to Seattle in 1964 where she taught for two years. In 1971 she became active in the Seattle League of Women Voters; joined the Seattle-King County chapter of NOW in 1972, and became King County coordinator for that group's activities in attempting pass the Federal Equal Rights Amendment; became co-director of a NOW project on sexual violence, and worked to develop and implement public policy workshops in ten Washington cities. Because of her involvement in several aspects of Seattle-King County NOW, she was elected co-president of the organization in 1978; was appointed member of Seattle Women's Commission, serving as vice president; dedicated to promoting equal opportunities for women of Seattle, particularly in the areas of education, employment, and participation in city government; known for her work to revise the state's rape laws and her concern for battered women, as well as advocating better child care services in Seattle and improving Seattle's Affirmative Action plan. She left Seattle in 1980 for Florida until 1984 when she returned. No longer actively engaged in civic work and human rights issues, she sold real estate, worked for the Census Bureau, and was a management systems analyst for Seattle City Light at the time of her death.