Alter, Joanne H. (Joanne Hammerman), 1927-

Joanne Hammerman Alter was an independent democrat involved in political campaigns in the 1970s through a system of Home Headquarters that utilized the organizational skills of women. Alter was a co-founder of the Illinois Democratic Women's Caucus in 1971. In 1972, Alter became the first woman elected to a Cook County office on the Democratic ticket when she became a commissioner of the Metropolitan Sanitary District. She was a founding member of the Friends of the River, worked on the Save the Dunes campaign, and was a member of the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation. Alter was also active in the Scholarship and Guidence Association, and on the women's board of Children's Memorial Hospital. She was supportive of such issues as affirmative action, energy and environmental conservation, political honesty, and intergovernmental cooperation.