Rawalt, Marguerite, 1895-

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Rawalt, Marguerite, 1895-

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Rawalt, Marguerite, 1895-

Rawalt, Marguerite

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Rawalt, Marguerite

Marguerite Rawalt, 1895-

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Marguerite Rawalt, 1895-

Rawalt, Marguerite, 1895-1989.

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Rawalt, Marguerite, 1895-1989.

Rawalt, Marguerite, 191? -

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Rawalt, Marguerite, 191? -

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1895

1895

Birth

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1895-10-16

1895-10-16

Birth

1989-12-16

1989-12-16

Death

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1895

1895

Birth

1989

1989

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Biographical History

Marguerite Rawalt was born October 16, 1895, in Prairie City, Illinois. She received her AB/LLB (1933) and LLM (1936) from George Washington University. From 1933 to 1965, Rawalt worked as an attorney in the office of chief counsel, Bureau of Internal Revenue. During her tenure there, she served as president of the National Association of Women Lawyers (1942-1943) and the Federal Bar Association (1943-1944). She was the first woman president of the FBA and the first woman sent to the American Bar Association's House of Delegates (1943).

Rawalt was also active in several women's organizations, including the General Federation of Women's Clubs and Zonta International. She served as President of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women (1954-1956), and as the first president of Business and Professional Women's Foundation, an educational and research institution, which she helped found in 1956.

Rawalt was appointed to President Kennedy's Commission on the Status of Women in 1961, and subsequently participated in other commissions on the status of women, including the Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women and the District of Columbia Commission on the Status of Women.

Rawalt was an early member of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and chair of its legal committee (1966-1969). She was a founder of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in 1970 and served as its treasurer for three years. Rawalt was also an early member of and attorney for Women's Equity Action League (WEAL), which was established in 1968. She served on various WEAL committees and as the group's president (1979-1980). The Marguerite Rawalt Legal Defense Fund was established in 1977 to work on sex discrimination cases. In 1974, Rawalt returned to George Washington University and taught a course entitled "Women and the Law."

Rawalt's work towards the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment began as early as Operation Buttonhole, a 1950s project of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women, and continued throughout the 1970s. She was a founding member of Women United and the ERA Ratification Council. She also helped with the work of ERAmerica and ERA Congressional Jubilee.

Rawalt was author of three published volumes: The Equal Rights Amendment for Equal Rights Under the Law (WEAL, 1976), A History of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc. (NFBPW, 1969), and Decendants of John Rawalt (Rewalt), Revolutionary War Patriot, Serving 1775-1782 (Rawalt, 1974). Accounts of Rawalt's life and work are featured in several biographical reference works, including Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who of American Women, and Notable American Women . She is also the subject of Judith Paterson's biography, Be Somebody: A Biography of Marguerite Rawalt (Eakin Press, 1986).

Marguerite Rawalt married Army Air Corps Sargeant Jack Tindale in 1918 and divorced him in 1927. She was married to retired Air Force Major Harry Secord from 1937 until his death in 1963; they had no children. Rawalt died December 16, 1989, in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Admissions to Practice

1932 U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, District of Columbia Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for District of Columbia 1935 Texas State Bar 1936 Tax Court of the United States (then U.S. Board of Tax Appeals) 1938 United States Supreme Court 1968 U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, Chicago 1970 Supreme Court of Appeals, Virginia, Circuit Court of Arlington

Offices Held

1943 1944 Delegate, American Bar Association President, Federal Bar Association 1945 1946 President, District of Columbia Business and Professional Women's Club Member, Board of Directors, National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs (BPW) 1948 1950 National Membership Chairman, BPW 1950 1952 Second Vice-President, BPW 1956 Founder, President, Business and Professional Women's Foundation 1960 Honorary Member, Blackfeet Indian Tribe (Glacier, Wyoming) 1966 1969 First General Counsel; Chairman, Legal Committee, National Organization for Women (NOW) 1968 Board of Directors, NOW Special Budget Committee, NOW Charter Member, WEAL 1968 1970 Member, Golden Anniversary Commission, BPW 1968 1978 Member, Board of Directors, WEAL 1970 1971 Legislative Liaison (D.C.), WEAL 1970 1973 Treasurer, NOW LDEF 1971 Vice-Chairman and Counsel, Women United 1972 Chairman, Ad Hoc Committee, WEAL 1972 1979 Chairman, ERA Committee, WEAL Member, Board of Directors, WEAL ELDF Vice President, Board of Directors, WEAL ELDF 1973 Chairman, Status of Women Committee, WEAL 1973 1974 Professional Lecturer, George Washington University 1974 Member, Ad Hoc Structure Committee, General Federation of Women's Clubs Vice-Chairman, Washington Forum, ERA Ratification Council 1974 1976 Member, International Status of Women Committee, Zonta 1975 Vice-President, WEAL Member, Board of Advisors, Outstanding Young Women of America Chairman, Status of Women Division, D.C. State Federation of Women's Clubs Member, National Bylaws Committee, General Federation of Women's Clubs Member, Ad Hoc Structure Committee (International Affairs), General Federation of Women's Clubs Member, Tax Exempt Organizations Committee of Taxation Council, Federal Bar Association Member, Investment Committee, Zeta Tau Alpha 1975 1976 Chairman, Equal Rights and Status of Women Committee, Women's Bar Association 1975 1977 Chairman, Legislative Committee, National Association of Women Lawyers 1976 1981 Legal Advisor, National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs 1977 Member, D.C. Coordinating Committee, International Women's Year 1978 Member, Nominating Committee, WEAL 1979 Chairman, ERA Ratification Council 1979 1980 President, WEAL 1985 President Emeritus, WEAL ELDF 1988 Advisory Committee, Woman Activist Fund From the guide to the Papers, 1870s-1989, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)

Lawyer and feminist Rawalt has served as legal counsel for the National Organization for Women (NOW) and the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL), chaired the Civil and Political Rights Committee (CPR) of the President's Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW), and worked with the Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women (CACSW).

From the description of [Audiotape collection] [sound recording]. 1953-1979. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 122583145

Lawyer, interviewee married Harry Secord.

From the description of Reminiscences of Marguerite Rawalt : oral history. 1980. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 309724347

See the finding aid for the Marguerite Rawalt papers (MC 478).

From the guide to the Audiotape collection, 1953-1979, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)

Attorney and feminist Marguerite Rawalt was active in the National Organization for Women and chair of its legal committee (1966-1969), founder and treasurer of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, and an attorney for and president of the Women's Equity Action League. She was a lawyer for the Bureau of Internal Revenue (1933-1965) and during her tenure there served as president of the National Association of Women Lawyers (1942-1943) and of the Federal Bar Association (1943-1944). She as the first woman president of the FBA and the first woman sent to the ABA's House of Delegates (1943).

Rawalt was also active in many women's organizations, including the General Federation of Women's Clubs and Zonta International. She served as president of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women (1954-1956), and as the first president of Business and Professional Women's Foundation, which she helped found in 1956. In 1961 she was appointed to the President's Commission on the Status of Women and subsequently served on other commissions, such as the Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women and the District of Columbia Commission on the Status of Women. She was active in the movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and was a founding member of Women United and the ERA Ratification Council.

Her first marriage, to Army Air Corps Sargeant Jack Tindale, ended in divorce in 1927. She was married to Air Force Major Harry Secord from 1937 until his death in 1963. They had no children. Rawalt died in December 1989 in Corpus Christi, Texas. For further biographical information, see Be Somebody: A Biography of Marguerite Rawalt (1986) by Judith Paterson.

From the description of Papers, 1870s-1989 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 122357564

Born in Prairie City, Illinois in 1895, Rawalt was a graduate of George Washington University School of Law and a tax attorney for the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C.

An active supporter of women's rights, Rawalt served on President John F. Kennedy's Commission on the Status of Women and President Lyndon Johnson's Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women. She was also involved in the organization of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and served as an officer in several national professional organizations. Rawalt was married to Major Harry Secord in 1937.

From the description of Papers, 1837-1986 (bulk 1937-1974) (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 25733644

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https://viaf.org/viaf/38351297

https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n85146956

https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n85146956

https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q6760813

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Appointment books

Equal rights amendents

Equal rights amendments

Equal rights amendments

Feminism

Feminism

Feminism

Feminists

Genealogy

Government executives

International Women's Year, 1975

Jury duty

Jury service

Law

Lawyers

Nonprofit organizations

Office politics

Sex discrimination against women

Sex discrimination against women

Sex discrimination in employement

United States. President's Commission on the Status of Women

Women

Women

Women

Women

Women college teachers

Women judges

Women jurors

Women lawyers

Women lawyers

Women's rights

Women's rights

Women's studies

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Lawyers

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United States

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Washington (D.C.)

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United States

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United States

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85770876