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Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm Jenny

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Kaplan and this is Wamanica.

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This month, we're talking about workers, women

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who fought for labor rights and shaped the way

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we do business today. They

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advocated and innovated to make the office

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wherever it is, a more equitable place.

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Today, we're talking about a woman who worked to make teaching

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and any job a woman might want more

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equitable. She encouraged

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women and people of color to speak up for what they

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deserve and never settle for the job they're

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expected to take. Let's

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talk about Elizabeth Duncan Koon's. Elizabeth

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was born on June third, nineteen nineteen, in

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Salisbury, North Carolina. Her

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parents, Samuel and Lena, valued

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the importance of education. Samuel

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was a high school principal and Lina was

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an elementary school teacher. Despite

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living in the segregated South, they made sure

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that all seven of their children received a proper

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education, and it didn't stop

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there. Samuel len Lena instilled

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the belief in their children that if you were privileged enough

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to have an education, you were also obligated

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to be of service to others. Elizabeth

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witnessed this firsthand as she watched and later

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helped her mother teach adults how to read and write

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at their kitchen table. Elizabeth

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learned to read at an early age, and

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she excelled in school. She

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graduated salutatorian from high school,

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and she received her bachelor's degree in English

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and elementary education when she was just nineteen

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years old. Elizabeth's

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teaching career began at the Harnett County

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Training School. There,

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she worked with kids with learning disabilities.

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She empowered them and taught them to defy the

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belief that they were incapable of learning. She

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was good at her job, then

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she started to realize something. Teachers

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were being charged at an excessive rate for room

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and board, and the boarding

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house was owned by the school. Elizabeth

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got to work and organized a protest to

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fight for a fairer rate. She

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was fired as a result, so

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she went on and got her master's degree.

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But Elizabeth's activism didn't stop there.

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She got a new job teaching special education

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at her old high school and found her next

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fight for justice. She

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brought black and white teachers together, and

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after Brown v Board mandated desegregation,

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she worked toward making that a reality in North

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Carolina. Elizabeth

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Starr continued to rise as

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the first black president of the National Education

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Association, or the NEA,

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she fought for job in retirement security

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and better pay for teachers.

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She also advocated for more federal money

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for education. It

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all went back to this idea of teaching

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power her rallying cry, and

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across the country, teachers went on strike

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in droves. Elizabeth's

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work as president of the NEA caught the

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attention of those in Washington, d c. In

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nineteen sixty nine, she was appointed the

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first black director of the US Department

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of Labour's Women's Bureau.

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She was the highest ranking black woman in the Nixon

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administration. As

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director, Elizabeth primarily focused

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on eliminating workplace discrimination against

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women and minorities. She

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believed in and fought for equal

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rights and greater opportunities for black

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people, the working poor, and women, and

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she was also a proponent of the Equal Rights Amendment

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to the US Constitution. While

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Elizabeth fought for working women, she also

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wanted to expand what work women could do.

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The classification of women's work dissuaded

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women from going after certain jobs and

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therefore put a cap on their salaries and

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potential. When asked about

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the problems women faced at the time. Elizabeth

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responded, I would say that perhaps

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one of the greatest obstacles is the attitude

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of the general public, including women,

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toward women's rights to enter the job market

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and the jobs heretofore considered to be traditionally

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men's jobs. So

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Elizabeth encouraged those women who knew how

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to operate a typewriter to also know how to

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repair it, and

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she guided women teachers to focus on math

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and science, which paid more. Elizabeth

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was often labeled as a radical for her positions.

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She welcomed this title and kept fighting

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for equality in the workplace. Elizabeth

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knew the complexity and subtlety of discrimination,

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so she made sure her work also extended

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to people of color. She knew

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that while a white woman could complain about not being

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able to be more than a secretary, a

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black woman wouldn't even be considered for the job.

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Elizabeth helped people see the institutionalized

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racism that society had allowed to persist

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when it came to women's work. Elizabeth's

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time in Washington came to an end in nineteen seventy

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five. She returned to North

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Carolina and became the assistant state school

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superintendent. In this role,

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her work focused on improving public education.

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In nineteen eighty two, Elizabeth retired

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from public service and returned to her

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hometown, Salisbury, North Carolina.

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She died of a heart attack on January sixth,

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nineteen eighty nine. She was sixty nine

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years old. Elizabeth's

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legacy lives on through the annual Elizabeth

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Duncan Koon's Humanitarian Award and

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the Elizabeth Duncan Kones Elementary School,

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which opened in two thousand and six in Salisbury.

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All month, We're talking about workers. For

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more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram

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at Wamanica Podcast special

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thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co creator.

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Talk to you tomorrow