Eleanor Roosevelt and President Kennedy

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Description

This photograph shows President John F. Kennedy meeting with members of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women in the Oval Office at the White House. Kennedy established the President’s Commission on the Status of Women through executive order in December 1961.

Its task was to examine discrimination against women in the United States and propose ways to eliminate it. Chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, this bipartisan commission worked with the Civil Service Commission as well as the Departments of Labor, Agriculture, Commerce, and Health, Education, and Welfare, to gather its findings and submit a final report to President Kennedy.

Shown, left to right, are: Secretary-Treasurer of American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), William F. Schnitzler; Chairwoman of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, Eleanor Roosevelt; Chairman of the Civil Service Commission, John W. Macy, Jr.; Representative Edith Green of Oregon; President Kennedy; Vice-chairman of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, Dr. Richard A. Lester; Assistant Secretary of Labor for Labor Standards, Esther Peterson.

Citation

This primary source comes from the Collection JFK-WHP: White House Photographs.

Full Citation: Photograph AR7035-A; Meeting with President’s Commission on the Status of Women; 2/12/1962; Meeting with President’s Commission on the Status of Women, 10:05AM; Abbie Rowe White House Photographs, 12/6/1960 – 3/11/1964; Collection JFK-WHP: White House Photographs,; John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, MA. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/document/eleanor-roosevelt-jfk/, April 4, 2026]

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