Aileen Clarke (Clarke) Hernandez

Aileen Clarke Hernandez an innovative, unifying and important leader in the feminist, civil rights and union movements died on Monday February 13 from complications of dementia. She was 90. Aileen was one of three children, and the only daughter, born to Charles Henry Clarke, Sr. and Ethel Louise Hall Clarke in Brooklyn, New York.  Aileen's childhood was spent in the Bay Ridge Area of Brooklyn where she attended public school.  Always precocious and bright, Aileen loved school so much that when her older brother Charles began school, Aileen followed him to class.  Her wit and charm so impressed the teacher that Aileen was allowed to remain in the class. Graduating from Howard University magna cum laude in political science and sociology, Aileen became an ILGWU (International Ladies Garments Workers Union) organizer.  She went on to complete a master's degree in government at California State University at Los Angeles and obtained a Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Southern Vermont College.  While working with the ILGWU, in 1947, she married Alfonso Hernandez in 1957; they divorced in 1961. Aileen became ILGWU Education and Public Relations Director for the Pacific Coast Region and was later appointed by Governor Pat Brown Deputy Chief of the California Division of Fair Employment Practices (1962 - 1963).  In 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Aileen as the only woman to serve on the newly commissioned federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission based in Washington, D.C. Aileen went on to become a founder and charter member of the National Organization of Women (NOW).  In 1970, Aileen became the national president of NOW. During her tenure as President, NOW organized the "Strike for Equality" in 1971. In 1972, she returned to the San Francisco Bay Area to form Hernandez and Associates, a fair employment consulting firm and continue her organizing efforts.  Aileen went on to inspire generations of women leaders for five more decades and formed several women's groups; such as Black Women Stirring the Waters and Black Women Organized for Political Action based in the Bay Area. Aileen Clarke Hernandez leaves a legacy of inspiration, leadership, wit and the wisdom of a woman committed to the truest and most precious of our nation's values - equality and fair access for all people regardless of education level, gender, race or national origin.  Her lifetime of papers will be preserved and available at the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, Massachusetts. Aileen is cherished as a kind and loving aunt and fondly remembered by her many friends, family members and within the corridors of power of this nation.

Public Memorial Ceremony:  Monday, March 6, 2017 12:00 - 2:00

1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place North Light Court San Francisco 94102

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/us/aileen-hernandez-dead-womens-rights-champion.html?

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