Helen Sommers: An Oral History

pg. 14 Seattle draws Helen to the Northwest
served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives
(1941 to 1953), and was elected to the U.S.
Senate in 1952 to 1983.
Senator
Henry (Scoop) Jackson
After Senator Jackson died
in 1983, Gov . John Spellman
appointed Dan Evans to the
U.S. Senate, and Evans then
won a special election to fill
the remaining five years of
Jackson’s term.
Of course, Senator Jackson
was a life-long Democrat, but
Spellman, a Republican, appointed Evans to the
seat. Traditionally, a governor would appoint someone
from his own party. Evans was a good choice.
Some very important women’s issues were passed
in our state before I was elected to the House. The
federal Equal Rights Amendment and the Washington
State Equal Rights Amendment were placed on
the ballot by the Legislature and Washington state
voters ratified that. These were really critical steps.
Other things that occurred in Washington State
at the time included a change in the community
property laws. Wives did not have the right to
manage their own earnings until the change was
made law in the early 1970s. NOW worked with
the governor on it.
Another issue we had been involved in was outlawing
sex discrimination in credit and in insurance.
So these things occurred before I was elected to the
House, but as president of NOW, our leadership
team did play a big role in making it happen. We
credit the Legislature and the leadership of Governor
Evans for pushing these issues to become law.
I’m proud to say that we members of NOW got the
ball rolling in Washington state.
Monahan: So, with your degree and your involvement
in women’s issues, then you went to work in Seattle?
Representative Sommers: Yes. My first job in Seattle
was in 1971, when I became an instructor in Economics
at Edmonds Community College. I taught
for just one year. In 1972 I had an opportunity to
work for the King County Council as an analyst.
I was with the Council for 12 years.