Patricia Schroeder, a pioneer for women’s and family rights and a former U.S. representative, passed away on Monday. She was 82 years old. People are considering her political legacy in commemoration of her.
Andrea Camp, Schroeder’s former press secretary, has claimed that Schroeder had a stroke. At Celebration, Florida, where she had most recently resided, a hospital was where she passed away. She represented Colorado in Congress at the time.
Passion for politics
According to the New York Post, Schroeder is renowned for her feisty wit and successes in promoting women’s and family rights. When she fought the wealthy elite, she “forced government institutions to recognise that women had a place in government.”
“The particularly combative manner did cost her, though, since she was never nominated to lead a committee,” the story continued. Unfazed, she declared that she was unwilling to join what she referred to as “the good old boys’ club” in order to gain political advantage.
Politico noted that Schroeder, who was the first woman to be assigned to the committee, was compelled by Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee F. Edward Hebert to sit next to U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums, who was the first Black man to serve on the committee.
According to Schroeder, Hebert believed that women and people of colour were not welcome on the committee and that each was only worth a half-seat, according to Politico.
She reportedly responded to a lawmaker who questioned how she managed to raise two young children and be a mother by saying, “I have a brain and a uterus, and I use both,” according to the New York Post.
Schroeder’s accomplishments
She was a pilot and ran her own flying company while in college to help pay for her school. She worked for the National Labor Relations Board as a field attorney for two years.
Schroeder won reelection 11 times from her Denver seat after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1972, according to National Public Radio.
According to NPR, “one of Schroeder’s biggest successes” was the 1993 passage of a family leave law that guaranteed employment safety for anyone caring for a newborn, a sick kid, or a parent.
Her 61-year-old spouse, two children, one brother, and four grandchildren remain in her life.