Peterson, Esther, 1906-1997
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Peterson, Esther, 1906-1997Description:
Bio: Esther Peterson was born Esther Eggersten on December 9, 1906 in Provo, Utah. She received a B.A. in physical education from Brigham Young University in 1927, and a master's degree from Columbia University's Teachers College in 1930. She married Oliver A. Peterson on May 28, 1932. While living in Boston in the early 1930s, Peterson taught at the Winsor School for Girls and volunteered at night to teach gymnastics and tap dancing at the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). Many of her night students were garment workers, and she organized a strike for them. Her tactics succeeded when the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union helped secure higher wages for the women.In 1939, she moved to New York and accepted a position as the assistant director of the Department of Cultural Activities of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA). In this capacity, she worked to get African-American women into the labor union. In 1944, she became the ACWA's first legislative representative in Washington, D.C. In 1958, she became a lobbyist for the Industrial Union Department of the AFL-CIO. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed her assistant secretary of the Department of Labor and director of the Women's Bureau. During the 1970s, Peterson also began working in the private sector as the nation's first industry-employed consumer advocate when she took a job as vice president for consumer affairs at Giant Food Corporation