Gene Cohen Boyer
Gene Cohen Boyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gene Cohen 1925 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | 2003 (aged 77–78) |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
Gene Cohen Boyer (1925–2003) was an American women's rights activist.
Early life and education
[edit]Boyer was born Gene Cohen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to an Orthodox Jewish family; her father managed a chain of shoe stores.[1] She graduated high school at age 16[2] and earned a journalism degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison) in 1946.[3]
Career
[edit]In 1945, Cohen married Burt Boyer, a baseball player in the military.[2] The couple settled in Beaver Dam in 1949, after the birth of their first daughter.[2] There, the couple opened Boyer's Furniture, which they co-ran for 32 years.[1]
After the local Chamber of Commerce barred her because she was a woman, Boyer channelled her business acumen into activism, first through the Wisconsin Commission on the Status of Women and, in June 1966, as one of the founders of National Organization for Women (NOW).[4] Within NOW, she served on the national board from 1968 to 1970 and as treasurer in 1970, devising its budgeting system and co-launching the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in 1970.[5] Back home she chaired Wisconsin NOW, co-drafted bylaws for the Wisconsin Women's Network (1979), and founded both the Wisconsin Business Women’s Coalition and the Jewish Women’s Coalition to link economic equity with feminist goals.[1][5]
Her advocacy extended to lobbying for the Equal Rights Amendment, marital-property reform, sexual-assault legislation and comprehensive sex education.[1]
Awards and honours
[edit]Boyer received several recognitions, including being named National Women-in-Business Advocate of the Year by the Reagan administration in 1985. She also served on the U.S. planning committee for the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in 1994–1995 and was named Wisconsin Stateswoman of the Year in 1997.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Gene Cohen Boyer". Women in Wisconsin.
- ^ a b c Lerner, Gerda (2009). Living with History/making Social Change. Univ of North Carolina Press. pp. 206–207. ISBN 978-0-8078-3293-6.
- ^ Crowley, Caroline (7 March 2023). "UW Women's History: Celebrate 40 influential women who graduated from UW, their accomplishments". The Badger Herald. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
- ^ Flynn, Keeley (19 August 2021). "Wisconsin's Feminist Leaders and the National Organization for Women". Wisconsin 101: Our History in Objects. Department of History, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
- ^ a b "VFA Pioneer Histories Project: Gene Cohen Boyer". Veteran Feminists of America. 5 March 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2025.