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Quick Facts
- NAME: Faye Wattleton
- OCCUPATION: Women's Rights Activist, Business Leader, Nurse, Philanthropist
- BIRTH DATE: July 08, 1943 (Age: 69)
- EDUCATION: Ohio State University, Columbia University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: St. Louis, Missouri
- Full Name: Alyce Faye Wattleton
- AKA: Faye Wattleton
- ZODIAC SIGN: Cancer
Best Known For
Faye Wattleton, former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood—as well as the first African-American, first female and youngest president in the organization's history—has been one of the strongest champions of women's rights and reproductive health for more than four decades.
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Play NowFaye Wattleton. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 04:16, Jun 19, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/faye-wattleton-11608.
Faye Wattleton. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/faye-wattleton-11608 [Accessed 19 Jun 2013].
"Faye Wattleton." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 19 2013, 04:16 http://www.biography.com/people/faye-wattleton-11608.
"Faye Wattleton," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/faye-wattleton-11608 [accessed Jun 19, 2013].
"Faye Wattleton," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/faye-wattleton-11608 (accessed Jun 19, 2013).
Faye Wattleton [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 19] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/faye-wattleton-11608.
Faye Wattleton, http://www.biography.com/people/faye-wattleton-11608 (last visited Jun 19, 2013).
Faye Wattleton. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/faye-wattleton-11608. Accessed Jun 19, 2013.
Synopsis
Faye Wattleton was born on July 8, 1943, in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1970, she became executive director of Planned Parenthood of Miami Valley. In 1978, she was named president and CEO of the the national Planned Parenthood Federation of America—becoming the first African-American, the first female and the youngest president of the reproductive health-care organization. During her 14 years as president, Wattleton helped to significantly expand the organization; when she resigned in 1992,
Quotes
"My satisfaction comes from my commitment to advancing a better world."
"One of the sad commentaries on the way women are viewed in our society is that we have to fit one category. I have never felt that I had to be in one category."
"I have never believed in the impossible."
Planned Parenthood encompassed 170 affiliates in 49 states. In 1996, Wattleton helped found the Center for the Advancement of Women.
Early Life and Career
One of the strongest champions of women's rights and reproductive health for more than four decades, Faye Wattleton is best known for her groundbreaking career with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation: She is the first African American, the first woman and the youngest person to serve as president of the nonprofit reproductive health-care organization.
Born Alyce Faye Wattleton on July 8, 1943, in St. Louis, Missouri, Faye Wattleton is the daughter of mother Ozie Wattleton, who made a living as a Church of God minister and seamstress, and father George Wattleton, a factory worker. Both of her parents were deeply religious, and she "was raised in a very sheltered, sheltered environment. No smoking, drinking, dancing, movies," Wattleton later wrote. Her mother frequently traveled to different parts of the country to preach, accompanied by her father, and the couple often left their daughter in the care of relatives or other members of their faith for periods of time.
An excellent student, Wattleton enrolled at The Ohio State University when she was only 16 years old. In 1964, she graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in nursing. In 1966, Wattleton moved to New York City to attend Columbia University, where she pursued a master's degree in maternal and infant care. But it was also in New York City that, while completing an internship, she witnessed firsthand the suffering—and sometimes fatality—caused by illegal and unsafe abortions during an internship.
Returning to Ohio after finishing her degree, Wattleton encountered more women in need of better reproductive health care as assistant director of the Montgomery County Combined Public Health District in Dayton. She joined the board of directors for Planned Parenthood of Miami Valley and became its executive director in 1970. An activist for reproductive rights, Wattleton supported legalizing abortion. Then, in 1973, the famous Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade made abortions legal.
Pioneering Career with Planned Parenthood
Faye Wattleton made history in 1978, when she was named president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America—becoming the first African-American, the first female and the youngest president in the organization's history. During her 14 years as president of the national reproductive health-care organization, which provides medical and educational services, Planned Parenthood saw incredible growth; in addition to becoming the nation's seventh largest nonprofit organization, with an aggregate budget of $500 million, Planned Parenthood had expanded to include 170 affiliates in 49 states and the District of Columbia by the time Wattleton resigned from her post in 1992.
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