Wilma Scott Heide (1921-1985)

Inspiration for activism!

Nurse who filed a complaint against the Pittsburgh Press for posting of classified ads
Wilma Scott Heide, 1985

by gender, claiming this practice discriminated against women, which resulted in a city ordinance banning the practice; the ban was upheld by the U.S. Supreme court in 1973.
Staged a protest in the US Senate in 1970, resulting in finally bringing out of committee the US Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the constitution.
Third President of the National Organization for Women (1971-1974); insisted on recognition and inclusion of lesbians in the organization.
Worked closely with the leadership of the American Nurses Association to advance nurses economic and general welfare; led in the ANA decision, in 1971, to support the Equal Rights Amendment (reversing their staunch public opposition).
Wrote one of the first articles on feminism published in the nursing literature: Heide, W. S. (1973). Nursing and women’s liberation–a parallel. The American Journal of Nursing, 73(5), 824–827.
Crossed the country in an “ERAmobile” in the summer of 1976, portraying the life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Wrote the Introduction to Jo Ann Ashley’s landmark book “Hospitals, Paternalism and the Role of the Nurse,” stating that: “It is not that nurses have done so little in spite of institutional oppression, what surely much be recognized is that nurses have done a great deal . . . . Feminist nurses invite and welcome other health care practitioners to create the kind of world where the power of love exceeds the love of power.”
Well known for her creative use of language and quips:
- “I do not refer to myself as a housewife for the reason that I did not marry a house”
- “The only jobs for which no man is qualified are human incubators and wet nurse. Likewise, the only job for which no woman is or can be qualified is a sperm donor”
- “The hand that rocks the cradle should also rock the boat.”
- “Semi-versities: Intellectual Rape” – referring to the utter lack of women’s perspectives in education and the gendering of knowledge.