| Honored by: | James C. Skaine |
| Brick location: | F:29 map |
Rosemarie Skaine was the Voters Service Chair and President of the local League of Women Voters Cedar Falls-Waterloo, IA in the late 1960s. In the early 1970s she was my campaign manager for my campaign as primary Democratic candidate, U.S. Congress in 1974. Previously, she had taught in high school, college and served as an Administrative Assistant to Dean Helen Canoyer, Chair, President John F. Kennedy's Consumer Advisory Council at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.
Rosemarie received her M.A. degree in 1977 from the University of Northern Iowa. Her thesis topic researched perceptions of inequity. Honorary society memberships include Pi Kappa Delta (Speech) and Alpha Kappa Delta (Sociology). She co-authored a scholarly article on the same topic in the journal, Osmania, in India. She co-authored two scholarly articles on sexual harassment in the early 1980s; one appeared in the National Journal of Social Work and the other in Sociology and Social Welfare.
In 1980, the Iowa Commission on the Status of Women asked her to conduct workshops on sexual harassment for women in non-traditional jobs. She wrote a pamphlet, Sexual Harassment: Questions and Answers which was used in workshops for the Commission and the U.S. Postal Service. She revised the pamphlet in 1990 into a book entitled Sexual Harassment: Questions and Answers 2nd Revised Edition. The Affirmative Action Office, UNI, distributed the book to every Director, Dean and Department Head with a strong cover letter. The book has been distributed nationally and internationally. It was translated into Chinese in 1993.
Rosemarie's writing skills are not limited to scholarly research. In 1985 she published a story in a national romance magazine. Other fiction works were accepted for short novels, but her health dictated she temporarily lay down her pen. She traveled with me to China where she gave presentations on the contemporary American family and co-presentations with me on teaching methods. Rosemarie has written, a book Power and Gender: Issues of Sexual Dominance and Harassment, which will be published by McFarland and Co. Publishers, Inc., in early 1996. The book includes definitions, theoretical perspectives, legal overview, and a qualitative analysis of Letters of Finding (LOFS) from the U.S. Department of Education. Senator Charles Grassley, R. IA is featured in the chapter on sexual harassment in government. The Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings are used as a common ground for reader and author. The sexual harassment in the military chapter is based on government documents and personal interviews featuring high ranking officers.
As she researches and writes, she continues to consult with businesses and agencies, as well as victims. She has made many presentations at public forums and scholarly meetings. The media has interviewed her numerous times. She has contributed to three television documentaries, one in 1981 for KWWL-TV and again in 1991 and 1992 with KCET public TV in Los Angeles. She has testified in a court of law as an expert witness on sexual harassment. She was a Steering Committee member for Senator Grassley's Iowa Woman Conference 94. She is employed in a time and space controlled occupation as a departmental secretary at UNI.
Her courage, faith and hope in the face of limited resources, including time, is humbling. She leads by example. It is to the boundless in her that I nominate her to the Carrie Chapman Catt Roll of Honor in the Plaza of Heroines.
Submitted on 3/5/94