E

Crystal Eastman helped prepare the legal blueprints for the workers’ compensation program, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Equal Rights Amendment. She was nicknamed “the tigress” by Hazel Halliran, an equally fearless suffragist. Even Eastman’s enemies were willing to concede her absolute fairness and persuasive eloquence. A condescending newspaper announcement of her appointment as the only woman on the New York Employers’ Liability Commission in 1909 read: “Portia Appointed by Governor.”