Jean Satterthwaite Faust

Jean Satterthwaite Faust is an American women's rights activist.

Early life Faust was born March 19, 1930, in Tarboro, North Carolina. She was the eighth of nine children born to Hattie Lee Bradley Satterthwaite and George Dewey Satterthwaite, tenant farmers. According to Faust, "Our family was saved from poverty by the Roosevelt New Deal, specifically the Resettlement Act, which leased abandoned farms on long-term mortgages to families who needed a boost." As she explained:As organizing president I prepared the Chapter Kit, held Chapter meetings; answered mail, sent mailings all without benefit of office space, equipment, supplies or secretary. Any available area of our small apartment was office; our phone was NOW's phone. Equipment and supplies were cadged where members worked; only stationery, stamps and paper were purchased. We had no expense account. Later, as we gained membership, there was limited reimbursement. My husband suffered many inconveniences because of my work with NOW and paid for it, both in money and inconveniences. He also paid for my trips to meetings and conventions...I handled mailings on NOW proposals for New York State Constitutional Convention (up to 10 pages, 200 packets no copying equipment, no Xerox machine) to all delegates about six times. I made appearances at hearings, did mailings to women's groups asking support for proposals. (In those early days, little support was forthcoming from women's groups; their causes were peace, anti-nuclear efforts and social issues such as care of children and poverty; they did not comprehend that there were women's issues.) In 1968, Faust was alerted by Sonia Pressman from the EEOC that the Senate Finance Committee had included an amendment onto a soil conservation bill that would allow large companies to treat men and women differently in retirement policies, forcing women to retire earlier with fewer benefits. She rallied support to object to this attack on the rights of working women.

In 1970, Faust resigned from Congressman Ryan's office and her position running the NYC chapter of NOW due to poor health after contracting tuberculosis.

Faust married author Irvin Faust on August 29, 1959.

Organizations National Organization for Women activities: 1966-67 First President of the first chapter of National Organization for Women; NOW - New York Vice President NOW Chair of the Committee on the EEOC 12/1968 - 03/1970: National NOW legislative Co-Chair 1968-69 National NOW, board of directors