Selma Munter Borchardt

Selma Munter Borchardt (December 1, 1895 – January 30, 1968) was an American educator, lawyer, labor leader and lobbyist. Between 1946 and 1951 she was a member of the committee that drafted the UNESCO charter. In 1935 she was nominated as a member of the National Advisory board of National Youth Administration by Franklin D. Roosevelt. She also served at the U.S Office of Education in the Wartime Education Commission (1941–1945).

Biography Born on December 1, 1895, in Washington, D.C., United States, Selma Munter Borchardt was the daughter of Newman Borchardt, a soldier and government official, and Sara Munter. Her family emigrated from Germany. In 1914 she graduated from Washington's Central High School. She continued her higher education at the Syracuse University, New York, where she earned an A.B. degree and a B.S. in education. Later, in 1933, she graduated with LL.B degree from the Washington College of Law (later became as American University Washington College of Law). Meanwhile, she got an A.M. degree in sociology from the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, in 1937.

As a legislative representative of the AFT, she played instrumental role in bringing “legislations to raise teachers' salaries, promote adult literacy, and provide health care for children and financial aid for students.”

She was associated with a number of professional institutions including the World Federation of Education Organizations, the American Association of University Women, and the Educational Planning Committee of Institute of World Studies.

She died on January 30, 1968, in Washington, D.C.

Publications Borchardt wrote a number of books, articles and policy notes related to education, labor rights and children's welfare. These include

Education Who Selects Our Textbooks (1926) The Relation of School Attendance Laws and Child Labor Laws (1930) Labor's Program for the Prevention of Juvenile and Youth Delinquency (1943) Getting and Keeping Children in School (1954) A Citizen's Responsibility for the Education of Children and Youth (1954) Program for Accelerated Training of Earlier School Dropout (1960)

Law The Teaching of International Cooperation in the Secondary Schools of the United States (1945) The Structure and Work of the International Teacher Organizations (1945) Balancing the Rights of the Individual and the Rights of Society (1960)