And this was pretty important in my life, because we said "Enough of you fat old Irishmen, we are going to run for office and we're serious about it." And we can stand the heat—there's a saying "if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen," and we can stand the heat and we won't get out of the kitchen and we're going to run for office, and so we had a bunch of women that we designated just out of the clear blue sky to run for county offices that year, and I was the spokesperson, and I got up and I said "now you know these women— there are 32 names on the ticket and there's not one woman and you better put a woman on." These are the women that we suggest for these offices. This was the first time that television had ever covered the nomination process. So, it was on television, and I was on TV, and then, I get a call from Mayor Daley saying "will you run for office?" and I said "no, no, no, I'm a queen maker not the candidate." And he said, "I thought you said women were ready to run for office Mrs. Alter," and he threw the gauntlet down. I said "I'll call my husband!" I ran and I ran first out of all 32 on the ballot.

How to Cite This Page
For a bibliography: Jewish Women's Archive. "Jewish Women's Archive - Women Who Dared - Joanne Alter on PATH TO ACTIVISM." <http://jwa.org/exhibits/wwd/jsp/fullAnswer.jsp>.

For a footnote: Jewish Women's Archive, "Jewish Women's Archive - Women Who Dared - Joanne Alter on PATH TO ACTIVISM," <http://jwa.org/exhibits/wwd/jsp/fullAnswer.jsp>.