Winifred C. Stanley

Although Winifred Stanley vied for a position on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, she was appointed to Patents and Civil Service Committees. Her background in law inspired her inclination to be appointed to the Judiciary, however those in charge of committee assignments (such as James W. Wadsworth Jr.) opposed women in the workplace vehemently and she received little support from her Republican colleagues due to her short-term status.[2]

Stanley was a major advocate for women's rights in society and the workplace, as she made very clear in her efforts against the New York Judicial System. She continued this work in Congress by introducing the first equal pay for equal work bill on June 19, 1944.[8] Stanley did this in the form of a bill to amend the NLRA (National Labor Relations Act of 1935). Her proposed amendment included a provision making it unlawful to discriminate against any employee on account of sex[9](HR 5056). Stanley made clear that she wanted to maintain in "peacetime the drive and energy which women have contributed to the war."[10] She introduced HR 5056 to the House floor with the accompanying statement, "It has often been remarked that this is a 'man's world.' The war and its far-reaching effects have provided the answer. It's 'our world,' and this battered old universe needs and will need the best brains and ability of both men and women."[11] Despite her efforts, the bill was referred to the Committee on Labor where it expired and was never made into law.

Stanley also argued for women to be commissioned as surgeons in the US Army, as well as being a great supporter for the fight to renew the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) in 1943.[12]

Beyond being an advocate for Women's rights, Stanley was a major proponent of Post-World War II reconstruction, and was well known as a driving force in sensible post-war planning.[2]

Stanley introduced a concurrent resolution calling for a special joint committee to discuss plausible legislation addressing postwar employment on January 24, 1944. This committee was, per her request, to deal with the influx of returning soldiers into the economy, who would flood the job market. In order to handle this effectively, Stanley suggested this be a bipartisan committee with members from every region of the country.[13]

Legislative records show that Stanley also supported Beardsley Ruml's 1943 plan to forgive all 1942 income taxes while instating a withholding tax on all 1943 wages. She supported this in hopes that the withheld tax could bring in an easily acquired source of revenue for federal government's war effort.[13]

In addition to this work, Stanley made a speech in the House of Representative's chambers proposing a resolution that would support an American delegation to the proposed UN (United Nations).

Stanley was a noted supporter of increasing wages for postal employees, along with eliminating the poll tax.[14]

She was a vocal opponent of New Deal programs during the 1944 campaign.[15]

She favored protecting veteran's rights, attempting to put forth legislation for construction of more Veterans' Administration hospitals in her constituency of Upstate New York.[2]

From January 1943 to December 1944, Stanley missed 8 of 156 roll call votes. This translated to missing 5.1%, better than the median of 7.1% among the lifetime records of Representatives serving in Dec 1944. The chart below reports missed votes over time.[16]