Wattleton, Faye

Wattleton, Faye

(1943– ) nurse, social service advocate; born in St. Louis, Mo. A nurse who studied midwifery at Columbia University Medical School in 1964, she started as president of the Dayton, Ohio, Planned Parenthood chapter in 1967, becoming national president in 1978. As an African-American spokeswoman for abortion rights, she revamped the agency, making it a much more dynamic advocate for change in the nation's health, social, and political practices. In 1992 she left to host a television talk show.