Elizabeth Martin Meek Collection

Elizabeth Ann Fox Martin Meek (1928--2020) was a prominent aerospace educator who, in 1975, filed a successful class action lawsuit against the University of South Alabama on behalf of women faculty and administrators alleging sexual discrimination in pay and benefits. This collection consists of the following items relating to the career of Dr. Elizabeth Martin Meek: the event program for the Crown Circle awards ceremony presented by the 1981 National Congress on Aerospace Education during which Dr. Martin was inducted into the group; a photocopied news clipping from the January 6, 1981 issue of The Mobile Register regarding the sex discrimination lawsuit filed by Dr. Martin on behalf of female faculty and administrators at the University of South Alabama; and the August 9, 1988 issue of The Vanguard, the student newspaper of the University of South Alabama, regarding the final settlement of the lawsuit.

Elizabeth Ann Fox Martin Meek (1928--2020) received her Associate of Science degree from Walker Junior College and went on to study at the University of Alabama where she received her Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Education in Secondary Education degrees. Martin joined the faculty of the University of South Alabama in 1966 where she started an aerospace education workshop, a program she directed and continued to expand throughout her time there. Martin was appointed as the Alabama State Director for the National Aerospace Education Association (NAEA) in 1974, and was later appointed to the NAEA's Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Martin was active in education policy in Alabama, including service as chairperson for the Alabama Course of Study Committee that was appointed to rewrite the state's science curriculum, and also worked to ensure that aerospace education was included in the course of study in public schools. Martin served on the Education Commission of the Air Force Association and as chairperson for the steering committee that organized the US Aerospace Education Institute. Martin was a member of the Civil Air Patrol, and served as Aerospace Education Officer for the Mobile Composite Squadron. In 1981, Martin was inducted into the Crown Circle of the National Congress on Aerospace Education, and she was named Woman of the Year by the Alabama Women's Political Caucus in 1985. In 1975, Martin filed a successful class action lawsuit against the University of South Alabama on behalf of women faculty and administrators alleging sexual discrimination in pay and benefits. When finally settled in 1988, the suit resulted in what was reported at the time to be the largest settlement from this type of suit against an institution of higher learning, as well as resulting in the court-ordered formation of a new Affirmative Action Committee at the University of South Alabama and an Affirmative Action plan that was court-monitored for five years, and the stipulation that all search committees at the university be made up of at least 25 percent women members. During her marriage to her second husband, Martin was known as Elizabeth Martin Meek.