Margaret Dunkle, “the unsung heroine” of the implementation of Title IX, spent much of her life advocating for the equal treatment of women. Her research laid the groundwork for the regulations that protect and support women college athletes.
The John Hanson Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution honored Dunkle last month as a notable Woman in American History. The organization’s program recognizes women who “have made significant contributions or made a difference in their communities.”
“It was an honor,” Dunkle, 76, said. “It was an unexpected honor to see that they had recognized Title IX and my work.”
Dunkle was recognized for her work implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, legislation that prohibited sex discrimination in schools and colleges that receive federal funding. She was also lauded for her work as a senior research scientist at George Washington University’s Department of Health Policy and her work advocating for the early developmental screening of children.
Mollie King, a member of the John Hanson Chapter, nominated Dunkle for this award because her work had such a significant impact on women.
“She truly is a woman of note in American history,” King said. “And she’s still doing amazing things after all these years.”
King said women are not honored for their achievements nearly enough and their contributions are every bit as important as those of men.
Dunkle grew up in Prince Frederick and eventually attended Syracuse University, graduating in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
From there, Dunkle started researching. She found her way to Boston, where she worked with Adele Simmons, who was the dean of Jackson College at Tufts University, on a book about sex discrimination in employment and education.
Title IX had just been passed into law on June 23, 1972, when Dunkle was looking for a new job opportunity.
The Project on the Status and Education of Women had just started in Washington, D.C., by the Association of American Colleges. It quickly became the hub of information regarding Title IX.
After becoming second-in-command to “the godmother of Title IX,” Bernice Sandler, Dunkle found herself researching gender discrimination in college sports.
“[Sandler] said, ‘Margaret, sports is going to become an issue … figure it out,’” Dunkle said.
Dunkle began researching and writing the first study done on women in college sports, but there was no data to draw upon.
“There was no information of any weight,” Dunkle said. “We had to use examples and then figure out what rang true.”
The examples came from newspapers, reports, master theses and anything else that contained small pieces of useful information.
Despite a lack of data, this groundbreaking 1974 report detailed a massive amount of discrimination against women in college sports and provided a blueprint for how Title IX would protect women in athletics.
“It’s so wonderful every time I meet someone, like someone who wants to be a lawyer, which would have been an unrealistic expectation before Title IX, just unrealistic,” Dunkle said. “Or someone who’s playing sports and credits that with lifelong accomplishment and joy.”
However, Title IX is not a safety net, Dunkle said, and it continuously needs further work and advocacy to keep it alive.
“People should realize a law is a law, which can be undone,” Dunkle said. “We thought the Equal Rights Amendment was going to pass and that would have made Title IX the icing on the cake. But now Title IX is the cake.”
Dunkle and some of her colleagues spent time lobbying on Capitol Hill in 1974 to keep Title IX intact. In 1975, they created the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, and just in her 20s, Dunkle became the first chair of that group.
“It was a marathon,” Dunkle said.
In addition to her fundamental role in the implementation of Title IX, Dunkle has done substantial work on early developmental screening, as the director of the Early Identification and Intervention Collaborative for Los Angeles County, Calif. Her work advocated for the wellbeing of children with disabilities or developmental delays.
Dunkle was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in 2012 and was named one of Maryland’s 100 Top Women in 2017.
Currently, Dunkle’s biggest undertaking is honoring Harriet Elizabeth Brown in Calvert County.
Brown was a school teacher in Calvert County in the 1930s and sued the county’s board of education in 1937 for equal pay, regardless of race. Brown had the help of NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall and the board settled, agreeing to equalize pay in the county.
Dunkle, heading a commission to honor Brown, successfully recommended a portrait of Brown be hung in the Calvert County Court House and a stretch of Maryland’s Route 2 be renamed to the Harriet Elizabeth Brown Memorial Highway.
She also suggested over 10 years ago that the county name an interim community center after Brown and make plans for a permanent community center and park to be built in her name. The county purchased 27 acres of land off of Fairground Road in Prince Frederick for the new center, however, this project has still not been finished.
Although Dunkle has done monumental work for women and others, this was never part of any plan, she said.
Dunkle said that at the time she had “no idea” where she was going to go.
“I mean, I would love to tell you I had a life plan and this was part of it,” she said. “But basically, I had the incredible honor of working with some incredible women and they helped me find this passion.”
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