Margaret F. Ackroyd

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Margaret F. Ackroyd (née O’Connor; January 15, 1908 – July 4, 1995) was an American civil servant from Providence, Rhode Island. Known as Peggy to friends, she dedicated her life to helping women, children, and workers.

Early life and education
- Born in Providence, Rhode Island.
- Attended Hope High School.
- Earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Rhode Island in 1929.

Career and impact
- In the 1930s, worked as a statistician for Rhode Island’s state government, but was fired in 1938 for her gender.
- Became Executive Secretary of the Rhode Island Consumer’s League.
- In 1940, appointed Chief of the Rhode Island Division of Women and Children and Commissioner of Minimum Wage for the state, positions she held until retirement in 1970.
- Helped Rhode Island create its first minimum wage orders and labor standards laws, and worked on protections for workers in the jewelry industry, including piecework.
- Founded Rhode Island’s Commission on the Status of Women (now the Commission on Women).
- Appointed to the national Commission on the Status of Women in 1962.
- Received an honorary doctorate from the University of Rhode Island in 1968.

Later life and honors
- After retiring, remained active by speaking on women’s, children’s, and labor issues; served as a roving ambassador for the U.S. Department of Labor and as a consultant to the Organization of American States.
- Named the Providence Journal’s Man of the Year in 1971.
- Inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1972.

Death
- Died on July 4, 1995, at the age of 87.