Former Kansas congresswoman Martha Keys passed away last Thursday. She was 94.
In the mid-60s, Keys worked as a Democratic campaigner, eventually running George McGovern’s 1972 political campaign in the state. Keys served Kansas’ 2nd congressional district for two terms and served Manhattan while she was in Congress. She was elected to Congress during the Watergate elections of 1974 but was defeated in her bid for a third term in 1978 by James Edmund Jeffries.
Keys was a strong supporter of the Title IX Amendment that created equal opportunity for female athletes in high school and college, and prohibited gender discrimination at public colleges. She also fundamentally changed Social Security, sponsoring a bill that divided Social Security credits among married couples to both individuals, rather than just the income-earner.
After her departure from Congress, Keys served as a special advisor to the Secretary of the formerly named Department of Health, Education and Welfare from February 1979 to May 1980 and then was assistant Secretary of Education from June 1980 to January 1981.
