Laura J. Moriarty oral history interview, July 10, 2005

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: W008_MoriartyL_20050710

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Janet Paulk: Laura Moriarty begins her oral history by describing her childhood experiences growing up in a Catholic family in Cleveland, Ohio. She talks about her education and her perceptions of gender discrimination, then discusses her job at Merrill Lynch, first in Cleveland and then in Washington, D.C. Moving to Georgia where she attended Emory University, she describes her political activities, and then goes on to discuss her involvement with various groups, including the League of Women Voters. She talks about her work with the Commission on Gender Bias, to which she was appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court, and then discusses her efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in Georgia, as well as her involvement with “the Abigails,” a non-partisan group of influential women that she co-founded in Dekalb County. Moriarty ends by discussing the impact that the women’s movement had both on her own life and on the lives of others.

Dates

Creation: July 10, 2005

Creator

Moriarty, Laura J., 1945- (Interviewee, Person)

Restriction on Access

Oral history available for research in the Special Collections and Archives Reading Room.

Biographical Note

Laura J. Moriarty has a master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Georgia, and as of 2001 was employed as a Business Analyst for the Information and Techology Division of Emory University. She was editor and manager of Emory's Publication on Information Technology at Emory University, a prize-winning higher educatin IT journal for educators.

Moriarty has been very active in commuity and civic affairs for sever years. Between 1981 and 1984, she served as president, League of Women Voters of Georgia and then lobbyist and portfolio lead on ethics; second vice president of Economic Opportunity Authority of DeKalb County; and vice president of Soroptimist International of Atlanta. She also cofounded the Dekalb Network for Women along with Roberta Malavenda and Gretta Dewald. Moriarty was chair of the Community Services and Development Advisory Council of the Atlanta Regional Commission, 1983-1985, and of the Elected and Appointed Women in DeKalb County, 1985-1986. Appointed by the Supreme Court of Georgia to the Commission on Gender Bias, Moriarty served 1989-1993, and co-authored the chapter on “Judicial Ethics” in the final report, which was reprinted in the Georgia Law Review.