January 24, 1956
“NEW YORK—…It is not too early, I think, to remind my readers that the 59th anniversary of the founding of the National Congress of Parents and Teachers will be celebrated on Founder’s Day, Friday, November 17. Mrs. Rollin Brown, the national president, has announced that special programs will be held in most of the 41,000 local units across the country.
I feel that the PTA is one of the most important organizations in the country, primarily because it can wield the greatest influence on our future because of its close touch with the children of our country.
The organization was founded in Washington, D.C., on February 17, 1897, by two valiant women, Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst, who held that “what is right and good for the favored children is right and good for all children.”
This was a most advanced view for those days, and even today we have not achieved the equality of opportunity for all children which they hoped for. However, we are doing better every year, and I think this organization has helped in the progress achieved for all of our children.”