Lives of Consequence
Nancy Kelley Hammond '59
The late Nancy Kelley Hammond '59 was a critical force in the 1970s Women's Movement in Michigan, but her work as a feminist began, as she once said, accidently, when she and her friend Mary Hellman published the Michigan Legislative Report in 1972.
The report was a compilation of legislators' voting records on issues of importance to women, and it provided details on the individual bills, the votes on each one, and the overall ranking of each legislator on the total. After a press conference to discuss their findings with the Capitol press corps, the Report became the subject of news articles in papers throughout the state.
Hammond and Hellman continued their partnership, first by writing and publishing Eryines, the state's first newsletter for women, and then by representing the Greater Lansing area at the organizing meeting of the Michigan Women's Political Caucus, of which they became founding members. Hammond was elected chair of its Legislative committee. She and Hellman were instrumental in adding colleges and universities to the revised Public Accommodations Act of 1972, which prohibited discrimination based on sex or marital status.
Her work with the Michigan legislature and state-wide women's groups led to her appointment as assistant director of the Michigan Women's Commission where, as legislative liaison, she worked to promote legal equality for women. She successfully added discrimination based on sex and marital status to the prohibitions in the Fair House Act of 1975; and her influence on the Elliott-Larson Civil Rights Act of 1976 added hospitals and health-care centers as covered employers under the Act.
Hammond also organized Michigan's first legislative network for women. She distributed monthly news reports giving details of legislative action on bills affecting women and testified at legislative hearings on the bills. She also led workshops on the legislative process so that women's groups could mobilize and participate.
Hammond's responsibilities also included research, extensive public speaking, and constituent relations, all focused on educating women about their rights and recourse under federal and state laws. She was the author and editor of several Commission publications, including Domestic Assault, a report on the Commission's state-wide hearings on the subject.
From the Women's Commission, Hammond moved to the Department of Management and Budget (DMB) where she was appointed assistant to the Director of the Budget Office. Among other duties, she wrote the Governor's annual Budget Message to the Legislature.
Following her management of the Governor's state-wide hiring freeze, she was named Budget Person of the Year by the DMB director. She also received a Diana Award, an honor conferred by the Greater Lansing YWCA to recognize distinguished achievement in the arts, business and industry, and government, among other fields.
Changing directions again, Hammond was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to Michigan Gov. James J. Blanchard. She was the first woman to hold this position.
Her final stop in State service was her appointment as Director of the Office of Budget and Finance, Michigan Department of Public Health, where she directed the Department's budget, accounting, grants, and auditing functions.
At William Smith, Hammond was the editor of the Herald, a member of Little Theatre and Phi Delta honorary society. She graduated cum laude and married Ellis S. Hammond '57.
In 1979, Hammond received a master's degree in labor and industrial relations from Michigan State University, where she was elected to Phi Kappa Phi honorary society. She was then accepted as a member of the American Arbitration Association's Panel of Arbitrators, which worked to resolve contract disputes out of court.
In 2006, Hammond was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame at their 23rd annual awards dinner as "one of the premier feminists of the Second Wave of the Women's Movement in Michigan."
Hammond passed away surrounded by family in March 2017. The William Smith Alumnae Association honored the late Hammond with a posthumous Alumna Achievement Award for her lifelong dedication to public service and gender equality.