1963 – Equal Pay Act Signed Amidst Civil Rights Momentum

On June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, mandating equal pay for equal work regardless of sex. While this law was aimed broadly at gender discrimination, it had profound implications for Black women in the workforce, who faced both racial and gender-based wage gaps. The Act was signed during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, just weeks before Medgar Evers was assassinated and three months before the March on Washington. Though enforcement was weak initially, it signaled the federal government’s willingness to begin addressing structural inequities. Black civil rights leaders, including labor advocates like A. Philip Randolph, saw it as a companion piece to broader anti-discrimination legislation that would culminate in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.