Elder Statements: Mary Rose Oakar

Before serving on Cleveland City Council from 1973 to 1976, Oakar taught at Lourdes Academy and Cuyahoga Community College, relishing in the importance of educating youth. She then became the first Democratic female from Ohio to be elected to Congress. During her 16 years on Capitol Hill, Oakar advocated for women by pushing for inclusion in medical research and creating a bipartisan group where women could support important legislation. She was also one of nearly 100 members of Congress involved in the House Banking Scandal of 1991. She has since become a member of the Ohio State Board of Education. 

I absolutely love teaching. There’s a line by Kahlil Gibran where he says, “A good educator leads you to an awareness of your own mind.”

There are several ways to look at knowledge, either for its own sake or to entertain or for truth. That’s what I wanted young people to know, what is the truth of what we’re talking about?

When I went to Congress, there were only 16 women out of 535 people. It was a male-dominated field.

We had to fight like crazy to get women in clinical trials. For breast cancer, they used men. Can you imagine? Two percent of those who had breast cancer were guys, but 98 percent were women. There was a real glass ceiling.

I learned a lot from traveling as a member of Congress. It changes your whole perspective on what America is all about when you go elsewhere.

I saw a lot of poverty. I saw warfare. I went to different refugee camps around the world, and I saw little children dying.

You get an appreciation for the kinds of values we have as Americans. Even though we have poverty and all that, there are accessible opportunities here.

You have to have thick skin if you’re in public office. If they want to destroy somebody, they can do it.

If I didn’t think that I had something to offer with whatever experience I had, I would have never run for anything else.

In order to overcome adversity you have to have faith in yourself even if you’ve made a mistake. You can continue and learn from it, and try to help others who may be going through similar things.

Shakespeare said, “To thine own self be true.” It comes back to what you think of yourself.