Margaret Bradnum
Advocate for Women's Rights
Researched by Justine Trinh and Lauryn Chew
Through her involvement in the National Organization for Women (NOW), Margaret Bradnum was chosen to represent San Bernardino as a delegate to the 1977 National Women's Conference. Bradnum has devoted much of her life to publicly speaking out against sex discrimination.
An Independent Woman
Margaret Bradnum was born in England on June 21, 1942, and immigrated to the United States in 1962 after marrying Francis J. Cleary, a United States serviceman. The couple had two daughters, Dawn Cundy and Sharon Preszler. Bradnum was not allowed to stay on the army base when her husband served in Thailand, so she returned to England for a year. As a result of extended separation, she became a more independent, which clashed with Cleary's expectation of her as a wife and largely contributed to her divorce in 1972.
Fearless and Feminist
After struggling to find a job following her divorce, Bradnum became involved with the NOW. In 1975, she worked as the coordinator of the YWCA Women's Center in San Bernardino and spoke with fellow NOW member Vicki Rodgers about "Adjusting to Divorce" at San Bernardino Valley College, the San Bernardino YMCA, and the San Bernardino YWCA.
"There were the poor, the Blacks, the Chicanas, the lesbians — all of them seeking only their own particular goals. At this conference, all those differences were forgotten. We worked together for a common cause and we accomplished that cause."
- Margaret Bradnum, National Women's Conference, 1977
During the Conference
Bradnum represented San Bernardino as a California delegate to the National Women's Conference and spoke in favor of increasing the Women's Commission budget.
At the time, she was also the chairperson for the San Bernardino County Human Resource Center on the county Commission on the Status of Women. There, she set up counseling programs, medical and financial support, job training, child services, and housing for women.
Decades after the conference...
In 1980, Bradnum served as a chairperson for the Junior Achievement Committee for the Community Service Division in San Bernardino. She was also the first female title representative at the insurance company she worked at and later became a real estate agent. While she was less involved with NOW after the conference, she continued to speak out against inequities in spite of her upbringing in England. Her contributions empowered her daughters to pursue their passions as Cundy is currently a social worker while Prezler was the first woman to fly F-16s for the Air Force and is now a retired pilot.
...her legacy lives on.
