Despite degrees in education, with a concentration in special education, Wilson explored a number of jobs, including flight attendant for TWA, research analyst for the Department of Labor, and convention sales for a hotel, where she quickly rose to the top of her profession.
As she was training two men to work under her, she discovered they were earning more in salary than she was. “I walked out,” she said later, “and joined the women’s movement.” She excelled there, too: she ended up as the chair of the National Women’s Political Caucus, a bipartisan organization to promote women’s participation in the political process, from 1981-1985.
During her years as chair, Wilson encouraged women to run for political office, promoted the appointment of women to high government positions, such as the president’s cabinet, and lobbied for equal pay for equal work. Wilson spent the last 14 years in her original profession, serving as the director of a preschool in Alexandria, Va. She died September 1, apparently from heart failure. She was 54.