[9] "McHale's skills in organization building and the sense of professionalism she passed on to the Association members meshed well with the Depression era's climate of public activism," noted historian Susan Levine in 1995.

[10] McHale took particular interest in women's health issues, encouraging AAUW members to learn about the early detection for cancer in the 1930s, when such campaigns were rare.

[11] But she steered the organization away from addressing the legalization of birth control, which she opposed personally, and which she worried would cause a split in AAUW's membership.

However, in 1946, the national board of the AAUW instructed that branches should not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race, religion or political affiliation.

[13] After leaving the AAUW executive office, McHale was the longest-serving member of the Subversive Activities Control Board, appointed in 1950 during the Truman administration,[14] and remaining involved until May 1956, a few months before her death.