In her first senate speech, she successfully argued for an end to discrimination against women teachers in Massachusetts public schools.

She was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, the daughter of Mary Botelho and José Leite, both Portuguese immigrants.

[1] After graduating from Durfee High School in 1932, she wanted to go to college but, as she explained in an interview, "as the oldest girl in a family of 12, I had to go right to work."

Soon she began taking part in the League's fundraising drives, and organized a Junior Council for young members.

[3] Concerned about rising unemployment in her area, she successfully ran for state senate in 1952, running a low-budget campaign out of her family's modest third-floor apartment.

When a male teacher gets married, his pay is not lowered, nor are his annual leave and pension rights taken from him, yet there is a double standard where women are concerned.