![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
Aileen Hernandez, left, and Gloria Steinem, in January 2013. Ms. Hernandez "was warm and funny and elegant, but always authentic and authoritative," Ms. Steinem said.
Richard Shotwell/Invision, via Associated Press; thumbnail, Associated Press, 1965
Aileen Hernandez
Died on February 13, 2017 at age 90
Ms. Hernandez, one of the first African-American women to battle sex discrimination from both inside the government and in the top ranks of the women’s movement, succeeded Betty Friedan as president of the National Organization for Women in 1970.
Notable Deaths 2017
Remembering Mary Tyler Moore, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lewis, David Rockefeller, Trisha Brown, Glen Campbell, Dick Gregory, Edith Windsor, Sam Shepard, Tom Petty and many others who died this year.