The Hartley Ten

The Hartley Ten was a group of ten female senators, founded by Senator Marianne Hernandez, that was active between 1488 and 1500. When the group was founded in March 1488, it was compromised of the only ten female senators in the Senate. The aim of the group was to 'promote the role and activity of women in the Kinkow Senate and the encouragement of more women to run for election to the body'. The group was responsible for the founding of the Senate Select Committee on Women and Equalities. The crowning achievement of the group was the passage of the Equal Pay Act or 'the Hartley Act' of 1494, which was signed into law by President Clifford A. Oliver on the 29th January 1494. The act made it binding law that all businesses pay their male and female employees the same wage for the same work.

When the group was founded, it comprised seven Freerian senators and 3 Welfarian senators: Marianne Hernandez (Free), Julianne Oliver (Free), June Seinfeld (Free), Bette Strickland (Free), Josephine Crawley (Free), Catherine Weston (Free), Mary Carmichael (Free), Jean Westburg (Welfare), Debbie Davies (Welfare) and Linda Michaels (Welfare). By 1500, the group had increased to 16 members. Until 1492, the group was led solely by Senator Marianne Hernandez, who was a mentor for most female senators of the time. However, after 1492, Hernandez would lead the group jointly with Senator Debbie Davies, as a symbol of bi-partisanship within the group and 'unity among Senate women'.

The group borrowed its name from the Hartley Senate Building, where the founding and the first meeting of the group took place.

The Hartley Ten was dissolved in 1500, following the retirement of Senator Marianne Hernandez and the establishment of the Senatorial Women's Caucus. The Hartley Ten was thus a precursor to the Women's Caucus, which still exists to the present day.