Peggy Charren

Charren founded Action for Children's Television in 1968 because she was so frustrated by the poor quality of programming — which she called "wall-to-wall monster cartoons" — available to her daughters. The group's first meeting involved just a few friends in her Newton living room. But the grassroots organization grew to thousands of members, working with the Federal Communications Commission to establish a children's television division and lobbying the National Association of Broadcasters to adopt voluntary guidelines for children's programming. ACT lobbied Congress, helping get the Children's Television Act passed in 1990. The act established programming standards, including advertising limits. ACT disbanded in 1992, but Charren continued to lobby until retirement in 2005. Charren is survived by her husband, Stanley, two daughters, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.