Women's Equity Action League

WEAL was founded in 1968 by a group of professional women, mostly lawyers, in Cleveland, Ohio, who originally hoped to begin a NOW (National Organization for Women) chapter. Realizing NOW's agenda would not garner widespread support in Cleveland, they began their own group and limited their concerns to education, legislation, and the economic rights of women. WEAL challenged sex discrimination on college campuses, in the military, and in the work place. The WEAL Fund was established in 1972 as the tax deductible arm of WEAL; the two organizations merged in 1981. WEAL ceased to exist in 1989.

The Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) was a national membership organization, with state chapters and divisions, dedicated to improving the status and lives of all women by concentrating on economic advancement and using as methods education, litigation, and legislation. Objecting to the National Organization for Women's (NOW) support of women's right to abortion, as well as to NOW's tactics of picketing and demonstrating in pursuit of its goals, Betty Boyer and other Ohio members of NOW founded WEAL in 1968. The WEAL Fund was incorporated in 1972 to help secure legal rights for women and to carry on educational and research projects on sex discrimination. It was the tax-deductible arm of the Women's Equity Action League until 1981, when it merged with WEAL. WEAL took steps toward dissolution in 1989.

The Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) was a national membership organization, with state chapters and divisions, dedicated to improving the status and lives of all women by concentrating on economic advancement primarily through education, litigation, and legislation. Objecting to the National Organization for Women's (NOW) support of women's right to abortion, as well as to NOW's tactics of picketing and demonstrating in pursuit of its goals, Betty Boyer and other Ohio members of NOW founded WEAL in 1968. The WEAL Fund was incorporated in 1972 to help secure legal rights for women and to carry on educational and research projects on sex discrimination. It was the tax-deductible arm of the Women's Equity Action League until 1981, when it merged with WEAL. WEAL took steps toward dissolution in 1989.

WEAL was founded in 1968 by a group of professional women, mostly lawyers, in Cleveland, Ohio, who originally hoped to begin a NOW (National Organization for Women) chapter. Realizing NOW's agenda would not garner widespread support in Cleveland, they began their own group and limited their concerns to education, legislation, and the economic rights of women. WEAL challenged sex discrimination on college campuses, in the military, and in the work place. The WEAL Fund was established in 1972 as the tax deductible arm of WEAL; the two organizations merged in 1981. WEAL ceased to exist in 1989. For more historical information, see the finding aids for the WEAL Records, MC 500 and MC 311 .

An organization founded in 1968 that worked tom improve the social, economic, and legal status of all women. The Women in the Military Project was just one of many WEAL activities.

The Women's Equity Action League was a national membership organization, with state chapters and divisions, dedicated to improving the status and lives of all women primarily through education, litigation, and legislation. Its sister organization, the WEAL Fund, was incorporated in 1972 "to help secure legal rights for women and to carry on educational and research projects on sex discrimination." The Fund was not a membership organization, and under federal tax law, as a 501(c)3 organization (non-profit and tax-exempt), could not engage in legislative activities. The two organizations merged in 1981 (see below), following changes in the tax code in 1976 that clarified the extent to which public charities could lobby without jeopardizing their tax status.

WEAL had its beginnings in Cleveland, Ohio. Objecting to the National Organization for Women's (NOW) support of women's right to abortion, as well as to NOW's tactics of picketing and demonstrating in pursuit of its goals, Elizabeth ("Betty") Boyer and other Ohio members of NOW founded WEAL in 1968. Boyer, first national president, explained why and how WEAL was organized (see #1.27).

"In 1966 and earlier many of us saw a need for concentrated activity in the women's rights area. We saw a need for an organization that would coordinate other organizations and concentrate on economic advancement for women.... To explore the possibilities, we asked Martha Griffiths to come to speak in the spring of 1968. Nearly 300 persons came. From this attendance list we circulated a letter inquiring whether they would be interested in an organization such as WEAL. The response was encouraging."

"We held several small planning meetings that summer and by autumn we had lined up nearly a hundred members, mostly Clevelanders. In October we held an incorporating meeting to apply for corporate status as an Ohio nonprofit corporation. In early November the actual incorporation took place...."

WEAL's stated purposes were the following:

The following brief chronology for 1968-1980 combines information from Betty Boyer (prepared for the 1975 convention) and various WEAL publications. The national newsletters, as well as Board minutes and mailings, are excellent sources of detailed information; additional historical material is in #1.27-1.36.

By 1980, it was apparent that WEAL and the WEAL Fund had identity problems in the larger public that were harming the fundraising efforts of each organization. With overlapping structures and interests, they were competing for the same scarce resources. After months of study and negotiation, a merger proposal was brought before the membership at the annual meeting. In May 1981, after months of discussion and negotiation, WEAL (incorporated in Ohio) and WEAL Fund (incorporated in the District of Columbia) merged, with WEAL Fund designated the surviving corporation. WEAL transferred all remaining assets to WEAL Fund, all members of WEAL became members of WEAL Fund, and WEAL Fund changed its name to Women's Equity Action League (WEAL).

This newly named WEAL was headquartered and incorporated in the District of Columbia, with its stated purposes being:

The first Board of Directors was formed by merging the two existing boards for one year. There were seven standing committees: Executive, Legal, Program, Legislative, Finance and Development, Membership, and Editorial. Special and advisory committees were appointed as deemed necessary. Fund acting executive director Char Mollison was hired as the executive director for the new organization; she served through April 1989, when she left for another job.

At the annual May meetings, the membership traditionally reviewed WEAL's activities for the past year, and set the agenda for the next. After the merger, the original WEAL's "action agenda" expanded to include public policy initiatives in the Executive branch, as well as legislation. Throughout the 1980s, WEAL's economic agenda stressed the following issues: Title IX; women in the military; reproductive health; equity in the workplace (pensions, insurance, family and medical leave, child and dependent care, pay equity, affirmative action, enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, health insurance, sexual harassment); women as entrepreneurs; ERA; women and the Federal budget; Social Security; violence, abuse and harassment; health; homemakers; and lifestyles. They participated in issue-based coalitions, conducted research, and testified before Congressional committees and other government agencies.

From a dependence on federal government funding, which at one time provided 50% of their income, WEAL shifted to raising money entirely from the private sector: predominantly foundations, corporate fundraising events, and membership dues, and sales of publications. By the late 1980s, difficult economic times nationally, as well as a right-wing, anti-feminist shift in the political climate, took its toll. Unable to secure necessary funding for its many projects and activities, WEAL took steps to dissolve its corporation in late 1989.

Listed below are the presidents and executive directors of the two organizations, with their terms of office.

The Women's Equity Action League was a national membership organization, with state chapters and divisions, founded in 1968 and dedicated to improving the status and lives of all women primarily through education, litigation, and legislation. Its sister organization, the WEAL Fund, was incorporated in 1972 "to help secure legal rights for women and to carry on educational and research projects on sex discrimination." The Fund was not a membership organization, and under federal tax law, as a 501(c)3 organization, could not engage in legislative activities. The two organizations merged in 1981 (see WEAL Records, MC 500 ), following changes in the tax code.

WEAL had its beginnings in Cleveland, Ohio. Objecting to the National Organization for Women's (NOW) support of women's right to abortion, as well as to NOW's tactics of picketing and demonstrating in pursuit of its goals, Elizabeth ("Betty") Boyer and other Ohio members of NOW founded WEAL in 1968. Boyer, first national president, explained why and how WEAL was organized (see MC 500, #1.27):

"In 1966 and earlier many of us saw a need for concentrated activity in the women's rights area. We saw a need for an organization that would coordinate other organizations and concentrate on economic advancement for women...To explore the possibilities, we asked Martha Griffiths to come to speak in the spring of 1968. Nearly 300 persons came. From this attendance list we circulated a letter inquiring whether they would be interested in an organization such as WEAL. The response was encouraging." "We held several small planning meetings that summer and by autumn we had lined up nearly a hundred members, mostly Clevelanders. In October we held an incorporating meeting to apply for corporate status as an Ohio nonprofit corporation. In early November the actual incorporation took place."

WEAL's stated purposes were the following:

The following brief chronology for 1968-1979 combines information from Betty Boyer (prepared for the 1975 convention) and various WEAL publications. Addenda in the WEAL Records ( MC 500 ) contains national newsletters, as well as Board minutes and mailings, that are excellent sources of detailed information.

The Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) (1968-ca. 1989) was a national organization founded in Cleveland, Ohio, committed to combating sex discrimination and advocating for economic equality for women through education and litigation. WEAL was an offshoot of the National Organization for Women and took a more conservative stance on issues such as abortion rights and the Equal Rights Amendment. The organization's membership remained small throughout its duration but benefited from the prestige of the high-profile women in academia, business, and government who joined WEAL. Growing out of WEAL was the Women's Law Fund, a non-profit organization co-founded in 1972 by attorneys Jane M. Picker and Lizbeth A. Moody, both professors at Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. The Women's Law Fund evolved out of divisions within WEAL concerning the mission, structure, and funding of the organization.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Women's Law Fund