Crisp, Mary Dent, 1923-

Crisp worked for the Republican Party for over twenty years at the local and state level in Arizona, as vice-chair of the Western States Republican Conference, and as secretary and co-chair (1977-1980) of the Republican National Committee. When the Republican ended their 40-year commitment to passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1980, Crisp left the party to chair John Anderson's campaign for President. A member of the boards of the Women's Economic Roundtable, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Women's Political Caucus, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Crisp is a senior advisor to Business Executives for National Security, and founder and former chair of the Republican Coalition for Choice.

Mary Dent Crisp was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She received her degree in botany from Oberlin College in 1946, later pursuing graduate studies in political science at Arizona State University. In 1948 she married William Crisp, a doctor; they had three children before divorcing in 1976. A fervent supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment and of abortion rights, Crisp was an active member of the Republican Party, first on the local and then on the national level, for over 20 years. In 1977, she was elected co-chair of the Republican National Committee, and served until 1980. At the 1980 Republican Convention, she spoke out against the platform committee's decision to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment, and also protested the party's opposition to the federal funding of abortion. Crisp subsequently announced that she would not seek reelection as co-chair and signed on as presidential candidate John Anderson's campaign manager. She served on President Carter's Advisory Committee for Women and on the boards of Women's Economic Roundtable, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Women's Political Caucus, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. From 1984 until the mid-1990s, she was a national director of the political action committee, Business Executives for National Security, a nonpartisan advocacy group concerned about the economic effects of the arms race. In 1989, after the Supreme Court restricted federal funding for abortion, Crisp co-founded and served as chair and spokesperson for the National Republican Coalition for Choice. She died in her home in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2007, from complications from a stroke.