National Organization for Women

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed in Washington D.C. in 1966, and incorporated in 1967. The organization was formed to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of society, assuming all privileges and responsibilities in fully equal partnership with men. Local chapters were formed throughout the country and task forces were set up to deal with problems of women in areas such as employment, education, religion, poverty, law, politics, and image in the media.

This collection was received from Toby Myers at the same time that an addition was made by her to the Debby Tucker and Toby Myers Texas Council on Family Violence Collection, also held by the University of Houston Women's Archive and Research Center. Myers received the collection from Donna Medley, a former director of the Texas Council on Family Violence. The material in the collection belonged to Medley's partner, who died of breast cancer in 1998.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media. NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The National Organization for Women began in June 1966, with the efforts of a small group which endeavored to end sex discrimination in the workplace and society at large. More than 300 attended the organizing conference in October 1966, which soon led to the development of state and local chapters. In the 1970s, NOW devoted the majority of its efforts to the passage of the Equal Rights Amendments (ERA). NOW continues to be an active feminist organization. For further history, see the National Organization for Women Records, MC 496.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is a feminist activist organization founded in 1966.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media.

NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media.

NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media.

NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media.

NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media.

NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media.

NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media.

NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The National Organization for Women was formed on June 30, 1966, during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C. The Statement of Purpose declares that "the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings." At their organizing conference (October 29, 1966), participants established task forces on education, employment, the role of women in the family, women's political rights, and images of women in the media.

NOW was incorporated in 1967, and local chapters were formed; by 1975 there were over 600 chapters. As membership increased, the organization addressed more issues, including a "war on poverty," the Equal Rights Amendment, child care, abortion rights, sexual harassment, women in government, women and religion, and violence against women.

The largest feminist organization in the United States, NOW began when a group of representatives attending the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women (June 28-30, 1966) became angered by their unsuccessful attempts to force the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce federal regulations ending sex discrimination. Meeting with Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique and a guest speaker at the conference, the invited group of 28 women and men decided to establish a civil rights organization for women. The group included Gene Boyer, Kathryn Clarenbach, Mary Eastwood, Dorothy Haener, Anna Roosevelt Halsted, Esther Johnson, Pauli Murray, Inka O'Hanrahan, and Caroline Ware. On the last day of the conference, they drafted their statement of purpose: "to take action to bring women into full participation in the main-stream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men."

A temporary steering committee publicized the group's purpose and recruited members. By the time the organizing conference was held October 29-30, 1966, NOW had more than 300 members. It quickly grew into a group with tens of thousands of members and hundreds of state and local chapters. For the first two years there was no central office; officers performed their NOW-related duties and kept their files at home or in their workplaces. NOW established an office in Washington, D.C., in 1968, and moved it to New York City in 1969, where it operated from two consecutive apartments of NOW Executive Director Dolores Alexander. Subsequently, NOW split the headquarters into three offices, setting up and maintaining operations in New York City (Public Information Office, 1973-1976), Washington (Legislative Office, 1973-1976), and Chicago (National Office, 1973-1976) before centralizing all functions in one national headquarters in Washington, D.C., in January 1976.

From its inception, NOW worked on numerous issues affecting women's lives. The NOW Bill of Rights for 1968 laid out those areas it considered of highest importance:

NOW set up task forces and committees to address these and other issues. In the 1970s, NOW began to devote more and more time to passage and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was finally passed by Congress on March 22, 1972, almost 50 years after it was first introduced. In 1977, NOW declared ratification of the ERA to be their "top national priority," and in February 1978 declared a "State of Emergency...in which [we] turn all [our] resources to the ratification effort and to extension of the deadline for ratification an additional seven years." The United States Congress, however, only approved an extension of three years, three months, and nine days. In spite of a massive national campaign, carried out by NOW organizers and members in states across the country, the ERA expired in 1982, three states short of ratification. NOW has continued to work for passage of a federal amendment, and for enforcement of the various state ERAs.

In the 1980s and 1990s, NOW also devoted its resources to campaigns for reproductive rights; to end violence against women; to eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; to influence judicial selection; and to promote equality and justice in our society. According to its website (URL: http://www.now.org ), NOW "achieves its goals through direct mass actions (including marches, rallies, pickets, counter-demonstrations, non-violent civil disobedience), intensive lobbying, grassroots political organizing and litigation (including class-action lawsuits.)" For additional information on NOW's history, see the Scope and Content notes below, and brief histories in #1.1.

The largest feminist organization in the United States, the National Organization for Women (NOW) began when a group of representatives attending the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women (June 28-30, 1966) became angered by their unsuccessful attempts to force the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to enforce federal regulations ending sex discrimination. Meeting with Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique and a guest speaker at the conference, the invited group of 28 women and men decided to establish a civil rights organization for women. The group included Gene Boyer, Kathryn Clarenbach, Mary Eastwood, Dorothy Haener, Anna Roosevelt Halsted, Esther Johnson, Pauli Murray, Inka O'Hanrahan, and Caroline Ware. On the last day of the conference, they drafted their statement of purpose: "to take action to bring women into full participation in the main-stream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men."

A temporary steering committee publicized the group's purpose and recruited members. By the time the organizing conference was held October 29-30, 1966, NOW had more than 300 members. It quickly grew into a group with tens of thousands of members and hundreds of state and local chapters. For the first two years there was no central office; officers performed their NOW-related duties and kept their files at home or in their workplaces. NOW established an office in Washington, DC, in 1968, and moved it to New York City in 1969, where it operated from two consecutive apartments of NOW Executive Director Dolores Alexander. Subsequently, NOW split the headquarters into three offices, setting up and maintaining operations in New York City (Public Information Office, 1973-1976), Washington (Legislative Office, 1973-1976), and Chicago (National Office, 1973-1976) before centralizing all functions in one national headquarters in Washington, DC, in January 1976.

NOW set up task forces and committees to address these and other issues. In the 1970s, NOW began to devote more and more time to passage and ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was finally passed by Congress on March 22, 1972, almost 50 years after it was first introduced. In 1977, NOW declared ratification of the ERA to be their "top national priority," and in February 1978 declared a "State of Emergency...in which [we] turn all [our] resources to the ratification effort and to extension of the deadline for ratification an additional seven years." The United States Congress, however, only approved an extension of three years, three months, and nine days. In spite of a massive national campaign, carried out by NOW organizers and members in states across the country, the ERA expired in 1982, three states short of ratification. NOW has continued to work for passage of a federal amendment, and for enforcement of the various state ERAs.

In the 1980s and 1990s, NOW also devoted its resources to campaigns for reproductive rights; to end violence against women; to eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; to influence judicial selection; and to promote equality and justice in our society. In 2011, NOW identified the six core issues that it addresses as abortion rights/reproductive issues, violence against women, constitutional equality, promoting diversity/ending racism, lesbian rights, and economic justice. Additional information on NOW's activities and history is available on its web site .

RI NOW ’s purpose is to take action to bring women into full participation in all aspects of public and private life without experiencing barriers based on gender. We are an all-volunteer, membership-based organization that uses the legislative process to improve the lives of women and girls in Rhode Island.

Additional information is available on their website .