Mormons for ERA

Mormons for ERA was officially organized in 1978 by co-founders: Hazel Davis Rigby, Maida Rust Withers, Teddie Wood, and Sonia Johnson. Sonia Johnson was voted the first president and main spokesperson on May 7, 1980. On December 11, 1982 Johnson was succeeded by Alice Allred Pottmyer. Mormons for ERA was a pro-Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) organization that worked, rallied, and lobbied for the ERA. Their major activities included: formal and informal relations with the media, lobbying legislators, informing and educating the public on ERA issues, and debating ERA issues in public forums. One threat the Mormons for ERA saw was the LDS Church's formal stand against the Equal Rights Amendment and support of anti-ERA lobbying efforts. In 1978, Congress extended the time for ratification to 1982. During the hearings on the extension, Sonia Johnson was called to testify on behalf of the ERA before the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights on Aug. 4, 1978. On that day, she clashed on the issues of ERA and the LDS Church's opposition to it with Sen. Orrin Hatch. Sonia Johnson's official excommunication from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on December 5, 1979 propelled Mormons for ERA into the national media spotlight and the heated national debate over ERA. Ultimately the ERA failed by three states to ratify. Mormons for ERA continued to function as an organization until about 1987 when the organization finally disbanded.

Alice Allred Pottmyer was born in South Dakota but grew up in Texas and later Washington, D.C. Alice received her B.S. degree in Journalism from Brigham Young University. At BYU she became friends with Maida Rust Withers and Hazel Davis Rigby. Alice worked in Washington D.C. as a trade and professional editor before leaving work in 1972 upon the birth of first baby with husband James Pottmyer. From home, she would occasionally do part time editing jobs and wrote numerous magazine articles. Alice did a great deal of background work for Mormons for ERA, including organizing and giving background information to the media about the organization and their activities. She developed the press kits that were given to the media. On December 11, 1982, Alice Allred Pottmyer succeeded Sonia Johnson as president of Mormons for ERA and took over the newsletter. She functioned as president until 1987.

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