O IS FOR ORGANIZE!

 

In October of 1966, this is what organizing looked like.  Take a look back with us to see how the National Organization for Women was founded.

 

 

Events Leading Up to the Creation of NOW:

 

 

1961-1963: President's Commission on the Status of Women
1963: Publication of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
Civil Rights Act of 1964: outlawed sex discrimination, yet many women felt that there was little or no enforcement

1966, June: Washington, DC, meeting of state commissions on the status of women. Betty Friedan and others present were unsatisfied with the lack of action plans coming out of this meeting, and 28 met in Friedan's hotel room, leading to the creation of the National Organization for Women (NOW).


NOW Founded:

In several informal meetings followed by a national conference, a number of activists came together to form the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966, seeing the need for a civil rights organization specifically focused on women's rights. Betty Friedan was elected the first president of NOW and served in that office for three years.


The National Organization for Women (NOW) held its organizing conference in October 1966, where the founding presidency was elected. Who were the first NOW officers? Some of the original members of NOW came from the Civil Rights Movement, and many of the important feminist organization’s co-founders had been actively working for women’s equality for years. These five leaders were the first NOW officers:

1. President: Betty Friedan

The legendary feminist Betty Friedan brought together activists from many areas and wrote the NOW Statement of Purpose.









 

 
2. Chair of the Board: Kay Clarenbach

A strong organizer from Wisconsin, Kay Clarenbach spoke about how far women still had to go to reach equality.















3. Executive Vice-President: Aileen Hernandez

Aileen Hernandez was elected in absentia; she was about to leave her position at the EEOC.











4. Vice-President: Richard Graham

Richard Graham was a feminist and a dedicated public servant.









5. Secretary-Treasurer: Caroline Davis

Caroline Davis was a labor leader who headed the UAW Women’s Department .













NOW Statement of Purpose 1966: Key Points:
 
-women's rights as "truly equal partnership with men," "fully equal partnership of the  sexes"
-focused on activism: "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, as human beings"

-women's rights seen in the context of "the world-wide revolution of human rights"; equality of women as an opportunity to "develop their fullest human potentials"

-purpose to put women in the "mainstream of American political, economic and social life"

-NOW's commitment "equality, freedom, and dignity for women" specifically defined as not being about "special privilege" for women or "enmity towards men"


Key Feminist Issues in Statement of Purpose:
   -employment -- the most attention in the document is to issues around employment and  economics

-education

-family including marriage and divorce laws, home responsibilities by gender role

-political participation: in parties, decision-making, candidates (NOW was to be independent of any particular political party)

-images of women in the media, in culture, in laws, in social practices

-briefly addressed issue of "double discrimination" of African American women, linked women's rights to broader issues of social justice including racial justice                      -opposition to "protectiveness" in work, school, church, etc.




NOW set up task forces on issues of women’s equality. The seven original NOW task forces were:

1. Education

Education was one of the most important issues for the founders of NOW.


2. Equal Opportunity of Employment

This issue was central to the creation of NOW.

　

3. Legal and Political Rights

NOW has been at the forefront of many legal battles.

　

4. Women in Poverty

Members of NOW wanted to address the economic concerns of women.

　

5. Family

Family concerns have always been a part of feminism.

　

6. The Image of Women

Feminists paid a lot of attention to media portrayal of women.

　

7. Women and Religion

Several theologians took part in NOW and contributed to feminist theory.

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feminism/tp/The-Seven-Original-Now-Task-Forces.htm

 

~MORE~

 

 

                                          Honoring NOW's Founders and Pioneers

                                           http://www.now.org/history/founders.html