THE NATIONAL WOMAN'S PARTY AND THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT 1945-1977 by Caryn E. Neumann

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Schmidt College of Arts and Humanities in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts

Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida August 1994 THE NATIONAL WOMAN'S PARTY AND THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT

1945-1977 by Caryn E. Neumann

This thesis was prepared under the direction of the candidate's thesis advisor, Dr. Helen M. Bannan, Department of History and has been approved by the members of her supervisory committee. It was submitted to the faculty of The Schmidt College of Arts and Humanities and was accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: L~A.~ Thesis Advisor ~l~ (~~Nh~N~

Chairperson, Department of History

Dean, The Schmidt College of Arts and Human i t i

and Date

i i ABSTRACT Author: Caryn E. Neumann Title: The National Woman's Party and the Equal Rights Amendment, 1945-1977 Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. Helen M. Bannan Degree: Master of Arts Year: 1994 The years following World War II were grim ones for women's organizations. Although the National Woman's Party (NWP) managed to survive, it never managed to thrive. Great determination on the part of its members to ban gender discrimination by means of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) did not prove adequate to the task of getting the amendment through Congress. Frustration within the NWP at the continued failure of ERA turned member against member. Unable to attract replacements for those who had left the party, the NWP diminished in strength. Before it collapsed entirely, upon the death of founder Alice Paul in 1977, the NWP introduced a new generation of feminists to ERA.

i i ; TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract ...... iii Introduction ...... 1 Chapter One Waiting for the Soldier Boys: The National Woman's Party in 1945 ...... 8 Chapter Two Fragmentation and Frustration: The National Woman's Party in the late 1940s ...... 25 Chapter Three Death Before Dishonor: The National Woman's Party in the 1950s ...... 40 Chapter Four The Personal is Political: The National Woman's Party in the 1960s and 1970s ...... 60 Conclusion ...... 75 Bibliography ...... 78

iv INTRODUCTION

In 1945, Rosie the Riveter stepped back into the kitchen. As the era of feminine mystique dawned, equality between the sexes had little priority. Pushing and prodding by society encouraged women to abandon all goals but those of marriage and motherhood. To be a feminist in this climate of hostility was a lonely pursuit. Ranks that had been filled in the heyday of suffrage gradually thinned as younger women failed to replace older ones. Only one former suffragist group survived the years of doldrums. The National Woman's Party has spanned the twentieth century. It is the oldest feminist organization still in existence. While noteworthy as the militant wing of the woman's suffrage movement, the NWP also deserves credit for keeping the Equal Rights Amendment alive. For many years, it alone worked to ensure equality under the law without regard to sex. This thesis will explore the history of the National Woman's Party and its amendment from 1945 to 1977. The story of the National Woman's Party is very much the biography of Alice Paul. Born into a upper middle class Quaker family in 1885, Paul graduated from Swarthmore in 1905 before spending a year as a social worker on New York's Lower East Side. It was amidst this poverty that Paul first became aware of the need for legal equality. She witnessed women being barred from membership in labor unions and being denied jobs that required night work or heavy lifting. She saw women being paid lower wages for performing the same work as men. 1 Disillusioned with social work, Paul returned to the halls of academe. She entitled her doctoral dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania "Towards Equality." It was an examination of the legal status of women in Pennsylvania and foretold Paul's long involvement with legal remedies for discrimination. Moving to England in 1907 to study social work, Paul soon joined the suffrage campaign and learned militant tactics standing shoulder to shoulder with the Pankhursts. She brought this knowledge back to the 1Amelia R. Fry, "Alice Paul and the ERA," in Rights of Passage, ed. Joan Hoff-Wilson (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), 17.

2 United States and formed the Congressional Union in 1913. The CU was initially a branch of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, but a rift over strategy separated the two groups. Paul wanted to target politicians who opposed suffrage without regard to the stand taken by the national parties. This is the same approach Paul later employed in the struggle for the Equal Rights Amendment. The NAWSA did not want to provoke the party in power and, unable to control the CU, pushed Paul's group out. In 1916, the National Woman's Party rose from the remains of the CU and soon attracted its own national spotlight. Members of the NWP fought for suffrage by shocking the nation. They picketed the White House and chained themselves to its gates. Jailed, they went on hunger strikes to demand status as political prisoners. The force-feeding and brutal treatment accorded the suffragists, including Paul, was a national disgrace. Eager to be rid of the embarrassing militants, President

3 Woodrow Wilson came out for suffrage. On August 26, 1920, women were granted the vote. 2 The suffrage campaign brought unity to the women's movement. While the various groups disagreed over strategy, they all agreed upon the goal. With suffrage won, the women's organizations were left without a clear purpose. Many disbanded. After a meeting with a group called Wage Earning Women, the National Woman's Party became convinced that the suffrage amendment was not sufficient to establish equality between the sexes. 3 In 1921, the NWP became a permanent body dedicated to the pursuit of full equality for women. To this end, Alice Paul wrote the Equal Rights Amendment (known to NWP members as the Lucretia Matt amendment) in 1923. The amendment read: Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate

2The best history of the early years of NWP is Christine A. Lunardini 's From Equal Suffrage to Equal Rights (New York: New York University Press, 1986). Susan D. Becker provides a good examination of the party between the world wars in The Origins of the Equal Rights Amendment (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1981). 3 Judith Hole and Ellen Levine, Rebirth of Feminism (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1971}, 78.

4 1 egis 1 at ion. "4 It was introduced in Congress in December of that year by Sen. Charles Curtis of Kansas and Rep. Daniel Anthony of Kansas. As it was written, the ERA would have abolished all legal distinctions between the sexes. In doing so, the amendment would also remove protective legislation for women. This type of legislation limited women's participation in the labor force and often "protected" women out of job opportunities. Nevertheless, many prominent women had lobbied for years in support of these reforms and objected to the ERA on the grounds that the invalidation of protective legislation would contribute to the overworking of women. In 1943, the amendment was altered to address these concerns and garner the support of protective legislation advocates. The new version read, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." This wording of the amendment has remained unchanged.

4 Lunardi ni , 164.

5 Passage of the Equal Rights Amendment would remove every gender assumption written into law. While it is not surprising that this revolutionary concept would have some adherents, the single-minded dedication of NWP members to its passage merits attention. The history of NWP has been neglected. While most historians of the equal rights movement mention Alice Paul, her contributions are usually summarized in only a sentence. The party, if covered at all, does not receive much more than a few lines of examination. Following the publication of the party's papers on microfilm in 1979, a handful of historians have begun to take a closer look at the organization. However, the party records drastically thin out before stopping entirely with 1973. Almost all the NWP leaders have died and the only one interviewed before her death was Paul. In summary, information about the later years of the party is meager and no comprehensive examination of NWP in the post-war years as yet exists. This thesis is based upon the papers of NWP and an interview with its long-time National Chairman, Elizabeth Chittick. It is an exploration of the party's involvement with the ERA

6 from the close of World War II until the organization's effective end, with Paul's death, in 1977. NWP kept the ERA alive. Year after year, these women waged a lonely war to free Americans from the constraints of sexism. With the emergence of the women's liberation movement in the 1960s, NWP members were able to introduce a new generation of women to a blanket remedy for injustice. Passage of ERA remains an objective of many feminist groups today. The amendment is revolutionary. Its passage would have a tremendous impact upon women's economic opportunities and societal status. An examination of its full history is needed.

7 CHAPTER ONE Waiting for the Soldier Boys: The National Woman's Party in 1945 On January 4, 1945, on the second day of the first session of the Seventy-ninth Congress, the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in the House of Representatives. Both major political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, had formally endorsed the amendment. Prominent legislators lined up to sponsor it and most major women's organizations supported it. For the National Woman's Party, the year that was emerging promised to end with the culmination of its long-sought after goal. Equality of rights under the law without regard to sex seemed to be on the verge of becoming the law of the land. Twelve months later, the status of the ERA remained unchanged and the National Woman's Party was entering the first of a series of internal squabbles that ultimately crumbled it. Isolated from society as a whole and uninterested in attracting a large membership, the NWP fought a lonely battle to keep the ERA alive. The

8 amendment's long life span is testimony to the determination of these women. Members who disagreed with the leadership of Alice Paul abandoned the party, sometimes with acrimony. By the time the amendment passed through Congress, little energy remained amongst the members for a wholehearted promotion of the ERA. When Paul died in 1977, the party's heart also left. The National Woman's Party was never a typical women's organization. Formed to fight for woman's suffrage, the NWP evolved from a very small collection of militant suffragists to an even smaller collection of militant feminists. Membership never amounted to more than a few thousand. This lack of numerical strength suited guiding light Alice Paul, who was quoted as saying, "We thought the easiest way to get the Amendment through was to try to get each of the national organizations to come out for it with its membership, not try to build up a duplicate membership of our own." 1 While Paul's strategy may have been beneficial to the ERA, it did not serve the NWP well.

1Amelia R. Fry, "Alice Paul and the ERA," in Rights of Passage, ed. Joan Hoff-Wilson (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986), 17-18.

9 Membership in women's organizations dropped after suffrage was won. The last stages of the campaign had been exhausting, particularly for those NWP members who suffered abuse in prison. Such women as Paul's Congressional Union co-founder, Lucy Burns, felt that it was time to pass the torch of activism on to a new generation. Burns, like many others, withdrew from the women's movement to quietly pursue personal goals. 2 The NWP membership rolls never returned to the numbers of the suffrage days. 3 The ranks further declined when Alice Paul decided to pursue equal rights for women and took her NWP along. Protectionist members left the party. By the mid-1940s, several of the NWP's most active members had died. Others wrote to party officials at the National Headquarters in Washington, D. C. to explain that while their spirits were willing to fight on, their

2Christine A. Lunardini, From Equal Suffrage to Equal Rights (New York: New York University Press, 1986), 153. 3At the peak of its strength, 9000 women belonged to NWP. Once a woman appeared on the membership 1 i st, the NWP was loathe to drop her. Every name represented additional public relations power. These 9000 women remained members in good standing for years, according to NWP co-founder Mabel Vernon, whether their dues were paid or not. Therefore, the official NWP membership records are unreliable. See Susan D. Becker, The Origins of the Equal Rights Amendment (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1981), 38. 10 bodies were too enfeebled by age to continue. 4 Without membership drives, the NWP gradually withered and its insularity increased. The party promoted an amendment for all women, but it failed to be representative of all women. Lack of diversity can only have damaged the party's effectiveness. Class and racial solidarity left it unable to comprehend fears about the effects of an equality amendment. Without this understanding, the party was unable to adequately respond to opponents' charges. While it is dangerous to place too much emphasis upon generalizations, some conclusions about the composition of the party are evident from an examination of the organization's papers. 5 The membership was quite homogeneous, composed of women primarily from the upper and middle classes. Most members had college educations

4 Unknown to Caroline Babcock, March 1, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 85. 5 A quantitative analysis of the party membership is not possible to conduct with the scanty information available in the party papers. Assumptions about the members are based on the author's careful reading of the papers, parti cul arl y correspondence by members and Biographical Sketches, NWP Papers, Reel 113. 11 and many held professional jobs, particularly in the field of law. Almost all of the leaders were Protestant, with a high percentage belonging to the equality-minded Society of Friends. A few Catholic women joined, but not many. The case of Vina M. Betterley, state chair of the Florida NWP in the mid-1940s and a state officer in the Catholic Daughters of America, explains why few of her faith participated. After a few Catholic women "confused the issue of birth control with equality for women" and made Betterley's 1 ife a "hell," she no 1anger cared to be publicly associated with the ERA or the NWP. 6 A few Jewish members are also evident. Never affiliated with any particular political party, the organization's members found freedom to hold various offices in both the Democratic and Republican parties. Additionally, a number of the leaders were single and some lived in couple relationships with other women. 7 To summarize, the NWP can be described as an elitist WASP organization whose members were atypical of American women as a whole.

6 Ethel Ernest Murrell to Alice Paul, May 9, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 86.

7 Elizabeth Chittick Interview; Leila J. Rupp, "The Woman's Community in the National Woman's Party, 1945 to the 1960s," Signs 10, no. 4 (1985): 733-738.

12 The issue of civil rights never received much official attention by the party. In the 1920s, a majority of the 160 member National Advisory Committee chose to be non-committal when questioned about racial discrimination and this indifferent attitude continued. 8 Evidence of the NWP advocating segregation does not exist, and it should be noted that some members strongly supported civil rights. However, others pandered to racists in order to garner support for the ERA. Only one African-American NWP party member, Mary Church Terrell, founder of the National Association of Colored Women has been identified. 9 The NWP did not militantly support justice for all women. This lack of empathy towards African-American women is certainly typical of the social climate of the time, but it is nevertheless striking that an organization dedicated to equality between the sexes would ignore equality between the races. As World War II drew to a close, the United States found itself facing a number of serious concerns. Amidst such turmoil, it is surprising that Congress devoted so

8 "The White Woman's Burden," The Nation 112 (February 16, 1921): 27-28. 9 Rupp, 719.

13 great an amount of attention to the ERA. Such attention to a women's issue may have been a reward for the contributions of women to the war effort, as the suffrage amendment came in partial response to democratic victory in World War I. Certainly many theories about the "weaker" sex were laid to waste by the many women who undertook hazardous and difficult jobs on the home front and the war front. This Congressional interest delighted Paul, who took the same approach with the ERA campaign as she had with the suffrage effort. To Paul, pushing ERA bills through state legislatures, while a noble pursuit, wasted time. A slow and piecemeal approach to removing legal inequities left millions of women to suffer. The best route to improving the lives of women, in Paul's opinion, lay in changing the law of the land all at once. Paul directed the NWP to focus upon the United States Congress. 10 After the ERA had been introduced, it was referred to the Judiciary Committee. Paul, in her second term as National Chairman, thereupon commanded her troops to

1°Few letters by Paul exist in the NWP files. Nevertheless, Paul's views can be found in the correspondence of her secretary and in communication directed to her.

14 apply pressure to the committee members. The rank and file across the nation fired off letters, postcards, and telegrams while Paul led a NWP team in a series of meetings with the committee. Among the NWP group were: Nora Stanton Barney, granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and founder of the anti-protective legislation League for Equal Opportunity; Emma Guffey Miller, longtime Democratic Party activist married to a senator from Pennsylvania; and Helen Hunt West, creator of a law requiring equal numbers of men and women on the executive committees of political parties in the state of Florida. 11 On July 12, the NWP was rewarded when, for the first time in history, the House Judiciary Committee issued a favorable report on the ERA. 12 Unfortunately, the bi 11 then stalled in the Rules Committee and never reached the floor of the House. Passage of the ERA through the Senate Judiciary Committee proceeded less smoothly. The committee chair, Pat McCarran of Nevada, refused to consider

11 Biographical Sketches, NWP Papers, Reel 113. 12Thomas C. Pardo, The National Woman's Party Papers. 1913- 1974: A Guide to the Microfilm Edition. (Sanford: Microfilming Corporation of America, 1979), 128.

15 constitutional amendments while the United States was still at war. McCarran apparently felt that people in overseas military service should not be denied an opportunity to express their views on proposed amendments. 13 His refusal to consider the ERA sparked considerable wrath among NWP members. This letter from Josepha Whitney to Paul is typical of their reactions: We have to wait until the soldier boys come back to tell us what our status is as citizens or part-time citizens of our own countries. It is certainly a reversal of all the ideals between mother and son when I have now to put into the hands of my own boy, whom I have brought up, the question: Is I or is I ain't a citizen. 14 In September of 1945, the Judiciary Committee lifted its ban on constitutional amendments. Formal action on the ERA was delayed however and consideration of the ERA was finally postponed until January 1946. Additional roadblocks beset the amendment. The charge of "blanket legislation" had been leveled at the ERA for years. In 1945, it again came up. As a Congressional opponent declared, "Using the Constitution

13Gertrude Robbins to Caroline [Babcock?], March 5, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 85.

14Josepha Whitney to Alice Paul, March 10, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 85. 16 for a broom with which to sweep away indiscriminately the good with the bad is neither sound law nor sane behavior." 15 The NWP replied by arguing that constitutional inequality encouraged the enactment of laws detrimental to women. Inequality fortified "every employer, every university, every college, and every professional school in discrimination against women. It sends women into the world handicapped. "16 Clearly, the NWP considered passage of the ERA to be most beneficial to college-educated, professional women. The absence of clear concern for both homemakers and blue-collar workers plagued the Party. Congressional opponents of the ERA charged that passage would destroy labor laws beneficial to women. This point had arisen before and it continued to have life throughout the ERA's history. Speaking through her secretary Olive Beale, Paul directed Party members to challenge this interpretation by "giving specific

15Unidentified legislator quoted in Susan Randall, "A Legislative History of the Equal Rights Amendment, 1923- 1960," (Ph.D. diss., University of Utah, 1979), 165.

16Speech by Emma Guffey Miller to the Pennsylvania General Assembly, March 7, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 85.

17 examples of the unfairness to women of certain laws applying only to them." 17 Amendments are by definition abstract. Law is determined by judges as court cases are decided. While it is likely that courts in the 1940s would have overturned some protective legislation, it is not certain that all would have been removed. The NWP found the present loss of opportunities to be more of a threat to women than possible changes in workplace law in the future. 18 The ERA meant opportunity and a level playing field. Protective legislation often blocked women from taking certain jobs that paid well. Such disparate occupations as welder, electric meter reader, printer, telegram messenger, railroad ticket taker, miner, shoeshiner, and taxi cab driver were deemed by protective legislation advocates to be either too dangerous or morally unsuitable for women. Placing the government and employers in the role of parent prevented women from exercising full control over their own lives. Women were not recognized as adults, but as children in

170live Beale to Ella M. Sherwin, March 7, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 85. 18Emma Guffey Miller speech to the American Association of University Women, February 10, 1945, AAUW Archives, Reel 120.

18 need of helping hands. The NWP sought to provide women with freedom of choice. Additionally, NWP members realized that men had spent years laboring under difficult conditions and they did not believe that it was just for women to enjoy special considerations. 19 Confident that children would always be protected and crime always punished, the NWP did not seriously address the concerns of ERA opponents that the amendment would undermine support laws and jeopardize legal penalties for the sexual abuse of women. 20 The NWP did choose to address the challenge that the opinion among women on the ERA was not unanimous. By February of 1945, the NWP knew of only one Protestant affiliated group, Girls Friendly Society of the United States, which still opposed the ERA. 21 Other major organizations standing in opposition were: the National Consumers League, the National Council of Catholic Women,

19Ella M. Sherwin letter to Babcock, June, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 86. 20Mary N. Winslow, quoted in "Manchester Boddy," Daily News, Los Angeles, January 25, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 85; Miller speech, AAUW Archives, Reel 120. 21 Caroline Babcock to Mrs. Harry C. January, February 1, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 84. 19 the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Federation of Settlements, the League of Women Voters, the Women's Trade Union League, Service Star Legion, the YWCA, and a host of labor groups. 22 The National Federation of Business and Professional Clubs, General Federation of Women's Clubs, National Education Association, American Federation of Soroptimist Clubs, and the National Association of Women Lawyers all officially supported the ERA. Endorsements by these groups came only after years of intensive lobbying efforts by the NWP and the party sought to convert still more members of the opposition. Much to the chagrin of the leaders of the American Association of University Women, the NWP turned its attention to their organization. 23 With a membership that numbered well over 700,000 women, an AAUW endorsement meant a great deal. 24 Many NWP members belonged to AAUW, including Mary E. Wooley, two-time AAUW president. The chances of

22 Frances Valiant Speck to all AAUW State Chairmen on Legislation, early 1945, AAUW Archives, Reel 120. 23 Kathryn McHale to Helen White, February 2, 1945, AAUW Archives, Reel 88. 24Helen White to the Italian Federation of University Women, AAUW Archives, Reel 9. 20 obtaining AAUW support appeared strong. The NWP formed a Committee on College Women and charged it with the mission of educating young women about the ERA and converting AAUW members into vocal ERA supporters. Dr. Agnes E. Wells, a former executive officer of the AAUW, chaired the committee. 25 The educational efforts of the committee proved ineffective. Following months of work, one AAUW County Chairman expressed doubts that many in the association understood the ERA. 26 AAUW voted down the ERA in May on the grounds that the organization supported the theory of equality but not the blanket method espoused by the NWP. 27 Fearful of "impairing social efforts to safeguard the health, safety and economic welfare of women workers," AAUW reiterated its support of the excruciatingly slow one-by-one method of removing discriminatory laws. 28 The women of the NWP, never ones

25Agnes E. Wells to AAUW Branch Presidents, May 12, 1945, AAUW Archives, Reel 120. 26Elizabeth M. Hine to Agnes Wells, May 8, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 86. 27Helen White to Agnes B. Wells, September 28, 1945, AAUW Archives, Reel 48. 28Item 14 of the AAUW National Legislative Program, AAUW Archives, Reel 120. 21 to surrender a fight, resolved to continue the AAUW campaign. The government ban upon convention travel during wartime forced many organizations to hold conventions-by- mail. When the War Committee on Conventions advised the NWP to cancel its planned gathering as most rail transportation would be restricted to returning troops, the Executive Council decided that it too would conduct elections with mail-in ballots. Weary of working for the ERA and wishing to spend more time promoting the World Woman's Party, Paul decided to leave office. Faced with her resignation as national chairman, the party needed to choose a new leader. This was no simple task. The NWP remained, as always, the party of Paul. Women dedicated their lives initially not so much to the party or its cause, but to Paul and her cause. Charismatic, fiercely determined, and highly focused, Paul inspired a devotion that was cult-like in its intensity. 29 The tight links between Paul and the NWP usually prompted those who were in conflict with her to view themselves as being in conflict with the party. In view of her power, it is

29 Lavinia Dock to Alice Paul, May, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 86; Elizabeth L. Chittick interview.

22 likely that she hand-picked her successor. From the names submitted by members, the Nominations Committee selected Anita Pollitzer as national chairman. Pollitzer, a member since 1918 and among those arrested for picketing the White House, held a Master's degree from Columbia University and taught in New York City. 30 Following traditional party form, the Committee offered only one candidate for each office. Thus began the first NWP schism of the postwar era. The majority of NWP members came from the East Coast. As befits a populous region, the New York State chapter, led by Dr. Jeannette Marks, had one of the largest membership rolls. Marks personally disliked Pollitzer, blaming her for a failed merger between the New York City and the New York State chapters. 31 The Maryland and Massachusetts chapters joined New York State in complaining about the authoritarian manner of the national leadership, specifically accusing Paul of

30Anita Pollitzer biographical sketch, NWP Papers, Reel 113.

31 Leila J. Rupp and Verta Taylor, Survival in the Doldrums: The American Women's Rights Movement. 1945 to the 1960s. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 28. 23 dictatorial methods. 32 Supported by these chapters, Marks attempted to halt the nomination. Ignoring Pollitzer's experience as National Vice Chairman, National Secretary, National Congressional Secretary, Vice Chairman of the National Congressional Committee and leader of the New York City chapter, Marks declared that she lacked qualifications for office. 33 When the attempted overthrow failed, Marks and nine other members formed a "Coalition Council" to choose another slate of candidates." In the meantime, voters put the official candidates into office. This dispute raged from September to December and consumed time and energy that could have been better applied to the fight for the ERA. Pollitzer's victory ultimately meant little; disagreement over the direction of the Party flared up again in 1946.

32Marie T. Lockwood to Emma Guffey Miller, Jan. 24, 1945, NWP Papers, Reel 84; Rupp and Taylor, 28. 33Pardo, 1 31 . 34Rupp and Taylor, 28. 24 CHAPTER TWO Fragmentation and Frustration: The National Woman's Party in the late 1940s Years of lonely struggle for the ERA left the members of the NWP with one automatic response to injustice: Fight. By 1946, the women who lacked the fortitude to resist overwhelming odds and hostile opinions had long ago left the party. The members who remained were a stubborn lot. When they locked horns with each other, as a matter of habit none of the participants considered a retreat. Frustration within the NWP at the failure to win the ERA grew rapidly after the war. Members had thought that passage would come once the nation turned its attention to domestic matters. As hopes were dashed yet again, a strategy debate began. Some suggestions, like one from Elizabeth M. Hine, were rather simple. Hine sought a name change for the amendment, "If it is so firmly established with a negative value that we cannot get it passed in 25 years, it is time to try something else

25 . [such as] Constitutional Equality." 1 Others recommended more drastic steps. Still angry over the Convention By Mail, a faction self-styled as the "Constitutional Group" and known to its enemies as the "Rump Group," called for an overthrow of the national leadership. Visionaries have many talents. Management skill is rarely among them. Alice Paul inspired and led, but with a purposeful approach to the ERA, she often lost sight of the people within the NWP. Content to run things her way, Paul failed to realize the importance of good communication to the party. As the Rumps later commented, "Many of our present difficulties have arisen from the few not acquainting the many with what takes place and why."2 Why was the ERA not law? What were the NWP funds being used for? Why are there no fresh faces on the National Council? Members were asking what was wrong with the party and Paul was not hearing them.

1 Elizabeth M. Hine to Agnes Wells, October 12, 1949, NWP Papers, Reel 96. 2 Laura Berrien et. al. to Alice Paul and Anita Pollitzer, December 2, 1946, NWP Papers, Reel 150. 26 At the meeting of the Eastern Regional Conference in June of 1946, audience members heckled Anita Pollitzer. Adding to the insult, in a speech to the convention, Doris Stevens cited the accomplishments of the NWP as a basis for berating the leadership because the ERA had not been won. Stevens, once one of Paul's closest friends and a long-time NWP member, called for an examination of the party's administrative, political, financial, and organizational methods. 3 Others agreed with her; at a national council meeting, ten members called for a convention to iron out difficulties. Paul and Pollitzer correctly perceived this call as an attack on the current administration and walked out. 4 A "Rump Convention" held without them in January of 1947, elected a new slate of national officers. Pollitzer and her supporters refused to leave office. The NWP now had two separate sets of officers. Since the Paul and Pollitzer group refused to surrender party records to the newly elected officers,

3NWP Eastern Regional Conference minutes as reported to the National Council meeting, September 28, 1946, NWP Papers, Reel 90. 4 Leila J. Rupp and Verta Taylor, Survival in the Doldrums: The American Women's Rights Movement. 1945 to the 1960s (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 29. 27 these officers resolved to take them. Storming the

Headquarters late at night in November 1946, Laura Berrien, Doris Stevens, and Anna Kelton Wiley engaged in a scuffle with the occupants of Belmont House. One of them managed to evade the inhabitants long enough to force open the door of the room where records were kept and search the files. 5 Thereafter, lawsuits were filed by both sides over NWP property and, in 1948, the Rump group lost. While some of the loyal members darkly grumbled that "some force is at work whose motive is the defeat of the Amendment," many were simply saddened by the turn of events. 6 Some, like Mary Kennedy argued that for "intentionally obstructing" the work of the party, the dissidents had forfeited their membership. 7 Others hoped that they would return to the fold and again work for the party, but this was not to be. The NWP forever lost some of its most energetic members. Throughout the history of the ERA, arguments against

50live Beale statement, November 15, 1946, NWP Papers, Reel 90.

6Mabel Griswold press release, February 10, 1947, NWP Papers, Reel 159.

7Mary Kennedy to Alice Paul, April 5, 1948, NWP Papers, Reel 43.

28 it have occasionally veered into the realm of the absurd. In 1946, opponents implied that unanimity of opinion in American politics could be reached. The fact that three female members of Congress, Helen Gahagan Douglas, Chase Going Woodhouse, and Emily Taft, opposed the amendment was emphasized by Senator Abe Murdock during the Senate debate. Murdock used the names of these prominent women to prove that the ERA was seriously flawed since women themselves rejected it. 8 In a speech at the NWP Regional Conference, Fannie Ackley acidly replied, "The biased arguments against the ERA remind us that human progress has always had opponents; that all slaves hug their chains. "9 Discrimination against women is not written into the Constitution. As ERA opponents in the 1940s cited, women are not specifically mentioned until the Woman's Suffrage Amendment. The words "persons," "people," and "citizens" are most often used. The word "male" only appears three times, and then not until the Fourteenth Amendment.

8Susan Randall, "A Legislative History of the Equal Rights Amendment, 1923-1960," (Ph.D. diss., University of Utah, 1979), 286. 9 Fannie Ackley to the NWP Regional Conference and National Council Meeting, Iowa, May 6, 1946, NWP Papers, Reel 150.

29 Anti-ERA forces used this absence as proof of the lack of existence of a problem. However, the courts had consistently ruled that the interpretation of women's rights fell under English common law, which holds that women are chattel . 10 Unless a specific statute provided otherwise, women only had an inalienable right to suffrage. Passage of a constitutional amendment would terminate the legal theory of women as property. NWP members noted that passage would also secure women's rights. As Emma Guffey Miller explained in a letter to her Congressional Representative: To suggest that women eliminate the thousand and one legal injustices against them by repealing discrimination state by state, ignores the fundamental reason for Constitutional Amendments. What one legislature can do, another can undo. 11 The broad sweep of the ERA served as one of its best points. In 1947, foes of the amendment devised legislation that came to be known as the Taft-Wadsworth or Biological

10George L. Radcliffe, quoted in the Congressional Record, May 7, 1946, NWP Papers, Reel 133. 11 Emma Guffey Miller to [unknown] Congressman, March 15, 1949, NWP Papers, Reel 95. 30 Status Bill. Introduced into the Senate as S.J.R. 67 by Robert A. Taft of Ohio and into the House as H.R. 2007 by James W. Wadsworth of New York, this bill had been drafted by the National Committee to Defeat the UnEqual Rights Amendment. 12 It read: It is the declared policy of the United States that in law and its administration no distinctions on the basis of sex shall be made except as are reasonably justified by differences in physical structure, biological, or social function. 13 Designed in response to Eleanor Roosevelt's counsel to construct a positive alternative to the ERA, the bill appealed to many advocates of protective legislation. To proponents, it prohibited sex discrimination while allowing sensible differentiations "based on rational and commonly accepted assumptions and beliefs." 14 To opponents, it provided a justification for virtually all discrimination. NWP member Iola S. Ranek called it a

12Cynthi a Harrison, On Account of Sex (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), 27. 13 "Information Bulletin on the ERA", March 11, 1947, NWP Papers, Reel 91. 14Helen Gahagan Douglas as quoted in Harrison, 27.

31 "menace to the future status of women." 15 Another stalwart charged that it was a "ghastly and shameful mistake" to label women a class "not quite acc~ptable for full legal stature" . 16 The NWP sought to orchestrate a broad based attack with Pollitzer directing Mabel Griswold to "find a DAR [Daughters of the American Revolution] delegate to speak against the bill ." 17 They need not have bothered. The definition of "reasonable differences" frightened many women who opposed the ERA. Some feared that married women would be barred from employment and hopes of equal pay would be dashed. 18 This controversy doomed the bill. A failure as an effort of conciliation, it disappeared after 1948. In that year, a split within the Democratic Party resulted in four major presidential candidates. The diversity of political affiliations within the NWP clearly worked in its favor as three parties came out in

15Iola S. Ranek to Senate Judiciary Committee, April, 1948, NWP Papers, Reel 93. 16Helen Ratterman to Robert Taft, April 9, 1948, NWP Papers, Reel 93. 17Anita Pollitzer to Mabel Griswold, April 14, 1948, NWP Papers, Reel 93. 18Harri son, 28.

32 support of the ERA. The two major endorsements were rather weak, but the members happily collected them anyway. Both the Democratic and Republican Parties decided to "recommend to Congress the submission of a constitutional amendment on equal rights for women." 19 The identical language suggests that the plank may have been written by the NWP. The party did present prepared ERA statements to women's organizations that it had recruited to the cause. It is likely that the same procedure was repeated with the political parties. The Progressive Party statement differed. NWP member Nora Stanton Barney, also part of "Women for Wallace" spoke at the party convention. 20 Perhaps as a result of her high- profile efforts, the Progressive statement strongly stated that "it is the first duty of a just government" to treat all citizens equally regardless of sex. 21 One ERA endorsement never came, much to the relief of the NWP. The offending party's platform stated:

19Donald Bruce Johnson and Kirk H. Porter, eds. National Party Platforms 1840-1972 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1973)' 435, 453. 20Nora Stanton Barney to Alice Paul, August 1, 1948, NWP Papers, Reel 93. 21 Johnson and Porter, 438.

33 The Communist party calls for an end to any and all political, social and economic inequalities practiced against women and demands the maintenance and extension of existing protective legislation. 22 The Communist Party of the United States opposed the ERA because they saw it as being harmful to the interests of industrial working women. However, the Communists did wholeheartedly support equality and thus posed a problem to the NWP. With the nation in the midst of the Second Red Scare, such a statement on behalf of women's rights had frightening implications. A link between Communism and the ERA would effectively spell the end of any hope of passage. Emma Guffey Miller, desperate to put as much distance as possible between the party of equal rights for women and the self-proclaimed party of equality, told the House Judiciary Committee in 1948 that the Communists distorted and misconstrued the issue relating to equal rights and the amendment. 23 Margaret Bean of the NWP took the furor as an opportunity to plug the ERA. She wrote anti-Communist hysteric Sen. Pat McCarran that, "It is

22New York Times, August 7, 1948, NWP Papers, Reel 93. 23U.S., Congress, House, Committee on the Judiciary, Equal Rights Amendment and Commission on the Status of Women. Hearings Before Subcommittee no.1 of the House Committee on the Judiciary on H.J.R. 49 etc. 80th Cong., 2d sess., 1948, 11-12. 34 time we stop doing so much shouting about our democracy and practice it. " 24 A1 ice Paul supported Joseph McCarthy in his witchhunts and wondered if the Communist Party planned a takeover of the NWP. Other members also looked for Communists. In a final swipe at the Rump group, the National Council gave evidence concerning the schism to the FBI and the Committee on Un-American Activities of the House of Representatives. They sought "an investigation as to what was behind the attempt to seize the Woman's Party and its property." 25 The charge of Communist influence lacked merit, particularly in view of the fact that Rump leaders Berrien and Stevens both became outspoken supporters of McCarthy. 26 The Red Scare provided the NWP with another justification for ERA passage. "Uncle Sam is not practicing what he preaches," stated a NWP member. 27 To

24Margaret Bean to Sen. Pat McCarran, March 1, 1949, NWP Papers, Reel 95. 25Alice Paul to Mrs. George Howard, August 4, 1948, NWP Papers, Reel 93. 26 Rupp and Taylor, 31. 27 Fannie Ackley speech to the NWP Regional Conference and National Council Meeting, Iowa, May 6, 1946, NWP Papers, Reel 150.

35 truly serve as a role model of democracy, the United States needed to extend full citizenship to all its citizens. Support for the ERA would be "in harmony with American ideals of freedom, equality, and justice." A national policy emphasizing sex discrimination followed "Fascist and Nazi ideologies." 28 Additionally, as the equal rights movement progressed in international circles, the United States appeared behind the times. The United Nations Charter, ratified by the United States without reservation, affirms the promotion of human rights without distinction as to sex. 29 To lead the world, NWP members argued, the United States needed to first clean its own house of discriminatory laws. With the tumult of the preceding years finally concluded, 1949 began full of promise. The ERA was introduced at the 81st Congress on January 5 by Rep. Katherine St. George of New York. NWP quickly gathered

28Alma Lutz, "Equal Rights Amendment Versus Taft-Wadsworth Legal Status Bill", 1947, NWP Papers, Reel 150. 29 Florence A. Armstrong, "Eight Points on the Equal Rights Amendment," July 1949, NWP Papers, Reel 150.

36 296 pledges of support for the amendment. 30 Only 290 were needed for passage, but at this point NWP halted the progression of the bill through the House. To assure a complete victory, the Executive Council concluded that it would be wiser to push the ERA through the Senate and then return to the House. The NWP apparently thought the ERA's success in the Senate would push House Judiciary Committee chair Emanuel Celler into allowing the bill out of his committee. 31 Initially the strategy appeared good. For the first time, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported the bill without opposition and did so earlier than in any previous session. 32 Then the rapid movement of the bill halted when Sen. Scott Lucas of Illinois declared that other legislation was more important. Among other things, the Senate found itself locked in a debate over proposed changes in Senate rules in

30Thomas c. Pardo, The National Woman's Party Papers. 1913- 1974: A Guide to the Microfilm Edition (Sanford: Microfilming Corporation of America, 1979), 152. 31 Pardo, 152. 0 "Drive for Rights Pressed by Women," New York Times, April 2, 1949, p.24, col.5. 37 anticipation of civil rights legislation. 33 Lucas, chair of the Democratic Policy Committee, refused to permit a vote on the ERA. 34 Following a bombardment of letters, postcards, telegrams, telephone calls, and personal visits by NWP members, Lucas ostensibly changed his position. He agreed to allow a vote, but sabotaged the bill through the classic bureaucratic technique of delay. He never scheduled a date. The ERA died again. The Pollitzer era also came to a close. Pollitzer and Paul were both nominated for the national chairmanship in 1949. Both declined. Paul's interests now lay in the World Woman's Party, while Pollitzer sought some peace. Dr. Agnes E. Wells was elected to the NWP's top office. Members hoped that Wells, a retired dean from Indiana University, would be able to end the friction within the Party and bring a conclusion to the

33Unknown senator to NWP Headquarters, [September 18, 1949?], NWP Papers, Reel 96. 34Lucas, a liberal Democratic from Chicago, is also a footnote in the political career of Senator Joseph McCarthy. The infamous Communist hunter from Wisconsin took to the stump to defeat Lucas in the 1950 elections. Charges of political corruption that combined with a strong campaign by Lucas's opponent, Everett McKinley Dirksen, probably played a bigger role in dooming the Senator's re-election bid though. However, as was his habit, McCarthy claimed full credit and called the defeat a demonstration of his invincible power.

38 ERA struggle. 35 To some extent, she succeeded, at least with the first objective. Wells possessed a talent for soothing hurt feelings and personal jealousies. However, hampered by illness, Wells had a brief tenure and her influence upon the party was not long lasting. Cooler minds did not prevail among the party members in the 1950s.

35 Kate Brown to Agnes Wells, April 12, 1949, NWP Papers, Reel 95; Mabel E. Griswold to Agnes Wells, April 19, 1949, NWP Papers, Reel 95.

39 CHAPTER THREE Death Before Dishonor: The National Woman's Party in the 1950s As the decade of the 1950s began, the National Woman's Party found itself at a crossroads. In increasing numbers, members dropped by the wayside due to death or infirmity. Efforts to recruit young women failed. To survive, some members argued that the NWP needed to increase its membership base. In order to appeal to a wider range of women, this new guard planned to expand the party's program. The passage of the Equal Rights Amendment would no longer consume center stage; it would be but one issue among many. The old guard, refusing to let their life's goal get shunted aside, strongly resisted. As emotions became heated among both factions, the ERA slowly crept forward. In the 1950s, a woman's place remained in the home. The model American female happily cleaned her house, served her husband, and managed her children. She did not work outside the home. If a woman found that this restricted life left her unfulfilled, she was advised by

40 such experts as Dr. Benjamin Spack, of Baby and Child Care fame, to immediately seek out psychological counseling. 1 This repressive atmosphere did not bode well for the ERA. Harkening back to arguments employed in the campaign for women's suffrage, propaganda put out by ERA opponents charged that women would lose their femininity if granted equality. Purportedly rendered the weaker sex by biology, women would simply be overwhelmed by attempting to match men. As a result, these tragic figures would become sexless and lose the respect of the dominant gender. At this stage of history, most women did not comprehend their oppression. African-American were being affected by the growing civil rights movement, but they generally considered racism to be a bigger burden than sexism. Lower class women devoted most of their energies to battling against poverty and had little power in the political arena. Middle class women had both the numbers and the power to affect a change, but most did not fully realize the need for one. Sexual discrimination seemed

1Glenda Riley, Inventing the American Woman (Arlington Heights, VA: Harlan Davidson, 1987), 238.

41 normal by virtue of its longevity. Women had one role in life and men had another. The ERA challenged traditional gender roles. Change is always frightening to some degree and opponents of the amendment capitalized on this fear. Conjuring up images of G.I. Jane kissing her tearful toddlers goodbye and marching off to war, opponents declared that ERA would demand the drafting of women. The suggestion that passage of the ERA would require women to render military service had been raised in the late 1940s. With the start of hostilities in Korea in 1950, this issue gained some urgency. Congress spent endless amounts of time debating all matters pertaining to defense. Hoping to exploit this opportunity, members of the NWP urged Congressional approval of ERA as a war measure. Anita Pollitzer wrote, "It would certainly be playing into the hands of our enemies, here and abroad, to ... lose the moral strength of equality." 2 Forgetting that women's service in World War II did not lead to a societal breakdown, social conservatives argued that a "sound family life"

2Agnes Wells to Charles Ross, August 4, 1950, NWP Papers, Reel 97; Anita Pollitzer to Emma Guffey Miller, August 4, 1950, NWP Papers, Reel 97.

42 depended upon "the safeguarding of the family and home through a greater protection of women." 3 While the NWP discussed lofty ideals, its opponents raised concrete fears. NWP responded that the draft itself was not the issue. NWP Executive Secretary Mildred Palmer, citing a January 1941 Appellate Court case, argued that the government already had the power to draft women for military or industrial service. 4 NWP contended that in order to allow women to fully serve their country, barriers to full participation in American society needed to fall . 5 In their eagerness to find any reason to get ERA through, members of NWP (most of whom were long past military age) forgot that few people are eager for a chance to be shot at. They did not adequately address the very real fears of women in the draft. However, the party was not entirely bereft of new ideas. Shortly after the introduction of the ERA in the 1920s,

3Susan Randall, "A Legislative History of the Equal Rights Amendment, 1923-1960," (Ph.D. diss., University of Utah, 1979), 264. 4Mildred Palmer to Mrs. Julian C. Smith, August 30, 1951, NWP Papers, Reel 98 5 NWP members attending the Susan B. Anthony Dinner, February 15, 1950, NWP Papers, Reel 96. 43 NWP had locked horns with the protectionist Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor. Bitter fighting continued throughout the next few years with the Bureau's long-time director, Mary Anderson, once accusing Alice Paul and the party of embracing "a kind of hysterical feminism with a slogan for a program". 6 The Women's Bureau and its supporters presumed that most women would be supported by their husbands. With a strong sense of class differences, the Women's Bureau considered the NWP to be a collection of rich women working for the manufacturers of the nation against the interests of labor. It assumed that most women were employed in mechanized industries and that these women worked involuntarily. 7 The agency's assumptions and support of discriminatory legislative proposals infuriated the NWP. When the Bureau lined up to kill the amendment in 1950, the NWP attacked it with every bit of energy that its members could muster. Ethel Ernest Murrell, writing just after her election to the National Chairmanship,

6Mary Anderson, quoted in Judith Hole and Ellen Levine, Rebirth of Feminism (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1971), 79. 7Susan D. Becker, The Origins of the Equal Rights Amendment (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1981), 213-216.

44 admonished the Bureau to "conduct itself as a non- partisan, non-prejudicial servant of the people" and, if it failed to do so, called for the President to establish an agency that would replace it. Murrell, who possessed a superb legal mind, devised a creative strategy to force the Bureau to withdraw from the ERA struggle. Citing a United Nations Charter calling for equality under the law without regard to sex, Murrell argued that the agency, as a hand of the United States government, was compelled to obey this treaty. 8 This plan did not succeed in removing the Bureau from politics. The party had a bit more success in its attempts to alter the perception of ERA advocates. In the environment of the 1950s, the conversion of celebrated "normal" women into supporters of the ERA held enormous public relations significance. One of the most prominent and popular women in the nation, Eleanor Roosevelt had long been quoted as against the ERA. In 1951, her usefulness to the opposition as a example of what real women wanted came to an end. The former First Lady issued a statement in favor of the ERA. In one of her

8 Ethel Ernest Murrell, "In Explanation" Equal Rights June 1951, NWP Papers, Reel 98.

45 famous "My Day" columns, she wrote that perhaps a declaration of equality would add a little to the position of women. 9 Reiterating this half-hearted sentiment a year later, Roosevelt told the United Nations Commission on Human Rights on May 20, 1952, "For some years, I have not opposed the passage of an equal rights amendment ... That does not mean that I think women have equality with men in my country." 10 The NWP trumpeted Roosevelt's withdrawal and unsuccessfully sought a stronger statement from her. Although she clearly did not feel strongly about the issue, in removing herself from the fight, Roosevelt took a weapon from the opposition's arsenal and gave it to the NWP. Always a bit out of touch with the mainstream, NWP continued to struggle with a low membership. Fears for the future of the organization began to increase. Members hoped that, as its new leader, Murrell could bring some fresh blood in. A Miami lawyer, Murrell initially became involved in the women's movement to

9 Eleanor Roosevelt, "It's the State Laws that Affect Daily Lives of Women," The Washington Daily News 26 May 1951, NWP Reel 172. 10Ethel Ernest Murrell press release in response to the speech of a CIO representative, 18 July 1952, NWP Reel 99.

46 empower married women and then gradually expanded her work to include support for the ERA. 11 Wives and mothers remained her top priority. An especially energetic member, as chairman, Murrell brought some much needed managerial skill to the party. By the time she took office, the NWP was bankrupt, in debt, had buildings that were falling to pieces, and a paid membership of about 600. 12 Seeking revitalization through an enlarged membership roster, Murrell attempted to change the party's goals to broaden its appeal. She hoped to address what she perceived as the reality of the typical American woman's life, namely marriage and children. In doing so, Murrell ignored the concerns of those many powerful NWP members who were either single, past child-rearing age, or in woman-committed relationships. The ERA became a minor part of a program that stressed the dignity of marriage, demanded patriotic

11 "Ethel Ernest Murrell," Biographical Sketches, NWP Papers, Reel 113. 12Ethel Ernest Murrell to Jane Norman Smith, November 11, 1952, NWP Papers, Reel 99.

47 teaching in schools, sought equal pay, and attempted to secure parental rights for women. 13 Most NWP members realized that the party was slowly fading away. Each year the list of the dead grew. Despite major drives, most members were still brought to the party through family or friends. 14 Personal recruitment no longer brought in sufficient numbers of women to replace those who had fallen by the wayside. So, at first, members supported Murrell's actions. But then the chairman applied for tax-exempt status. Such status is only granted to non-political organizations. Murrell ordered a halt to all lobbying activities on behalf of the ERA, passage of which had been NWP's only goal for the past twenty-eight years. Not surprisingly, many members refused to quit. The Chairman faced a revolt. Discussions on the future of NWP grew heated, with Murrell directing much of her fury at Paul. The Miamian objected to what she perceived as a lack of appreciation for her efforts, although she had not

13Ethel Ernest Murrell, "What is N. W. P.?" 1951, NWP Papers, Reel 150; Vylla Poe Wilson, "National Woman's Party Plans Campaign," Washington Times-Herald, September 13, 1952, NWP Papers, Reel 171. 14Elizabeth Chittick interview.

48 hesitated to toss out almost three decades of work by Paul. Once again, the members showed little talent for compromise. At the National Convention in June 1952, Murrell resigned. In a parting speech aimed at Paul and the other "misfit" members, Murrell called for the party to approach Congress only with those women who "have shown in marriage or in business that they know how to get along with men." 15 Several Murrell supporters also left and, once again, an internal dispute cost the party some of its most energetic members. Without much question, if Murrell had gone unopposed, she would have saved NWP. Membership groups that follow a moderate course of action and target non­ political arenas are relatively secure. 16 But NWP stalwarts believed that America did not need another generalist women's group. Plenty of them already dotted the nation. America needed the ERA. Under the subsequent leadership of Ernestine Breisch Powell and Amelia Himes Walker, NWP returned to business as usual.

15NWP Biennial Report, June 12, 1953, p. 17, NWP Papers, Reel 99. 16Debra C. Minkoff, "The Organization of Survival: Women's and Racial-Ethnic Voluntarist and Activist Organizations, 1955- 1985," Social Forces 71 (June 1993), 887.

49 Powell, a wife, mother, and lawyer from Columbus, Ohio, led the party for two years. Walker, a wealthy ex­ suffragist, took over the helm in 1954. Neither woman seriously addressed the financial woes of the party. NWP continued to dip in and out of bankruptcy, dependent upon legacies and donations. The Hayden Rider posed a more serious threat to ERA than Murrell. The Senate debate on the ERA began on January 23, 1950. Two days later, Senator Carl Hayden of Arizona attempted to attach a rider stating that "The provisions of this article shall not be construed to impair any rights, benefits, or exemptions now or hereafter conferred by law upon persons of the female sex." Unlike the Biological Status Bill, the Hayden Rider attracted quite a lot of enthusiasm. 17 Legislators who had voiced support for the amendment saw an opportunity to please both sides of the ERA debate. Unable to get rid of the rider, Paul wrote a more palatable substitute version that did not restrict any

17Cynthia Harrison, On Account of Sex (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), 31. 50 benefits conferred upon men or women. 18 The amendment, with the rider that nullified it, passed the Senate in both 1950 and 1953. The NWP, now fearful that it would be placed in the position of opposing its baby in the states, sought to keep the bill bottled up in the House. Emma Guffey Miller wrote, "I would rather have women remain as they are than suffer such an amendment to be adopted as part of our constitution." 19 Emanuel Geller, the powerful chair of the Judiciary Committee, helped the NWP in this matter, but also went a bit further. He kept the ERA in his "bottom drawer" for the entire period that he chaired the committee, until 1970. Major support for the Hayden Rider came from the labor movement, led by the AFL-CIO. Despite the lack of any factual and reasonable justification for protective labor laws, the unions continued to demand such legislation. Throughout the 1950s, labor organizations urged the rejection of any equal rights amendment bill that did not include the Hayden "safeguard" to protect

18 [Aurelle Burnside?] to "Dear Friend", February 26, 1950, NWP Papers, Reel 96; "Suggested Text of a Substitute for Hayden Rider," January 27, 1950, NWP Papers, Reel 96. 19 Emma Guffey Miller to Agnes Wells, February 22, 1950, NWP Papers, Reel 96. 51 the health and morals of working women. 20 Beset by corruption, the union's very public difficulties in protecting the health and morals of its male members certainly did not qualify it as arbiter of female propriety. As the NWP clearly saw, the male-dominated AFL-CIO simply sought to protect its men from the competition offered by women and the Hayden Rider provided a convenient means. In letters to newspaper editors throughout the nation, NWP members gained some easy points in the court of public opinion by hammering the beleaguered union. In the 1950s, only one new major organization joined the list of backers. In April 1958, the Daughters of the American Revolution resolved to support the Equal Rights for Men and Women Amendment. 21 A relatively conservative, decidedly mainstream group, the DAR shared many members with the NWP. DAR support served to clearly demonstrate that the even the most traditional women, from long

20NWP Press Release, "Women Still Fight for Equal Rights," May 7, 1958, NWP Papers, Reel 104; "The Fight Goes On," The Hickory Daily Record, June 3, 1958, NWP Papers, Reel 172. 21 National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution Resolution, April 8, 1958, NWP papers, Reel 104. 52 distinguished families, could advocate passage of the ERA. In past years, the NWP had struggled to gain an ERA endorsement from AAUW. The association had adamantly refused to support the amendment unless qualifications were added to safeguard the "health, safety, and general welfare of women."~ However, women within AAUW, surreptitiously encouraged by NWP members, argued on behalf of the ERA. When the AAUW's Status of Women

Committee met in the autumn of 1951, its members agreed to restudy the ERA. Following arguments in favor and against the amendment, the committee voted in November

1952 to reverse its previous opposition and seek active support of the ERA. The AAUW Board of Directors then scheduled a vote on the matter at the national convention. 23 Of 2,574 votes cast by the convention delegates in June 1953, 1,219 were in favor and 1,355 were opposed to the ERA. In view of this extremely close vote, the AAUW assembly decided to neither support nor

22AAUW, "Against an Unqualified E. R. A." pamphlet, March 1950, AAUW Archives, Reel 11.

23AAUW, "AAUW and the E. R. A. , " December 1952, AAUW Archives, Reel 1 19.

53 oppose the amendment. 24 Throughout the rest of the decade, the AAUW maintained this deadlock, with the leadership declaring that equal pay was of more concern to it than the ERA. 25 Although the NWP also supported equal pay, the organizations never worked together on this issue. AAUW's close ties to advocates of protective legislation throughout the 1950s doomed any chance at cooperation with the NWP. Alice K. Leopold, an ERA supporter, had taken over the Women's Bureau's mantle in 1953. She altered the focus of the agency to data collection and changed its mentality to encourage women to move into the labor market. In 1954, the Bureau and the Department of Labor withdrew their opposition to the ERA. Like the AAUW, they also declined to endorse it. The switch away from a belief in women's home-centeredness did not have much of

24Proceedings, AAUW 1953 National Convention, June 22-26, 1953, AAUW Archives, Reel 10.

25AAUW Legislative Office to Branch Chairmen, May 2, 1957, AAUW Archives, Reel 11. 54 an impact as Leopold did not actively seek to involve the agency in public policy debates. 26 As the struggle to recruit organizations proved, the NWP clearly needed help with its reputation. Image problems hampered its ability to work with others. The AAUW complained about the NWP as did the National Education Association. In one of the professions most dominated by women, teachers had long suffered from discriminatory practices. In response to this, NEA had endorsed the ERA year after year. In the 1950s this changed. At the 1957 National Convention, NEA changed its policy and resolved to take official positions only on matters directly affecting education. 27 As historian Marjorie Murphy has concluded, in NEA, women were visible and present in leadership positions but were absent from the inner sanctum. 28 Men controlled the organization. They decided that such widespread practices as forcing a

26Alice Kessler-Harris, Out to Work: A History of Wage Earning Women in the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982), 306-308; Nancy Jewell Cross to Lyndon Baines Johnson, August 17, 1957, NWP Papers, Reel 104. 27Allan M. West, The National Education Association: The Power Base for Education (New York: The Free Press, 1980), 25. 28Marj or i e Murphy, Blackboard Uni ens (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1990), 258. 55 married teacher to abandon her students mid-way through the school year because she had become pregnant did not affect education. Therefore, the ERA was not a matter with which NEA expressed concerned. Following its traditional practice, the NWP would have sent some official delegates to lobby the national leaders. However, one member wrote the NWP that this would not be a wise move: You must not go [to lobby] as members of NWP. Already some of the staff members think that the NWP is working through us and trying to get NEA to carry the ball for equal rights. I have never admitted that I was a member. The NEA shared the union belief that working women would lose more than they would gain by the passage of the ERA. 29 Its members managed to force NEA back into the ERA fold in 1958, but support for the amendment remained lukewarm until the 1970s. 30 The party's strategy of recruiting organizations, not people, meant that large numbers of people lacked familiarity with the amendment. Some members, realizing this, considered the Hayden vote a victory. As Florence

29 Lucy [?] to Alice Paul, Anita Pollitzer and Leslie Black, August 20, 1957, NWP papers, Reel 104. 30Murphy, 259.

56 A. Armstrong, head of the NWP Publications Committee, explained, "The victory in the Senate is a glorious advance . Every one will now take it seriously. No one can now say they never heard of it. 31 Anti-ERA forces claimed that women already enjoyed equal rights with men in almost all areas of law. The National Committee to Defeat the Unequal Rights Amendment, a coalition of more than forty national organizations, incessantly alleged that equal rights had already been achieved and the discriminations which remained were "trivial."~ Most of the organizations belonging to this umbrella had union or religious affiliations. NWP strategy called for counteracting such claims by providing the media with a list of the most annoying and absurd restrictions on women. These included bans in some states on women serving on juries (hurting prosecutions for sexual assault), running a business, obtaining a divorce on grounds of adultery, handling baggage, and working in

31 Florence A. Armstrong to National Council Officers, January 25, 1950, NWP Papers, Reel 96. 32Randa 11 , 208.

57 bowling alleys. 33 Outnumbered but not overwhelmed, the NWP kept the fight for the amendment in the public eye. The NWP continued to solicit endorsements from prominent political leaders and the major political parties. Truman endorsed the amendment as did Eisenhower. However, after reiterating his support for

ERA in his Budget Message of January 1957, Eisenhower promptly forgot about it. Much to the annoyance of NWP, he commented at a news conference in August of that year, "It is hard for a mere man to believe that woman doesn't have equal rights."" With this quip, the President emphasized that endorsements by those seeking votes had little value after the elections. As the decade came to a close, the celebration of domesticity also began to pass. In ever increasing numbers, women entered the public sphere. They attended college and continued in the workplace after marriage. Most no longer expected to live out their days in the cocoon of the home. But while more women experienced

33 "0utsmarting the Ladies," Newsweek 55 (February 6, 1950), 21 . 34 Patricia Wiggins, "These Ladies Didn't Laugh at Ike's Quip," unknown newspaper, August 1957, NWP Papers, Reel 171.

58 gender discrimination, few fought against it. The battle would be left for their daughters, and the women of NWP.

59 CHAPTER FOUR The Personal is Political: The National Woman's Party in the 1960s and 1970s In the 1960s, women shook the dust off the feminist movement. No longer satisfied to live their lives in the shadows of sexism, increasing numbers of women demanded change. Inspired by the civil rights movement, women began to recognize that they too suffered oppression. Equal opportunity became a rallying cry for millions. Together, they formed organizations to address issues ranging from equal pay to family planning. As this emerging wave of feminism politicized, Alice Paul continued to seek the support of organizations for the cause of the Equal Rights Amendment. This strategy had not served NWP well in the past and it did not bode well for the party in the 1960s. With more energy and more members than NWP, the new feminist groups kidnapped the ERA from the older crowd. Paul lost control over her child as the fate of the amendment slipped from the hands of NWP members. The feminine mystique, that attitude which pushed

60 women to be happy second class citizens, shattered in 1963 when Betty Friedan's book came out. Exposing the frustration of unrelieved domesticity, The Feminine Mystique quickly made the best seller list. NWP member Alma Lutz wrote to a friend that the book offered "a glimmer of hope that some of the younger generation are warming up." 1 Tired of being alone, NWP members wanted other furious women to take up the fight for equality. They did not have much longer to wait. Although social changes created a climate of discontent among many American women, governmental actions also played a role in the formation of new feminist organizations. Responding to calls for action against sexism, government officials performed the hallowed bureaucratic ritual: Commissions were formed to study the issue. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Commission on the Status of Women to investigate the legal, social, economic, and political status of women and to offer recommendations to the President on ways in which women could become equal partners with men in

1Alma Lutz to Emma Guffey Mi 11 er, February 23, 1963, NWP Papers, Reel 108. 61 American society. Kennedy had many wonderful attributes, but an enlightened view of women was not among them. In part, the Commission was designed to discharge political obligations to Kennedy's female campaign workers, none of whom obtained significant executive posts outside the Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor. In addition, administration officials hoped that the Commission might reject the need for the ERA, and thus allow Kennedy to quietly get rid of a controversial issue. 2 Clearly, the President lacked familiarity with the stubborn women of NWP. The Commission, headed by long-time ERA opponent Esther Peterson of the Woman's Bureau, was stacked against the amendment. NWP member Margery Leonard complained, "It is controlled by our arch-enemy [Peterson]. The Commission was hand-picked. "3 Emma Guffey Miller, an octogenarian activist for the Democratic Party elected NWP chairman in 1960, identified only three members of the panel as pro-ERA. Convinced

2 Deborah L. Rhode, Justice and Gender (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989), 56. 3Margery Leonard to Emma Guffey Miller, February 16, 1963, NWP Papers, Reel 108.

62 that Peterson sought to kill the amendment, Miller also believed that the Commission's conclusions had already been decided. 4 As expected, in October of 1963, the Commission membership declared that there was no need for a constitutional amendment, concluding that the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of equal rights already afforded sufficient authority for banning discrimination against women. 5 The NWP response came swiftly. "We are against the proposal of the Commission which would force women to wait for some far off day when the Supreme Court may possibly reinterpret the Constitution to give equal rights to women," Paul declared. 6 The NWP was infuriated by this loss, and no less annoyed by the formation of numerous similar commissions on the state and federal levels. Referring to this proliferation, NWP stalwart Ernestine Breisch Powell complained: Most of them will do a great deal of hard work and come up with statistics we have had on file in our library for years. Our feeling is that they are a waste of time and

4Emma Guffey Miller to Marjorie Longwell, March 20, 1963, NWP Papers, Reel 108. 5 Rhode, 56. 6 "Women's Party Continues Battle for Equal Rights," The Norwalk Hour [Norwalk, Connecticut], October 18, 1963, NWP Papers, Reel 172. 63 energy. What they are doing merely draws awa¥ from the main issue - equal rights for women. Along with other women, the party wanted less study and some action on behalf of equality. No significant movement on the ERA occurred in Congress in the 1960s. Emanuel Celler, the party's bugbear, kept the amendment bottled up in the House Judiciary Committee. The NWP continued to collect sponsors and co-sponsors, but to little avail. The party enjoyed more success by tying sex to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. NWP members had watched the emergence of the civil rights movement with mixed feelings. No African-Americans belonged to the party. Faced with the dual bind of racial and sexual discrimination, women of color followed a different path. Since no African-Americans joined or sought to join the party, NWP did not feel obligated to form a policy on civil rights. Some members, such as Paul, supported the actions of the moderate National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. They saw a clear link between civil rights for African-Americans and equal

7 Lucinda Klemeyer, "Equal Rights is Battle Cry," Columbus Dispatch [Columbus, Ohio], February 12, 1967, NWP Papers, Reel 110. 64 rights for women and hoped that justice for people of color would bring justice for women too. 8 Some segments of the party were racist and feared "infiltration" by civil rights agitators. 9 Others, such as Miller, had become embittered by the continued refusal of African­ American organizations to voice support for the ERA. 10 In an attempt to ban discrimination on the grounds of sex, the NWP chose to play the race card. The campaigns for civil rights for African-Americans and for women have long been intertwined, sometimes complementing each other, at other times clashing. As early as 1960, Paul had attempted to place women on the civil rights bandwagon by seeking to have sex discrimination included in pending civil rights bills. 11 In 1963, she tried again. Paul asked NWP members Butler Franklin and Nina Horton Avery to approach Howard Smith

8Alice Paul to Victoria Gilbert, May 4, 1968, NWP Papers, Reel 111 . 9Miriam Holden to Anita Pollitzer, February 16, 1963, NWP Papers, Reel 108. 10Emma Guffey Miller to Marjorie Longwell, February 1, 1963, NWP Papers, Reel 108. 11 Alice Paul to Margaret Moss, March 17, 1960, NWP Papers, Reel 106.

65 of Virginia. Smith, the powerful Democratic head of the House Committee on Rules, had a background of support and friendship for NWP, for Paul, and for the ERA. 12 No friend of African-Americans, Smith responded to NWP's complaint that the Civil Rights Act would "not even give protection against discrimination . to a White Woman, a Woman of the Christian Religion, or a Woman of United States Origin." 13 He placed the "sex" in the bill and led the fight to keep the amendment. Other Southerners joined him, perhaps in an effort to mock or derail the bill. Approval of the legislation by the House came on February 10, 1964. 14 NWP continued to lobby members of the Senate and achieved partial victory there on June 12. In the end, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 only prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in employment. 15

12Carl M. Brauer, "Women Activists, Southern Conservatives, and the Prohibition of Sex Discrimination in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act," Journal of Southern Hi story 69, ( 1983): 42. 13Resolution, December 16, 1963, NWP Papers, Reel 108. 14Congressional Record, 88th Cong., 2nd sess., (February 10, 1964), 2728. 15 Congressional Record 88th Cong, 2nd sess, (June 12, 1964), 13647. 66 Title VII brought gender barriers down. Women gained the right to be hired and promoted without regard to sex. Thirty years later, it remains the most important of all the legislation prohibiting employment discrimination. Despite their victory for American women, in most accounts in the history books, NWP is forgotten. Credit for authoring the sex provision is often erroneously given to Congressperson Martha Griffiths, perhaps because she was the most powerful woman supporting it in the House. 16 A small group whose members worked behind the scenes, NWP has been easily overlooked. Title VII established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to administer the law. It did not do so with any consistency. EEOC initially ignored women's complaints. This governmental inaction became the last straw for a host of angry women who formed the National Organization for Women (NOW) in June 1966. They wanted change NOW and invited other women's groups to "give some thought to the various ways in which NOW and your own organization might be helpful to each

16Mary Frances Berry, Why ERA Failed (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986): 61.

67 other. "17 Paul knew how NOW could be helpful. She joined it and helped persuade the group to endorse ERA. NOW neglected to give due credit to NWP for keeping the ERA alive and this omission soured relations between the two groups. 18 Paul also joined the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL). Formed in Ohio in 1968, this group worked towards equality in employment and education. After Paul's name was added to the membership roster, the group accepted her direction and began to lobby members of Congress on behalf of ERA. 19 Other groups sprang up across the nation as a chasm appeared between the radicals of yesteryear and the women's liberationists. This divide is illustrated in an account by radical feminist Barbara Mehrhof. She was part of a women's liberation group that organized a feminist action as part of a Counter-Inaugural demonstration in January 1969. The purpose of their protest was to declare that suffragism was dead. To this

17Betty Friedan et al. to Alice Paul, February 8, 1967, NWP Papers, Reel 110. 18Ruth Gage-Colby to Paul, May 5, 1969, NWP Papers, Reel 111; Elizabeth Chittick interview. 19Elizabeth Boyer to Alice Paul, March 29, 1969, NWP Papers, Reel 111 .

68 end, the liberationists invited Alice Paul to burn her voter registration card. As one might expect of someone who had endured beatings and forced-feedings in prison to get women the ballot, Paul lacked appreciation for this action. 20 Too radical in the past, NWP became too conservative for the present. In the 1960s, the NWP only had a membership of a few hundred women. By the 1970s, the national leaders had stopped counting. 21 Things were not going well at Belmont House. Without those "faithful friends," little money flowed into party coffers. The National Headquarters was badly understaffed. "As I have had no reply at all to my last three communications - requests for information etc. I am seriously concerned about the state of health of the NWP since it has slowed to non-function," wrote Ernestine Bellamy Choate in 1969. 22 As a single woman, Choate had been the youngest member of the National

20Alice Echols, Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America 1967-1975 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989), 12.

21 Elizabeth Chittick interview. 22Ernestine Bellamy Choate to NWP Ladies, February 17, 1969, NWP Papers, Reel 111. 69 Council in the 1950s. She had headed up the Young Adults Committee and criss-crossed the nation in a tour promoting the amendment. Drawn away from the party by college and marriage, Choate nevertheless remained a prominent member. Her inability to receive any sort of response to repeated information requests speaks to the collapse of the party's organization. In the early 1970s, AAUW and the League of Women Voters began to work for the passage of ERA. The new feminists, women like Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan, and Bella Abzug, voiced their support of it. Young organizations, NOW and the National Women's Political Caucus among the most prominent, demanded the amendment. The ERA summarized everything that feminists wanted: equal opportunity. The amendment became synonymous with the women's liberation movement. In the various accounts of the movement, ERA is always mentioned. NWP rarely gets a nod. Less skilled at media manipulation than the women raised with television, NWP members have been eclipsed in the public imagination. Organized labor and social feminists continued to oppose ERA, but more and more women argued for the amendment. In 1970, the House passed the ERA without any

70 self-defeating riders. Senate debate dragged on and no vote was taken before the end of the session. In 1971, the House again passed an unencumbered ERA. Senate debate again dragged on, but this time the ERA passed. On March 22, 1972, it cleared the Senate by a vote of 84 to

The chorus of women's voices had grown louder through the years until finally they were heard. But, at this crucial point, no one listened to Paul. Believing that the time limit attached to the amendment doomed it, she did not want this version of the bill to succeed. Refusing to watch the bell toll for her child, Paul did not witness the historic Senate vote. Warned by the new chairman, Elizabeth Chittick, that the ERA was about to pass, Paul did not leave her home. On that March day, the old lady huddled in her dressing gown at Belmont House and ordered her lieutenants to remain with her. Some, including Chittick, refused. The next day, Paul marked ERA's passage with a tea party for a few of her close friends. In her nineties, Paul had become too enfeebled by age to take an active part in the

23 Dorothy McBride Stetson, Women's Rights in the U. s. A. (Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing, 1990), 27-28. 71 ratification campaign. Rendered an invalid a few months later, with failing eyesight and concentration, she died in a nursing home in Connecticut in 1977. 24 The battle for ERA moved to the state legislatures, but the NWP could not keep up the fight. The party's strategy of recruiting organizations to the cause no longer applied now that states had to be converted. In the past, each NWP member had assumed responsibility for the legislators in her own state. She would barrage them with letters and occasionally make personal calls. This approach lacked glamor, but by lobbying at home, these women kept expenses down. Following passage, Chittick changed the party's plan of attack. The chairman, a five-year member brought in from the Investments and Endowments Fund Committee, lacked knowledge of the party's history. She did not grasp the impact of the letter-writing rank and file. She also refused to accept the diminished scope of the party. Although it joined with NOW, NEA, and the League of Women Voters and several other organizations to form the Equal Rights Ratification Council (ERRC), NWP had no money with which to finance

24Elizabeth Chittick interview. 72 its efforts. It was clearly out of its league. By the early 1970s, for all effective purposes, the party was finished. Lucy Rice Winkler neatly summarized its problems, "We find it hard to interest the young women and so many of our old faithful friends have died." 25 Like those in many long established small organizations, members of NWP had become very tightly knit over the years. The party consumed their lives. It became as much a social organization as a political one. Younger women, if they were interested in associating with women old enough to be their grandmothers, probably found it difficult to break into the clique. NWP membership offered few advantages, while a NOW card brought the promise of membership in an activist cause with immediate impact. Protesting before the cameras also proved more thrilling than attending a tea. In a media age, the oldsters lacked media savvy. Without public notice, the party was doomed. Nevertheless, Chittick still regarded the party as a powerhouse. She joined representatives from EERC in agreeing to go state to state to set up organizations in

25 Lucy Rice Winkler to Mary Birckhead, February 28, 19966, NWP Papers, Reel 110.

73 favor of the ERA. Chittick visited North Carolina and Nevada, spending the last major donation received by the party on radio ads. 26 Disagreement over the direction of the party again led to a crippling court fight. This time the party did not bounce back. It has remained enmeshed in a series of lawsuits. The 1960s and 1970s brought renewed hope for the future of women in America. After surviving years of miserable isolation, NWP members found comfort in the emergence of a new batch of women warriors. In their numbers and in their actions, these young women promised to change the status of women in America. The grave of NWP would not contain all the remains of the women's movement for equality.

26 Elizabeth Chittick interview.

74 CONCLUSION What will destroy the family, help only homosexuals, produce unisex restrooms, throw housewives on the street, force women into foxholes, and confuse everybody? The women of NWP could not answer, but Phyllis Schafly did. The leader of STOP-ERA appealed to the emotions of state legislators as a backlash formed against liberalism. Hampered by a deadline, feminists could not muster enough support to a solid majority in all gain the states necessary for ratification. In 1982, as predicted by Paul, the ERA ran out of time. The years immediately following World War II were grim ones for women's organizations. Although the NWP managed to survive, it never managed to thrive. Great determination on the part of its members to ban gender discrimination did not prove adequate to the challenge of getting the ERA through Congress. Marriage and motherhood proved to be of more interest to the American public than opportunity and equality. As the second women's movement began in the 1960s, the NWP started to fade. Always a small band of

75 intensely single-minded activists, the NWP lacked broad appeal. The activists had neither the strength, nor the skill to convert many others to their brand of equality. Unable to attract much fresh blood, the party was dominated by the aged. As they diminished in numbers, the party shrank also. Before it collapsed, NWP passed the ERA to a new generation. Women who were willing to stand up and fight for an equal chance in life were introduced to the constitutional approach by NWP. Led by Paul, party members persuaded other organizations to add support for the ERA to their platforms. Today, groups such as NOW and AAUW, remain in the struggle for Paul's amendment. Today, they lead it. NWP challenged long held assumptions about gender. By inserting ''sex" into Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, party members smashed gender barriers. Persons of like qualities now, by law, are given an equal chance in employment. This equal chance extends, by law, no further. The ERA is not yet the law of the land. However, for keeping the amendment alive and leaving a

76 legacy of stubbornness in the pursuit of justice, the NWP deserves much credit.

77 Bibliography

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84