Equal Rights NOW: Eau Claire and the Equal Rights Amendment Debate

Abstract

In 1972, after the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was reintroduced to Congress and quickly passed, a long and contentious debate between those who were pro and anti-ERA began. The most prominent of these groups was the National Organization for Women (NOW), the largest and longest running second-wave era feminist group. Not only was NOW a widespread group with chapters formed in large cities throughout the entire United States, but also in small cities and towns as well in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Historiography on this topic predominantly focuses on NOW and the ERA debate at a national level, rather than looking at the smaller grassroots movements like the NOW Eau Claire Chapter. Primary sources regarding NOW Eau Claire Chapter during the ERA debate include sources from the chapter’s founder, Margo House, various group members, a great deal of articles from local newspapers, and materials from the NOW Eau Claire Chapter itself. Originally the Eau Claire Chapter was tied to the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire during the first part of the ERA debates in the 1970s and later through the Eau Claire Women’s Community Center during the second part of the ERA debates in the early 1980s. Due to their activism as well as the opposition they faced, the Eau Claire Chapter of NOW and their fight for the ERA within Eau Claire greatly mirror that of the national debate between NOW and anti-ERA groups. This research will contribute to current historical knowledge by taking into account the importance and impact of small grassroots movements on the larger ERA debate.