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By sheyndl • 14 years ago

The Founders of NOW

In 1965 or 1966, writer Betty Friedan came to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) to interview my boss, the EEOC’s General Counsel, and his deputy for her next book. (She had published the ground-breaking The Feminine Mystique in 1963.)

I was the first woman attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the EEOC, and at that time the only woman in that office, so she noticed me. She asked me what was really happening at the EEOC, the agency that had the responsibility for implementing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, prohibited gender discrimination in employment by covered employers, employment agencies, and labor unions. At that time, the Commission was dragging its heels with regard to interpreting and implementing the gender discrimination prohibitions of the Act, and I was very frustrated about that. I told Betty that what this country needed was an organization to fight for women like the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) fought for Negroes (the term then in use for African Americans).

Subsequently, in June and October 1966, at two meetings, both in Washington, D.C., NOW (National Organization for Women) was formed. I was present at, and participated in, the second meeting that was held in the basement of the Washington Post Building on Halloween weekend (October 29 and ...
By sheyndl • 14 years ago

The Founders of NOW

In 1965 or 1966, writer Betty Friedan came to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) to interview my boss, the EEOC’s General Counsel, and his deputy for her next book. (She had published the ground-breaking The Feminine Mystique in 1963.)
I was the first woman attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at the EEOC, and at that time the only woman in that office, so she noticed me. She asked me what was really happening at the EEOC, the agency that had the responsibility for implementing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, among other things, prohibited gender discrimination in employment by covered employers, employment agencies, and labor unions. At that time, the Commission was ...

In 1965 or 1966, writer Betty Friedan came to the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) to interview my boss, the EEOC’s General Counsel, and his deputy for her next book. (She had published the ground-breaking The Feminine ...