Tony Bell of the Metro St. Louis Chapter of the National Organization For Women donated the papers of Metro St. Louis NOW to the Western Historical Manuscript Collection, University of Missouri-St. Louis, in March 1983.
Betty Friedan, the author of Feminist Mystique founded the National Organization For Women (NOW) in 1966 and served as the first national president. By 1984 there were 260,000 individual members, 9 regional organizers, 50 state groups, and 800 local chapters. The organization's goal is to end all forms of prejudice and discrimination against women. The group continues to support passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, enforcement of federal legislation prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, social innovations to enable women to work while rearing a family, and a re-examination of laws and mores governing marriages and divorce. NOW promotes its views through research, litigation, and political action.
The Metro St. Louis NOW Chapter received its charter in February 1971. Mary Ann Sedey was the first president. By October 1972, there were 50 paid members, with many more people regularly attending the chapter's programs. By October 1972, eleven task forces and a speakers' bureau had been established. In addition, chapter members developed temporary alliances with one-issue oriented groups. Metro NOW supported its activities by selling posters, buttons and publications, as well as holding fund raising dinners.
Metro NOW worked especially hard to secure state ratification of the ERA and to protect abortion rights. The group held yearly rallies for ERA on August 25, the anniversary of women's suffrage, and in 1978 conducted a 77-day vigil at the state capitol to obtain an extension of the ratification deadline. The abortion task force joined with other St. Louis organizations in pro-abortion rallies and in picketing on behalf of the issue.
Members of the Media Committee monitored television news programs, wrote letters to offensive advertisers and urged a boycott of their products. The Education Committee reviewed public school text books for sex stereotyping. The Marriage and Family Committee worked towards the successful passage of the no-fault divorce law. The Library Task Force checked on the extent of collections dealing with women. The Compliance in Business and Industry Committee supported women who felt discriminated against in employment and counseled them on sex-decision laws, how and where to file a complaint, and how to deal with an employer personally. They worked to eliminate the segregation of job want ads. This committee monitored business and industry affirmative action plans and assisted in finding jobs for women that were usually held by men.
Metro St. Louis NOW was interested in a wide range of issues: child care, consciousness-raising, early childhood development, economic justice, education discrimination, homemakers' rights, labor unions and on-site organizing, lesbian rights, the problems of disabled and minority women, physical and mental health, violence against women, and women and religion.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The Metro St. Louis NOW records contain administrative material from the group, including minutes and correspondence of the St. Louis, state, and national organizations
and chapter newsletter "& Nothing Less". The records are maintained in their original
order as received.
The bulk of the collection consists of subject files on the various causes that Metro St. Louis NOW supported, such as the ERA, abortion, person abuse, child care, school reform, human rights, credit for women, employment discrimination, International Women's Year, politics, rape, and religion. A vigil log contains members' reports on their experiences in Jefferson City during the ERA vigil watch.
FOLDER LISTING
BOX 1 (046482)
1. Abortion
2. Ad Book
3. Ad Book Prospects
4. Ad Book Sales Instruction
5. Affirmative Action
6. Answering Service
7. American Telegraph and Telephone
8. August 25 Committee - 1973
9. August 25, 1973
10. August 25, 1971, 1972
11. August 25, 1972
12. Heather Booth Midwest Academy
13. Budget Information
14. Child Care
15. Committee for School Reform
16. Consciousness Raising
17. Convenor's Kit
18. Credit
19. Displaced Homemakers
20. Education
21. Employment
22. Employment Discrimination
23. National Organization for Women vs. Want Ads - Employment
24. Equal Rights Amenclment (ERA) Coalition
25. ERA - Flyers, Pamphlets
26. ERA - support material
27. ERA - support material
28. ERA - support material
BOX 2 (046483)
29. ERA - support material
30. ERA - support material
31. ERA - election work
32. Rally for ERA
33. ERA Information Sheets
34. ERA Extension Resolution
35. ERA Extension Resolution
36. ERA Extension Resolution
37. FCC
38. File Index
39. Finances and Fund Raising
40. Edna F. Gellhorn
41. General Mills
42. Grants
43. Grievances and Conflicts
44. Hospital Workers Strike, Local 50, 1973-1974
45. Women and Housing
46. International Women's Year
47. Labor
48. Legal Defense and Education Fund
49. Legislation
50. Lesbianism
51. Liberation Fair
52. Manpower
53. Marriage, Divorce, Family
54. Media
55. Minority Women
56. Missouri - Human Rights Commission
57. Missouri Commission on the Status of Women
58. Newsletter
59. National Committee on Household Enployment (NCHE)
60. NOW Agendas, May 1974 - May 1975, General and Board
61. NOW Agendas,1975-1976
62. Board Administration, 1971-1975
63. Columbia, Missouri, 1971-1972
64. NOW, St. Louis Metro, 1973-1975
65. NOW, General,, 1971-1979
66. NOW, Board and General Meetings, 1973-1974
67. NOW, St. Louis Metro, Minutes, 1974-1975
68. NOW, St. Louis Metro Newsletter, June 1971 - June 197S
69. NOW, Metro St. Louis Variety Show, 1978
70. NOW, Metro St. Louis Vigil Log, 1978
71. NOW, Correspondence, 1975-1976
72. NOW Correspondence, Prior to May, 1974
73. NOW, Correspondence, National, 1971-1974
74. NOW, Correspondence, Regional Coordinator, 1973-1974
75. NOW, Correspondence, Regional Director, 1975
76. NOW, Correspondence, Wilma Scott Heide, 1971-1974
77. NOW, Missouri, 1974-1978
78. NOW, National Ad Campaign, 1973
79. NOW, Board Meetings., Agendas, 1973-1978
80. NOW, Board meetings, St. Louis, 1973
81. NOW, Board meetings, 1974
BOX 3 (046484)
82. NOW National Board, 1975
83. NOW National File, 1976 Board Meetings
84. NOW National Conferences
85. NOW National Phone Bank
86. NOW National Purpose, Goals
87. State NOW
88. Older Women
89. Person Abuse
90. Political Districts
91. Politics
92. Posters
93. Poster Ads
94. Poverty
95. Procurement Committee
96. Rape
97. Religion
98. Resources
99. Sears
100. Self-Help Clinic
101. Speakers' Bureau
102. Sports
103. Stationery/Note Cards
104. Susan B. Anthony Campaign
105. Task Force Information
106. Telephone Directory Listing Action
107. T-shirts
108. Television Monitoring
109. United Fund
110. Volunteerism
111. Women and the Arts
112. Women's Coalition
113. Photographs, 175.1-175.32
114. Newsclippings - 'ERA
115. Newsclippings - Miscellaneous; Newsletters - North County NOW; Banner, Sash, Proclamation
ADDENDA
116. Newsletters, 1980-1986
117. "Now Reaches Out to End Discrimination" Paper by Connie Sexauer, 1994
Videotape: V175.1 Copy of Color Film of the Parade in Downtown St. Louis Celebrating the Anniversary of Women's Suffrage on August 25, 1973. Filmed by Marty Macke. 3/4 inch tape.
INDEX
Abortion, f. 1
Affirmative Action, f. 5
Child Care, f. 14
Displaced Homemakers, f. 19
Education, f. 20
Employment, f. 21-22
Equal Rights Amendment, f. 24-36
Federal Communications Commission, f. 37
Gellhorn, Edna F., f. 40
Heather Booth Midwest Academy, f. 12
Hospital Workers Strike, 1973-1974, f. 44
Housing, f. 45
International Women's Year, f. 46
Labor, f. 44, 47
Liberation Fair, f. 51
Missouri Human Rights Commission, f. 56
Missouri Committee on the Status of Women, f. 57
National Committee on Household Employment, f. 59
National Organization of Women (NOW), f. 1-117
Poverty, f. 94
Rape, f. 96
Sears, f. 99, 117
Women, f. 1-117
STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI-RESEARCH CENTER-ST. LOUIS
222 THOMAS JEFFERSON LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS
8001 NATURAL BRIDGE ROAD
ST. LOUIS, MO 63121
(314) 516-5143
whmc@umsl.edu