How Did the National Women's
Conference in Houston in 1977
Shape a Feminist Agenda for the Future?
Document List
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Abstract
Introduction
Judith P. Zinsser, "From Mexico to Copenhagen to Nairobi: The United
Nations Decade for Women, 1975-1985," 2002
Part I. Congress
Mandates the Conference
Document 1: "Executive Order Establishing a National Commission on
the Observance of International Women's Year, 1975," 9 January 1975
Document 2: Excerpts from "Historical Notes on the Growth of the Women's
Movement," 1976
Document 3: Jill Ruckelshaus, "Who Shall Speak For Our Nation's Women?
An American Dialogue," 1976
Document 4: "A Bill to direct the National Commission on the Observance
of International Women's Year, 1975, to Organize and Convene a National
Women's Conference," Public Law 94-167, 23 December 1977
Part II. State
Conferences
Section A: Actions Taken by State Conference
Document 5: Woman: 1977: The Status of American Women, 1977
Document 6: Caroline Bird, "Every Woman Her Say -- State Meetings,"
1978
Document 7A: Table: "National Commission on the Observance of International
Women's Year State Meetings, 1977," 1978
Document 7B: Table: "Summary of Resolutions Adopted By State Meetings,
1977," 1978
Section B: Right
Wing Opposition
Document 8: John M. Crewdson, "Mormon Turnout Overwhelms Women's Conference
in Utah," 25 July 1977
Document 9: Excerpt from Carolyn Kortge, "Schlafly Says Women's Movement
Is Dying in an Anti-Feminist Surge," 3 August 1977
Document 10: Excerpt from Betty J. Blair, "Klan's ‘Spies’
Plan to Disrupt Feminist Parley," 1 September 1977
Document 11: Dick Behn, "Antifeminism: New Conservative Force,"
1 September 1977
Document 12: Patricia Schroeder, speech in House of Representatives and
Marjorie Bell Chambers, letter to Members of Congress, 21 September 1977
Document 13: Senator Birch Bayh, senate address, and Bella Azbug, Letter
to Friends and Former Colleagues, 22 September 1977
Part III. National
Women's Conference, Houston, Texas, November 1977
Document 14: Bella Abzug, letter to President Carter, 22 March 1978
Document 15: Biographies of National Commissioners, 1978
Document 16: "The Torch Relay," 1978
Document 17: Maya Angelou, "To Form a More Perfect Union," 1977
Document 18: "Declaration of American Women 1977," 1977
Document 19: Caroline Bird, " Houston Day by Day," 1978
Document 20: "International Perspectives: World Peace is a Women's
Issue," 1978
Document 21: "What the Press Said," 1978
Document 22: "Epilogue: The Spirit of Houston," 1978
Document 23: Joan Gubbins, et al., " ‘…To Establish Justice…’:
Minority Report," 1978
Document 24: "Black Women's Plan of Action," 1978
Document 24B: Supplementary tables from "Black Women's Plan of Action,"
1978
Document 25: "The Minority Caucus: ‘It's Our Movement Now,"’
1978
Document 26: "Rediscovering American Women: A Chronology Highlighting
Women's History in the United States," 1978
Document 27: Linda Colvard Dorian, "Legal Report," 1978
Part IV. The
National Plan of Action Adopted at National Women's Conference, 1978
Document 28: "Plank 1: Arts and Humanities"
Document 29: "Plank 2: Battered Women"
Document 30: "Plank 3: Business"
Document 31: "Plank 4: Child Abuse"
Document 32: "Plank 5: Child Care"
Document 33: "Plank 6: Credit"
Document 34: "Plank 7: Disabled Women"
Document 35: "Plank 8: Education"
Document 36: "Plank 9: Elective and Appointive Office"
Document 37: "Plank 10: Employment"
Document 38: "Plank 11: Equal Rights Amendment"
Document 39: "Plank 12: Health"
Document 40: "Plank 13: Homemakers"
Document 41: "Plank 14: Insurance"
Document 42: "Plank 15: International Affairs"
Document 43: "Plank 16: Media"
Document 44: "Plank 17: Minority Women"
Document 45: "Plank 18: Offenders"
Document 46: "Plank 19: Older Women"
Document 47: "Plank 20: Rape"
Document 48: "Plank 21: Reproductive Freedom"
Document 49: "Plank 22: Rural Women"
Document 50A: "Plank 23: Sexual Preference"
Document 50B: Eleanor Smeal, speech excerpt and Betty Friedan, excerpt from
conference remarks made from the floor, Fourth Plenary: Plank 23 Sexual
Preference, National Women's Conference, 1977
Document 51: "Plank 24: Statistics"
Document 52: "Plank 25: Women, Welfare and Poverty"
Document 53: "Plank 26: Committee of the Conference"
Part V. Houston
Conference Addresses and Debates, November 1977
Document 54: "Speech by Bella Abzug, Presiding Officer, First Plenary
Session"
Document 55: "Speech by First Lady Rosalynn Carter, First Plenary Session"
Document 56: "Speech by Betty Ford, National Commissioner and Former
First Lady, First Plenary Session"
Document 57: "Commissioner Liz Carpenter: Faces and Voices. First Plenary
Session"
Document 58: "Introduction of Congresswoman Barbara Jordan by Lady
Bird Johnson, First Plenary Session"
Document 59: "Keynote Speech by Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, First
Plenary Session"
Document 60: "Speech by Congresswoman Margaret M. Heckler, Third Plenary
Session"
Document 61: "Speech by Honorable Patsy Mink, Assistant Secretary of
State (Former Congresswoman and Co-sponsor PL 94-167), Third Plenary Session"
Document 62: "Speech by Honorable Margaret Mead, Fourth Plenary Session"
Document 63: "Commissioner Cecilia Preciado-Burciaga, Commissioner
Carmen Delgado Votaw, Hispanic Dialogue, Fourth Plenary Session"
Document 64: "Speech by Billie Masters, Chair, National American Indian
and Alaskan Native Women's Conference, Closing Plenary Session"
Document 65: "Speech by Commissioner Addie Wyatt, Closing Plenary Session"
Part VI. The
Legacy of Houston, 1977-1997
Documents 66-95 come from Decade of Achievement: 1977-1987:
A Report on a Survey Based on the National Plan of Action for Women
(1988)
Document 66: "U.S. Map Showing States with Statewide Networks"
Document 67: "The Decade in Numbers"
Document 68: "Introduction"
Document 69: "Part I: How the National Plan of Action for Women Came
into Being"
Document 70: "Part II: Report on the Survey of Women's Groups Nationwide
and Women's Statewide Networks"
Document 71: "Arts and Humanities"
Document 72: "Battered Women"
Document 73: "Business/Credit"
Document 74: "Child Abuse"
Document 75: "Child Care"
Document 76: "Disabled Women"
Document 77: "Education"
Document 78: "Elective and Appointive Office"
Document 79: "Employment"
Document 80: "Equal Rights Amendment"
Document 81: "Health"
Document 82: "Homemakers"
Document 83: "Insurance"
Document 84: "International Affairs"
Document 85: "Media"
Document 86: "Minority Women"
Document 87: "Offenders"
Document 88: "Older Women"
Document 89: "Rape"
Document 90: "Reproductive Freedom"
Document 91: "Rural Women"
Document 92: "Sexual Preference"
Document 93: "Statistics"
Document 94: "Welfare and Poverty"
Document 95: "Part IV: Noteworthy but not in the Plan"
Document 96: "Moving History Forward," 1997
Part VII:
Recorded Speeches and Debates of the 1977 National Women's Conference
Document 97A: Opening Plenary Session: Maya Angelou, Rosalynn Carter,
Betty Ford, and Bella Abzug
Document 97B: Opening Plenary Session: Bella Abzug (continued), Liz
Carpenter, Lady Bird Johnson, and Barbara Jordan
Document 98A: Second Plenary Session: Judy Carter; shared reading of the
"Declaration of American Women" by Jean Stapleton, Coretta Scott King, and
Lupe Anguiano; Arts and Humanities Plank
Document 98B: Second Plenary Session: Jill Ruckelshaus; Arts and
Humanities Plank, the Battered Women Plank, the Business Plank, the Child
Abuse Plank and the Child Care Plank
Document 99A: Third Plenary Session: The Child Care Plank (continued), the
Disabled Women Plank; Speech of Patsy T. Mink
Document 99B: Third Plenary Session: Margaret Heckler, Helvi Sipila, and
the Education Plank
Document 99C: Third Plenary Session: The Equal Rights Amendment
Document 100A: Fourth Plenary Session: Media Plank and Minority Women
Plank
Document 100B: Fourth Plenary Session: Minority Women Plank (continued),
Offenders Plank, and the Older Women Plank
Document 100C: Fourth Plenary Session: Older Women Plank (continued), the
Rape Plank, and the Reproductive Freedom Plank
Document 100D: Fourth Plenary Session: The Sexual Preference Plank
Document 101: Closing Plenary Session: Addie Wyatt, Midge Costanza, Brenda
Parker, and adjournment
Document 102A: Ad Hoc Hearing on Disarmament and Peace Issues - 1: Pat
Schroeder, Randall Forsberg, Dr. Helen Caldicott
Document 102B: Ad Hoc Hearing on Disarmament and Peace Issues - 1: Dr.
Helen Caldicott (continued), Dr. Anne H. Cahn, Dr. Betty Goetz Lall
Document 103A: Ad Hoc Hearing on Disarmament and Peace Issues - 2: Dr.
Betty Goetz Lall (continued), Yvonne Burke
Document 103B: Ad Hoc Hearing on Disarmament and Peace Issues - 2:
Margaret Mead, Ethel Barol Taylor, Katherine "Kay" Camp
Document 104A: Ad Hoc Hearing on Disarmament and Peace Issues - 3
Document 104B: Ad Hoc Hearing on Disarmament and Peace Issues - 3
(continued)
Document 105A: Beth Abramowitz
Document 105B: Beth Abramowitz (continued)
Document 106A: Barbara Babcock
Document 106B: Barbara Babcock (continued)
Document 106B: Barbara Babcock (continued)
Document 107B: Elizabeth Ellery Bailey (continued)
Document 108A: Mary F. Berry
Document 108B: Mary F. Berry (continued)
Document 109A: Barbara Blum
Document 109B: Barbara Blum (continued)
Document 110A: Carin Clauss
Document 110B: Carin Clauss (continued)
Document 111A: Midge Costanza
Document 111B: Midge Costanza (continued)
Document 112A: Virginia Dill McCarty, Pat A. Danner
Document 112B: Virginia Dill McCarty, Pat A. Danner (continued)
Document 113A: Bernadine Denning
Document 113B: Bernadine Denning (continued)
Document 114A: Carol Tucker Foreman
Document 114B: Carol Tucker Foreman (continued)
Document 115A: Arvonne Fraser
Document 115B: Arvonne Fraser (continued)
Document 116A: Patricia Albjerg Graham
Document 116B: Patricia Albjerg Graham (continued)
Document 117A: Alexis M. Herman
Document 117B: Alexis M. Herman (continued)
Document 118A: Sarah T. Hughes
Document 118B: Sarah T. Hughes (continued)
Document 119A: Shirley Hufstedler
Document 119B: Shirley Hufstedler (continued)
Document 120A: Cornelia G. Kennedy
Document 120B: Cornelia G. Kennedy (continued)
Document 121A: Mary King
Document 121B: Mary King (continued)
Document 122A: Allie Latimer
Document 122B: Allie Latimer (continued)
Document 123A: Margaret A. McKenna
Document 123B: Margaret A. McKenna (continued)
Document 124A: Patsy Takemoto Mink
Document 124B: Patsy Takemoto Mink (continued)
Document 125A: Eleanor Holmes Norton
Document 125B: Eleanor Holmes Norton (continued)
Document 126A: Esther Peterson
Document 126B: Esther Peterson (continued)
Document 127A: Elsa A. Porter
Document 127B: Elsa A. Porter (continued)
Document 128A: Ruth Prokop
Document 128B: Ruth Prokop (continued)
Document 129A: Hazel Rollins
Document 129B: Hazel Rollins (continued)
Document 130A: Donna E. Shalala
Document 130B: Donna E. Shalala (continued)
Document 131A: Eileen Shanahan
Document 131B: Eileen Shanahan (continued)
Document 132A: Irene Tinker
Document 132B: Irene Tinker (continued)
Document 133A: Jill Wine-Volner
Document 133B: Jill Wine-Volner (continued)
Document 134A: Patricia McGowan Wald
Document 134B: Patricia McGowan Wald (continued)
Document 135A: Barbara M. Watson
Document 135B: Barbara M. Watson (continued)
Document 136A: Sarah Weddington
Document 136B: Sarah Weddington (continued)
Document 137A: Esther Wunnicke
Document 137B: Esther Wunnicke (continued)
Part VIII: Memorabilia from
the 1977 Houston National Women's Conference
