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National Organization for Women history
National Organization for Women company history timeline
Supposedly at one point, Freidan tried to evict one of the skeptics from the room and failing to do so locked herself in the bathroom for 15 minutes. It was at the Third National Conference of the Commission on the Status of Women (with representatives from the state commissions that grew out of the original President's Commission) held in June 1966 in Washington, D.C., that the desire for a national women's group came to fruition.
October 1966: NOW founding conference
On October 29, 1966, the National Organization for Women issued its Statement of Purpose, detailing its agenda and establishing itself as the voice of the women's movement.
Similar commissions had been set up in all 50 states, but their failure to achieve their goals provoked a core group of activists at a national convention in 1966.
Betty Friedan and Pauli Murray wrote NOW's Statement of Purpose in 1966; the original was scribbled on a napkin by Friedan.
Also in 1966, Marguerite Rawalt became a member of NOW, and acted as their first legal counsel.
NOW was incorporated as a not-for-profit in Washington, D.C., on February 10, 1967.
August 1967: First picket by NOW members
In 1967, members of N.O.W. proposed the Equal Rights Amendment, which would guarantee equal rights for women.
Other accomplishments during the early years included the Freedom for Women Week that began on Mother's Day,1969, and called for better treatment and equal opportunities for women.
In 1969, Ivy Bottini, who was openly lesbian, designed the logo for NOW, which is still in use today.
McSorleys' Old Ale House (1970, United States District Court, S. D. New York), established that, as a public place, the bar could not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. For example, the Oak Room held men-only lunches on weekdays until 1969, when Friedan and other members of NOW staged a protest.
As well, women were not allowed in McSorley's Old Ale House's until August 10, 1970, after NOW attorneys Faith Seidenberg and Karen DeCrow filed a discrimination case against the bar in District Court and won.
On August 26, 1970, the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment which granted women the right to vote, NOW officially sponsored the Women’s Strike for Equality, a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights.
Both women served until 1970, but Clarenbach's contribution to the growth of NOW became overshadowed by Friedan's celebrity.
In 1970, NOW founded its Legal Defense and Education Fund.
In reaction, at the 1970 Congress to Unite Women, on the first evening when all four hundred feminists were assembled in the auditorium, twenty women wearing T-shirts that read "Lavender Menace" came to the front of the room and faced the audience.
McSorleys' Old Ale House (1970, United States District Court, S. D. New York), established that, as a public place, the bar could not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.
In 1973, the NOW Task Force on Sexuality and Lesbianism was established.
However, according to the National Organization for Women, decisions following the 1973 landmark case had substantially limited this right, which culminated in their response to encourage the Freedom of Choice Act.
In 1975, a group of a dozen like-minded businesswomen in the D.C. area gathered to share information and create an atmosphere of professional community to further and strengthen their entrepreneurial interests.
The office would operate until 1975, when budget constraints forced its closure.
Their slogan was "Out of the mainstream, into the revolution." In a bitterly contested election in 1975, the group, led by Eleanor Smeal, won a majority of seats on the executive committee and board of directors.
July 1978: Biggest-ever march for the Equal Rights Amendment
1986: NOW Foundation is formed.
The group continued its demonstrations and protests, partnering with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to coordinate a march for jobs in Texas in 1987.
In 1987, NOW was instrumental in organizing nationwide opposition to the nomination of Robert Bork to the United States Supreme Court, but in general NOW was just another advocacy group, albeit a well-established one.
In 1992, NOW's 25th year in existence, it organized what it maintained was the largest march and rally ever held in Washington, D.C., as 750,000 people turned out to support abortion rights.
The organization held a Global Feminist Conference in 1992 as part of their national conference, attracting women around the world to the event.
1992: NOW celebrates its 25th anniversary.
In 1996, N.O.W. staged a 17-day hunger strike at the White House to urge President Bill Clinton to veto a welfare reform bill that members feared would lead to an increase in poverty among women and children.
The group protested the election of George W. Bush in 2000, and endorsed an African-American woman, Carol Moseley Braun, for the presidency in the following election.
Carhart both dealt with the question of whether the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act was unconstitutional for violating the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment expressed in the Roe v.
The March for Women’s Lives took place on April 25, 2004. (by Feminist Majority Foundation)
In 2004, N.O.W. organized its largest event of the decade, the March for Women's Lives which drew nearly 1.5 million people to Washington D.C. to show their support for women's reproductive rights.
As of 2013, there are seven states that have made the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) state law.
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| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feminist Majority Foundation | 1987 | $12.4M | 25 | 1 |
| American Civil Liberties Union Foundation | 1920 | $5.0M | 50 | 4 |
| FreedomWorks | 1984 | $95,000 | 5 | - |
| Alzheimer's Association | 1980 | $327.5M | 20 | 78 |
| Women for Women International | 1993 | $21.7M | 13 | 4 |
| National Civil War Museum | 2000 | $1.4M | 5 | - |
| United Way of Greater Portland | 1929 | $9.7M | 51 | 9 |
| United Nations Association of the National Capital Area | 1953 | $499,999 | 5 | - |
| AIDS Foundation of Chicago | 1985 | $17.5M | 300 | 3 |
| Autism Speaks | 2005 | $47.6M | 2,016 | 8 |
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