Women's History Month: This March the Equal Rights Amendment was Remembered

We just celebrated Women's History Month in March and for many of us the rallying cry for equal rights brings back a flood of memories. The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced to the 92^nd Congress (118 Congressional Record 9598) with the hope that all the states would then ratify it, which to date they have not. Interest around the country was stirred by the UN Council's International Women's Year in 1976. In 1977, women's conferences sprung up in several US cities which were mandated by Congress and federally funded so that the government could get a handle on how important it was to the country to have an Amendment to the US Constitution protecting women's rights.

On July 8, 1977, one of those conferences came to Ellensburg, Washington, which was chosen because of its central location within the state. There were over 4,000 women registered with an additional 2,000 waiting to arrive. The theme of the conference was "Generations of Women Moving History Forward." There was a wide range of conference topics including abortion rights, affirmative action, and caucus groups for black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, lesbian and disabled women. Concerns about child care provisions, displaced homemakers, women's image in the media and violence against women were discussed. Many of these subjects though not new were finally getting the attention and recognition they deserved at the legislative level. There were even Anti-ERA panelists who claimed women could lose their husband's Social Security benefits, alimony or protection under then current labor laws.