The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens regardless of sex. Proponents assert it would end legal distinctions between men and women in matters of divorce, property, employment, and other matters. The first version of an ERA was written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman and introduced in Congress in December 1923.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requirements, racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, and employment discrimination. The act "remains one of the most significant legislative achievements in American history".
The term New Frontier was used by Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech in the 1960 United States presidential election to the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the Democratic slogan to inspire America to support him. The phrase developed into a label for his administration's domestic and foreign programs.
Executive Order 8802 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 25, 1941, to prohibit ethnic or racial discrimination in the nation's defense industry, including in companies, unions, and federal agencies. It also set up the Fair Employment Practice Committee. It was the first federal action, though not a law, to promote equal opportunity and prohibit employment discrimination in the United States. Executive Order 8802 represented the first executive civil rights directive since Reconstruction.
Executive Order 11246, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 24, 1965, established requirements for non-discriminatory practices in hiring and employment on the part of U.S. government contractors. It "prohibits federal contractors and federally assisted construction contractors and subcontractors, who do over $10,000 in Government business in one year from discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." It also requires contractors to "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin." The phrase affirmative action had appeared previously in Executive Order 10925 in 1961.
The United States Women's Bureau (WB) is an agency of the United States government within the United States Department of Labor. The Women's Bureau works to create parity for women in the labor force by conducting research and policy analysis, to inform and promote policy change, and to increase public awareness and education.
Business and Professional Women's Foundation (BPW) is an organization established for workforce development programs and workplace policies to acknowledge the needs of working women, communities, and businesses. It supports the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs.
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It is the largest feminist organization in the United States with around 500,000 members. NOW is regarded as one of the main liberal feminist organizations in the US, and primarily lobbies for gender equality within the existing political system. NOW campaigns for constitutional equality, economic justice, reproductive rights, LGBTQIA+ rights and racial justice, and against violence against women.
Koryne Kaneski Horbal was a United States Representative on the Commission on the Status of Women of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. She also served as a chairwoman of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party.
Noreen Connell is an American feminist organizer and writer/editor, known for producing, with fellow New York Radical Feminists (NYRF) member Cassandra Wilson, the 1974 New American Library book Rape: A First Sourcebook for Women by New York Radical Feminists. She first joined the feminist movement through the August 26, 1970, New York City Women's Strike for Equality March and Rally and an autumn 1970 NYRF consciousness-raising group. After working as a NYRF conference and speak-out organizer and a founding member of the Women Office Workers in the early 1970s, Connell has chiefly served as an elected officer of women's rights advocacy groups such as the National Organization for Women (NOW).
Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women was created by the Oklahoma State Legislature in 1994. Made up of thirty members, one-third are appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma, one-third are appointed by the President pro tempore of the Oklahoma Senate, one-third are appointed by the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives to serve staggered 5-year terms. OCSW was established to "act as an advisory entity on equity issues relating to gender bias; monitor legislation to determine whether it is discriminatory toward one gender or the other; act as a resource and a clearinghouse for research on issues related to women and gender bias; report annually to the Governor, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and Speaker of the House of Representatives regarding its activities; and make recommendations concerning needed legislation or regulatory changes relating to equity and gender bias." Since July 1, 2002, the Oklahoma Office of Personnel Management has had the responsibility of providing staff support to the Commission.
Executive Order 11375, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 13, 1967, banned discrimination on the basis of sex in hiring and employment in both the United States federal workforce and on the part of government contractors.
Protective laws were enacted to protect women from certain hazards or difficulties of paid work. These laws had the effect of reducing the employment available to women, saving it for men. These were enacted in many jurisdictions in the United States, and some were in effect until the mid or late 20th century. The landmark case Muller v. Oregon set a precedent to use sex differences as a basis for separate legislation.
The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) is a non-profit organization headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia, whose stated mission is to advance non-violence and women's power, equality, and economic development. The name Feminist Majority comes from a 1986 Newsweek/Gallup public opinion poll in which 56 percent of American women self-identified as feminists. President and one of the founders, Eleanor Smeal, chose the name to reflect the results of the poll, implying that the majority of women are feminists.
Bernice Resnick Sandler was an American women's rights activist. She is best known for being instrumental in the creation of Title IX, a portion of the Education Amendments of 1972, in conjunction with representatives Edith Green and Patsy Mink and Senator Birch Bayh in the 1970s. She has been called "the Godmother of Title IX" by The New York Times. Sandler wrote extensively about sexual and peer harassment towards women on campus, coining the phrase "the chilly campus climate".
Betty Gram Swing, born Myrtle Eveline Gram, was an American militant suffragist.
Labor feminism was a women's movement in the United States that emerged in the 1920s, focused on gaining rights in the workplace and unions. Labor feminists advocated for protectionist legislation and special benefits for women, a variant of social feminism. They helped pass state laws regulating working conditions for women, expanded women's participation in unions, and organized to oppose the Equal Rights Amendment.
Katherine Pollak Ellickson was an American labor economist. For much of her career, she worked for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). During the Kennedy administration, she was executive director of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and helped create the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
This is a Timeline of second-wave feminism, from its beginning in the mid-twentieth century, to the start of Third-wave feminism in the early 1990s.
The National Advisory Committee for Women (NACW) was a presidential commission established by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. It was renamed the President's Advisory Committee for Women (PACFW), with a reduced mandate, in 1979.
Prospects of Mankind with Eleanor Roosevelt; What Status For Women?, 59:07, 1962.
