A Guide to the National Organization for Women, Texas Chapter Records, 1974-1983

Historical Note

Founded in 1966, the National Organization for Women (NOW) has advocated equal rights and human rights for women politically, economically, and educationally throughout the United States and the world. As such, it has endeavored to eradicate discrimination, sexual harassment, sexism, and racism in the workplace, the educational system, the judicial system, and other areas of society. Concerned with elevating the status of women, the fair portrayal of women in the media, and social justice, NOW has advocated at both the national and grass-roots levels, campaigning for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion rights, and equal educational opportunities for women, as well as denouncing violence against women, sexual harassment, and sexual violence, among other issues. The Texas Chapter of the National Organization for Women (Texas NOW) consists of several smaller NOW chapters throughout the state, including the Austin, Fort Worth, Houston, Montrose, North Dallas, and San Antonio chapters.

Source:

National Organization for Women. Accessed February 11, 2011. http://www.now.org/.

Scope and Contents

Comprised of correspondence, notes, laws and regulations, minutes, printed materials, reports, newspaper clippings, and photographs, the National Organization for Women, Texas Chapter Records, 1974-1983, document Texas NOW’s history, purpose, goals, and activities as well as its involvement in national, state, and local politics and women’s issues. Correspondence between members of NOW and other political organizations throughout Texas concerns women’s rights issues, the Texas Women’s Political Caucus, NOW annual conferences, the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, and state council meetings. The records also contain minutes from meetings at Texas chapters, and NOW printed materials such as press releases, flyers, brochures, and reports. Newspaper clippings are excerpted from the National NOW Times, as well as from state and national newspaper articles pertaining to women’s rights issues and sexism. Laws and regulations of NOW are also included.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

National Organization for Women, Texas Chapter Records, 1974-1983, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

This collection contains unprocessed materials.

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s "History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light" project, 2009-2011.

Detailed Description of the Papers