Equal Rights Amendment in North Carolina Collection

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0103

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The materials in this collection focus on the Equal Rights Amendment in North Carolina, providing an analysis of the ratification process in depth. Much of the correspondence and literature in the collection was gathered from the personal papers of six ERA proponents - Wilma Davidson, vice-president of North Carolinians United for the Equal Rights Amendment (NCUERA); Florry Glasser, a leader within the North Carolina Women's Political Caucus; Tennala Gross, leader in the North Carolina Women's Political Caucus and coordinator for the First Congressional District (eastern North Carolina); Elisabeth Peterson, the legislative coordinator for NCUERA; Nancy Brock, chair of the North Carolina Women's Political Caucus ERA Committee; and Nancy Drum, coordinator of NCUERA. Other materials were collected by Jane De Hart and Donald Mathews during the course of researching their book entitled Sex, Gender, and the Politics of ERA: A State and the Nation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990).

There are 67 taped interviews with both opponents and proponents of ERA, thirty of which have been transcribed. The interviews provide personal insights on both sides of the issue, and examine the differences in campaign tactics (for and against) as the amendment was proposed and defeated in the N.C. General Assembly in 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981 and 1983. Information contained in the interviews includes answers to how and why women became involved in this issue and the extent of their involvement.

Dates

1925 - 1990
Majority of material found within 1972 - 1983

Creator

DeHart, Jane Sherron (Person)
Carter, Peggy (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.

Biographical or Historical Information

The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced by the National Women's Party in 1923 in order to remove all support for legal discrimination on the basis of sex. The League of Women Voters, however, supported the legal classification of women by their sex. The issue of sex-based protective legislation was far more complex than either side acknowledged, thus the Equal Rights Amendment was embraced by only a minority within organized feminism. By the 1940s and 1950s, the conventional wisdom of opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment had set themes that would recur in the 1970s. By the end of the 1960s, it was clear that legal classification by sex had discriminated against women. In 1970, the Labor Department's Women's Bureau reported that "such laws and regulations (as Title VII) have ceased to be relevant to our technology or to the expanding role of the female worker in our economy." On February 17, 1970, a group of women interrupted a hearing of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments to demand that it consider an Equal Rights Amendment. A few weeks later, in March, the Citizens' Advisory Council on the Status of Women sent a report to President Richard M. Nixon to enlist his support for ratification.

Extent

6.30 Linear Feet (15 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced by the National Women's Party in 1923 in order to remove all support for legal discrimination on the basis of sex.

The materials in this collection focus on the Equal Rights Amendment in North Carolina, providing an analysis of the ratification process in depth. There are 67 taped interviews with both opponents and proponents of ERA, thirty of which have been transcribed.

Method of Acquisition

Gift of Jane DeHart in 1991 and Peggy Carter in 2000.

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