National Organization for Women (NOW) (United States)

Abstract

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was the largest explicitly feminist organization of the post‐World War II women's movement, and remains active into the twenty‐first century. NOW was founded in June 1966, at the third annual meeting of the President's Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW); at this meeting in Washington DC, delegates refused to pass a resolution mandating the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to hear cases related to on‐the‐job sex discrimination cases. Commissioners Aileen Hernandez and Richard Graham had been pushing the EEOC to hear cases of sex discrimination, but were outnumbered by three other commissioners who denied sex discrimination as a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Sonia Pressman Fuentes, an EEOC attorney, suggested that women needed an organization to speak on behalf of women as the NAACP and other organizations had done for African Americans; she also coined the name “National Organization for Women.” Pauli Murray, law professor at Yale and PCSW delegate, joined Hernandez, Graham, Fuentes, and others in denouncing the EEOC's decision. When journalist Betty Friedan called a meeting in her hotel room, between 15 and 20 women and men joined her and began the planning stages for what would become the National Organization for Women. Since Friedan was not formally involved with the PCSW, she was appointed the spokesperson. When the group met in October 1966 to create bylaws and a statement of purpose, Friedan was elected president of NOW.