ERA Archives - Truce Podcast

S6:E10 National Women’s Conference Part 1

by Chris Staron | Sep 10, 2024 | Episodes

In 1977, the Congress of the United States allotted $5 million for the National Women’s Conference. The money was intended to bring together women from around the country so that they could put together recommendations for the Congress and President. It would highlight women of color, and those minorities who were sometimes overlooked like Native American women. But there was conflict from its inception.

The National Women’s Conference United Women and Created the Religious Right

Liberal women, some of the same who turned NOW into a liberal group, took control. They did not want the far-right to participate, women like Phyllis Schlafly who had fought so hard to stall the ERA. This only made conservative women more bitter.

Should a women’s conference advocate for homosexuals?

There was more fuel for the fire. Gay and lesbian rights were added to the discussion topics of the convention. That was a big deal in 1977 when conservative women rallied around Anita Bryant and her fight against equal rights for homosexuals in Miami, Florida. The Bible says that homosexuality is a sin, so some conservative religious people did not want to give homosexuals rights in the US. So for liberal women to incorporate a gay and lesbian plank into the National Women’s Conference was a BIG deal. And a way to pick a fight with conservatives.

Conservative women fight back

The battle ultimately led to conservatives hosting their own conference a few miles away. This gathering ultimately united the Religious Right and kicked off the Pro-Life, Pro-Family movement that we know today. How did women play a role in uniting evangelicals with the Republican Party?

Our guest today is Marjoie Spruill. She is the author of the fantastic book Divided We Stand. She is a distinguished professor emerita of history at the University of South Carolina.

Sources:

Divided We Stand by Marjorie Spruill
Reaganland by Rick Perlstein
The Evangelicals by Frances Fitzgerald
Anita Bryant’s orange juice commercial
Phyllis Schlafly on PBS video
Former President Trump’s eulogy for Phyllis Schlafly
Andy Warhol’s cover art for Time Magazine of Bella Abzug
New York Times article about women swinging while their husbands were in Vietnam
“Revive Us Again” by Joel Carpenter

Discussion Questions:

What is your impression of Anita Bryant? Do you remember her?
What rights should homosexuals have in the United States? In the last episode about Phyllis Schlafly, we looked at conflicting opinions of what equal rights look like for women. Should they be treated the same as men or have equality plus protections? Let’s transfer that question to homosexuals. Should they have equal rights, fewer rights, or equal rights plus protections?
Should women on the president’s council have opened the National Women’s Conference to women on the far right?
What do you think will happen once the conference is launched?

S6:E9 Phyllis Schlafly and The ERA

by Chris Staron | Aug 27, 2024 | Episodes

Phyllis Schlafly single-handedly killed the ERA

Phyllis Schlafly was a remarkable woman. Regardless of your politics, you have to admire the impact that one person, who was never elected to office, could have on national political conversations. Schlafly was already part of the in-crowd in Washington when she took a stance against the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). She was an exercise in nuance herself– a woman who fought for traditional views of women in society, while also earning a law degree and touring the nation on speaking tours. She had a family and held a prominent position in the national zeitgeist, even building on battles fought by Anita Bryant.

Phyllis Schlafly built a media empire through conspiracy

But who was Phyllis Schlafly? She was a Catholic woman, which is important because Catholics had long been the victims of prejudice in the United States. She was a mother, a popular speaker, publisher of The Phyllis Schlafly Report newsletter, and author of books like A Choice, Not An Echo, which was a conspiratorial screed about stealing elections. This lady knew how to turn a story. She ran for Congress in 1955 and again in 1970, losing both times.

Phyllis Schlafly vs. the ERA

Then in 1972, she learned about the ERA. The Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed by Alice Paul in 1923. The goal was to have men and women treated equally under the law. That means that women would no longer receive special protections either. So… a double-edged sword, right? Women in the 1960s and 70s still had a ways to go when it came to equality. It brought forth some big questions about how to achieve it.

Schlafly wanted to protect the protections. So she formed STOP ERA (Stop Taking Our Protections, ERA) to rally her followers against the ERA. This was a big twist because state after state had rushed to ratify the amendment. But once Phyllis got going, they applied the brakes and waited.

Schlafly may have single-handedly stopped an Amendment to the Constitution.

In this episode, we’re going to learn about this dynamo. A woman who is both loved and hated. An intelligent woman, and someone who traded in falsities.

Our guests for this episode are Marjorie Spruill, author of Divided We Stand, and Angie Maxwell, author of The Long Southern Strategy.