b0501 Equal Rights Coalition Records, ca. 1970-1979 A Register of the Collection at the Utah State Historical Society Utah State Historical Society 1999 Finding aid encode in EAD 1.0 by Craig Ringgenberg using XMetaL 1.0, 1999. Finding aid written in English.

The machine-readable finding aid for this collection was created by the

Collections Management staff, Utah State Historical Society,

with financial assistance from an LSTA grant provided by the

Utah State Library Division. Utah State Historical Society 1999
Salt Lake City, Utah

Copyright Utah State Historical Society. All rights reserved. Reproduction, storage or transmittal of this work, or any part of it, in any form or by any means, for commercial purposes, is prohibited without prior authorization of the Utah State Historical Society. This work may be used for scholarly and other non-commercial use provided that the Utah State Historical Society is acknowledged as the creator and copyright holder.

Summary Description Utah State Historical Society Mss B 501 Equal Rights Coalition (Utah). Equal Rights Coalition Records, ca. 1970-1979 5 linear feet. (10 boxes) Women's rights organization. Topics: Equal rights amendments -- Utah. Women -- Civil rights. Background Background Note

The Equal Rights Coalition of Utah was organized to fight for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1971 the ERA was approved without amendments by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 354-24. In 1972 the Equal Rights Amendment was approved by the full Senate without changes -- 84-8. From 1975-1977 pressure from anti-ERA, began to surface in state legislatures. When it appeared that the amendment would not be ratified by the states in time, National Organization for Women sought an extension of the deadline for ERA ratification with the argument that the Constitution imposes no time limit for ratification of amendments. Further, the seven year provision of ERA is not a part of the text of the amendment, but rather is only in the resolving clause. Therefore Congress had the power to establish and change the time limit. In February 1978 the NOW National Board declared a State of Emergency for the ERA. It pledged full resources to winning the deadline extension and to ongoing ratification campaigns. On August 15, 1978 after intense lobbying by a united women's rights coalition, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the ERA deadline extension, 233-189. On October 6 the U.S. Senate joined the House and approves the extension by a vote of 60-36. A new deadline of June 30, 1982 is set. In May 1979 legislators from Idaho, Arizona and Washington state file suit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the ERA extension and seeking to validate a state's power to rescind a prior ratification. The case was assigned to Judge Marion Callister, who at the time the litigation began (and 6 months after) held a position in the hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church officially and actively opposed the ERA and the ERA extension and supports rescission. In April 1981 NOW sent Feminist Missionaries to Utah, the heart of the opposition to ERA, and the headquarters of the Mormon Church, to take the message of the ERA door-to-door to the Mormon people. In November 1983 the U. S. House of Representatives failed to pass the ERA by a vote of 278 for the ERA and 147 against the ERA, only 6 votes short of the required 2/3 majority for passage. Fourteen cosponsors voted NO and 3 cosponsors did not vote. Only 30% of the Republicans voted Yes and 85% of the Democrats voted Yes. From 1985 to the present the ERA is reintroduced into each session of Congress and held in Committee.

(From: "Chronology of the Equal Rights Amendment 1923-1996," National Organization for Women Website--http://63.111.42.146/home/)

 Scope and Content

The collection contains attendance lists, by-laws, correspondence, directories, legislative materials, newsletters, financial records, publications, statements, newspaper clippings, etc. concerning the efforts to pass the ERA in Utah.

 Series Descriptions

Records

Financial Records

Miscellaneous ERA Materials

Newspaper Clippings

Publications

Miscellaneous items

 Administrative Information Preferred Citation:

Equal Rights Coalition (Utah) Records, ca. 1970-1979, Utah State Historical Society.

Acquisition Information:

Donated by Lee Ann Walker.

 Restrictions on Use

The Equal Rights Coalition (Utah) Records are the physical property of the Utah Historical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah. Literary rights, including copyright, may belong to the authors or their heirs and assigns. Please contact the Historical Society for information regarding specific use of this collection.

Processing Information: Collection processed by Stephen D. Youngkin Finding aid compiled by Stephen D. Youngkin Finding aid edited by Linda Thatcher, 2000 Collection cataloged by Linda Thatcher, 1991 (RLIN ID: UTSX91-A104) Finding aid encoded for the World Wide Web by Craig Ringgenberg, 1999. Finding aids note:

Inventory available.

 Separations

Photographs have been removed to Mss C 501.

Container list Box Folder Contents Records 1 1 Attendance lists 1 2 By-Laws 1 3 Committee job description 1 4 Correspondence, 9 September 1971 - 19 March 1975 1 5 Correspondence, 19 April 1975 - 5 July 1977 1 6 Correspondence, 2 September 1977 - 20 October 1978 1 7 Correspondence, April 1979 - 10 May 1982 1 8 Correspondence, 26 January 1983 - October 3, 1984 1 9 Correspondence, miscellaneous undated 1 10 Directory of members 3 14 Fundraising ideas 3 15 House 12, Joe E. Whitesides (R) 3 16 ERA information 4 1 Individual members 4 2 Legislative materials 4 3 Legislative strategy 4 4 Matheson, Scott, Governor, letters to 4 5-7 Meeting, annual, 1977-1978 4 8 Meeting, annual, 1979 4 9 Meetings, miscellaneous, 1972-1982 4 10-11 Miscellaneous 4 12 Newsletters, 1977-1979 4 13 Newsletters, 1979-1981 5 1 Newsletters, 1981-1983 5 2 Newsletters, 1983-1984 5 3 Notables fundraising 5 4 Orders for "Another Mormon View of the ERA" 5 5 Other states 5 6 Pledges 5 7 Press releases 5 8 Pro-ERA 5 9 Religious organizations: Latter-Day Saints Freedom Foundation; First Unitarian Church of Utah; New Age Utah; Zions First International Church 5 10 Resolutions 5 11 Secretary 5 12 Speakers bureau 5 13 State fair, 1978 Financial Records 1 11 Vouchers, 1974-1975 1 12 Vouchers, 1976 1 13 Vouchers, 1977 2 1 Vouchers, 1977 2 2-4 Vouchers, 1978 2 5 Vouchers, 1980-1981 2 6 Miscellaneous bank statements, 1975-1981 2 7 Bank records, 1980-1981 2 8 Receipt books, 1974-1975 3 1 Receipt books, 1976-1978 3 2 Receipt books, 1977-1978 3 3 Budget, 1974 3 4 Financial report, 1976 3 5 Financial report, 1977 3 6 Financial records, 1977-1978 3 7 Budget, 1978 3 8 Financial-Treasurer report, 1978 3 9 Financial statement, 1978-1979 3 10 Income-expenses, 1980-1981 3 11 Financial report, 1981 3 12 Treasurer reports, 1980-1981 3 13 Financial reports, 1982-1984 Miscellaneous ERA Materials 6 1 American Civil Liberties Union 6 2 Citizen Advisory Council on the Status of Women 6 3 Committee for the Congressional ERA 6 4 Common Cause 6 5 Equal Credit Opportunity Act 6 6 Equal Defense Alliance 6 7 "The Equal Rights Amendment: Its Effects on Utah Law" 6 8 Equal Rights Legal Fund 6 9 Equality Products 6 10 E.R.A. - Equal Rights For Abortion? Testimony of John T. Noonan, Jr., 24 January 1984, before The Subcommittee on the Constitution, Committee of the Judiciary, United States Senate 6 11 ERA Monitor 6 12 ERA, The Right of Privacy, And Unique Physical Characteristics, Prepared Statement on the Reintroduction of the Equal Rights Amendment submitted to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Committee of the Judiciary, United States Senate, 7 August 1984 6 13 Impact of the ERA on Homosexual Rights, Statement of Eugene W. Hickok, Jr., Assistant Professor of Political Science, Dickinson College and Co- Director, Center for the Study of the Constitution 6 14 The Impact of The E.R.A. Upon Homosexual Rights, Statement of Raymond B. Marcin, Professor of Law, The Catholic University of America, before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, 23 May 1984 6 15 July 24th Parade Committee [litigation] 6 16 League of Women Voters of Utah 6 17-18 Miscellaneous literature 6 19 Mormons for ERA 6 20 Mormon miscellaneous 6 21 NOW (National Organization for Women) Utah News 7 1 Opposition literature 7 2 Phyllis Schafley 7 3 Sonia Johnson 7 4 Statement of Ann E. Freedman, Associate Professor of Law, Rutgers University Law school, Camden, before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Concerning the Impact of the ERA upon Abortion Rights, 24 January 1984 7 5 Testimony of Catherine H. Zukert, Department of Political Science, Carleton College, Northfield, MN, before the Subcommittee on The Constitution of the Senate Committee on The Judiciary, 7 August 1984 7 6 Testimony of Martha W. Griffiths before Subcommittee #4 of The House Committee on The Judiciary, The Equal Rights Amendment - H. Res. 208, 24 March 1971 7 7 Text of Address at the Communication Workers of America (CWA) 1978 Legislative-Political Conference by Liz Carpenter, Co-Chair, ERAmerica, Washington, D.C., 6 April 1978 7 8-9 Title IX 7 10 (Utah) Governor's Commission on the Status of Women 7 11 Utah House of Representatives 7 12 Utah IWY Coordinating Committee 7 13 Utah Order of Women Legislators 7 14 Utah Women's Political Caucus 7 15 Women's Equity Action League Newspaper Clippings 8 1-9 Miscellaneous newspaper clippings, l975-l983 9 1-3 Miscellaneous newspaper clippings, 1975-1983 Publications 9 4 Miscellaneous publications 9 4 1 Ms. July l977; April, June, August, September, November, December 1983; January, April l984 9 4 2 Working Woman, June 1984 9 4 3 Woman's World, 21 June 1983 9 4 4 Newsweek, 23 July 1984 9 4 5 Congressional Digest, June-July 1977 9 4 6 Sunstone, Theological Symposium, 23-25 August 1984 9 4 7 Coalition on Women and the Budget, Inequality of Sacrirfice: The Impact of the Reagan Budget on Women, 1984 9 4 8 European Community: The Facts, 1974 9 4 9 "...To Form a More Perfect Union...": Justice for American Women, Report of the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, 1976 10 1 Miscellaneous publications (cont) 10 1 1 Childs, Marjorie, Fabric of the ERA: Congressional Intent, 1982 10 1 2 Oliphant, Lincoln C., "ERA and the Abortion Connection," The Human Life Review, Spring 1981 10 1 3 Noonan, John T. Jr., "The Obvious Facts and Priorities Before Us," The Human Life Review, Spring 1981 10 1 4 "Women in Power Committee" 10 1 5 Jacobson, Carolyn J., "ERA: Ratifying Equality," The American Federationist 10 1 6 Watts, Glenn E., "Pregnancy Pay Decision Points to Need for ERA," Comminique, December 1976 10 1 7 Stein, Robert L., "The Economic Status of Families Headed by Women," Monthly Labor Review, December 1970 10 1 8 "Rebelling Women--The Reason," Precedence: A Rape Crisis News Forum, Volume One, Issue One 10 1 9 Alexander, Elizabeth and Maureen Fiedler, "The EqualRights Amendment and Abortion: Separate and Distinct," America, 12 April 1980 10 1 10 The Sunstone Review, January 1984 10 1 11 Rector, President Hartman Jr., "The Strength of Testimony," The Ensign, May 1974 10 1 12 Friedan, Betty, "An Open Letter to TRUE Men," True Magazine, January 1974 10 1 13 One unidentified article Miscellaneous items 10 2 Miscellaneous items 10 2 1 Cassette tape, "From Housewife to Heretic," book review and open discussion, Weber County Women's Symposium, 12 March 1983 10 2 2 Videotape, "Baily Deardorff, ERA Multi reel, 10 March 1976 10 2 3 E.R.A., Spot Package 2, September 1976