4 Days at the Conference

ERAmerica & First Lady of the United States party invitation, 1977. Marjorie Randal National Women's Conference Collection.

This was "a party with a serious purpose -- ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment." Co-chaired on the first night of the National Women's Conference by former FLOTUS Betty Ford and then-current FLOTUS Rosalynn Carter, guests were invited to express their support for the ERA by attending this event for $15 per person. Proceeds paid for lobbying campaigns aimed at ratifying the Amendment. Noting ther were only "a few votes short" and that there were key opponents who were vulnerable to pressure from pro-ERA majorities in their districts lends the invitation an almost palpable sense of optimism. Forty years later it is evident that they unfortunately were not as close as they had imagined.

"The Dove," designed by Valerie Pettis, 1977. Marjorie Randal National Women's Conference Collection.

The official emblem for International Women's Year, the dove uses the mathematical symbol for equality, the scientific notation for female, and the dove of peace as an illustration of the United Nations' adopted themes of development, equality, and peace. For the National Women's Conference, the words "to form a more perfect union" from the Preamble to the Constitution were superimposed around the dove image to represent the goal of promoting the true partnership of women and men. The design illustrates the NWC's focus on state action as a means for creating social change.

Houston Equal Rights for Women Welcoming Rally flier, 1977. Marjorie Randal National Women's Conference Collection.

Conference attendees were invited to kick off the event at City Hall with an evening of music, theater, and rousing speeches by prominent feminists. The welcoming rally was organized by the Black Student Union and the Office of Student Activities here at the University of Houston.

"For Colored Girls..." playbill, 1977. Marjorie Randal National Women's Conference Collection.

A performance of Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" was held at the Equinox Theatre during the National Women's Conference as entertainment for conference attendees. Shange's first work and most acclaimed theater piece was a series of poetic monologues accompanied by dance movements and music, also called a choreopoem by Shange. Fittingly, the performance tells the stories of seven women who have experienced oppression in a racist and sexist society.