Impact of the Conference

"Gender" essay, 1995. Linda May Papers.

Written in the months leading up to the 1995 Forum on Women in Beijing, this essay highlights the evolving perception of equal rights for women that first gained traction at the 1977 conference in Houston: "At base of the use of the word gender as opposed to sex is the concept that biology need not determine everything that men and women do. That opens the door to change, to changing the balance of power and responsibility between men and women -- in the home, the workplace, the marketplace, the local and global communities. That's what the conference is really about. That's what the whole series of conferences, starting with Mexico City in 1975 is about. That is what the UN Charter of 1945 is about when it calls for equal rights of men and women."

Women's Rights Coordinating Council invitation, 1978. Marjorie Randal National Women's Conference Collection.

Invitation to Marjorie Randal to attend and reflect on the National Women's Conference one year later.

Beijing Opening Ceremony Program, 1995. Linda May Papers.

Opening Ceremony and festivities for the 1995 Forum on Women in Beijing. This was the United Nations' fourth world conference on women.

Remarks by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for the UN Fourth World Conference on Women, 1995. Linda May Papers.

Excerpted speech delivered by Hillary Clinton before the Beijing Forum on Women. Her enduring message to the audience was "let it be that human rights are women's rights... and women's rights are human rights, once and for all." This message raised some controversy because it was delivered before members of the Communist Party of China, where human rights were often ignored and women were historically in subservient roles.