Key Figures

Pauli Murray (1910-1985)

Pauli Murray was one of the founding members of N.O.W as well as an activist, lawyer, and priest. Murray graduated from the top of her class at Howard University for her undergraduate degree and after being denied from Harvard for law school based on her gender she went to UC Berkeley Law. Murray finished her education at Yale Law School being the first African American to earn a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from Yale. Murray was an advocate for intersectionality within the women’s movement, and would highlight and fight for African American women’s rights. Towards the later half of her life, Murray focused on faith and was the African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest.

Flo Kennedy (1916-2000)

Flo Kennedy was a very outspoken and boldly dressed women’s activist, who attended Columbia Law after threatening the school when she was denied entry based on gender the first time she applied. Kennedy used her law degree to open her own practice and focus on women’s reproductive rights cases and civil rights cases. Kennedy was a founder of the Feminist Party, who supported Shirlry Chisholm during her presidential run and was an active member of N.O.W.

Betty Friedan (1921-2006)

Betty Friedan was a reporter with a degree from Smith College before becoming a mother and a housewife. After missing work and realizing that she wanted more from life Friedan wrote the international bestseller “The Feminine Mystique” in 1963 which encouraged women to find roles outside of the home. Fridan was also a co-founder of N.O.W, a founding member of National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, and founded the National Women’s Political Caucus with Gloria Steinem and Bella Abzug.

Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005)

Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman to work in Congress and run for the presidential office. Chisholm started as a nursery worker and a housewife until a court-ordered redistricting created a heavily Democratic, district in her neighborhood. While she lost her presidential run, Chisholm introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation and was a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus. Chisholm was also a strong Congressional advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment and was partly responsible for its renewed interest in 1972. 

Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016)

Unlike all the other women on this page Phyllis Schlafy was opposed to the Second Wave of Feminism, especially the Equal Rights Amendment. Schlafly was opposed to the movement because she and others who supported her believed that women would be forced into the workforce. Schlafly spent the first half of her life as a mother and housewife but later obtained a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis Law School and used her degree to oppose issues such as abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.

Gloria Steinem (1934-Present)

Gloria Steinem is one of the most well known feminist activist and was apart of many of the movements within the Second Wave of Feminism. After graduating from Smith College, Steinem spent time in India where she learned about grassroots activism and brought what she learned back with her to the U.S. Steinem wrote pieces that aimed to expose ways society was exploiting women and eventually created her own magazine that focused on articles that were for women who were in or interested in the feminist movement, Ms. Steinem also went on to found the National Women’s Political Caucus.