Schlesinger Library / Collections

Records of the National Organization for Women

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was formed in 1966. Since its founding, NOW has grown to become the largest organization of feminist activists in the US, with more than 500,000 members and more than 500 local and campus affiliates.

Group of women attending NOW conference in Houston
Lane, Bettye. NOW conference in Houston, 1974 May. Bettye Lane Photographs. Hollis #: olvwork747687

When formed, NOW's statement of purpose read, “the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the quality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings.”

Since its founding, NOW has grown to become the largest organization of feminist activists in the US, with more than 500,000 members and more than 500 local and campus affiliates. Since 1972, when NOW chose the Schlesinger Library as the repository for its records, the collection has grown to be one of our largest—300 linear feet of manuscripts and growing—and most heavily used by researchers to explore a wide variety of topics.

Collections

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