The Spirit of Houston: The First National Women's Conference. An Official Report to the President, the Congress, and the People of the United States

The Spirit of Houston: The First National Women's Conference. An Official Report to the President, the Congress, and the People of the United States

The Spirit of Houston is the complete contemporary document about the only federally-funded national US conference about, by and for women. “I still did not know that women as a group could be competent, courageous and loyal to each other; that we could conduct large, complex events and honor each other’s diversity; that we could literally make a history that was our own. But we can. Houston taught me that. And I hope this lesson will not be lost, but carried into the future.” - from the introduction by Gloria Steinem. Just in time for the 45th anniversary of the First National Women’s Conference, here is The Spirit of Houston The First National Women’s Conference: the Official Report to the President, the Congress and the People of the United States , first published in 1978. Out of print practically since then, this is the complete historic document brought out in a facsimile edition by its official photographer, with a new cover, more of her photographs, and a brilliant essay by Gloria Steinem that also has not been republished since 1978. With hundreds of photographs, The Spirit of Houston is a unique resource for historians, students and anyone interested in women’s history. Including the text of each of the 24 planks that were voted on as a Plan of Action for the great issues of the day, this is a primary source that reads as easily as a conversation with the great feminist leaders (and some of their opposition) of a turning point in U.S. history. All the challenges that confronted society at the time and a great many of which have been resolved today…or have they? Join the culminating event of the Women’s Movement of the 1970’s that started 15 years earlier with the publication of The Feminine Mystique . The Spirit of Houston includes photographs and writings by and about its author, Betty Friedan, and its Presiding Officer, the legendary and fiery leader, Congresswoman Bella Abzug. Read the thoughts of, and see, other iconic women such as Billie Jean King, Coretta Scott King, Margaret Mead, Patsy Mink, Jean O’Leary, Yvonne Braithwaite-Burke, Angela Cabrera, Audrey Row-Colon, Cecilia Preciado-Burciaga, Florynce Kennedy, Midge Costanza, Kathryn Clarenbach, Liz Carpenter, Jean Stapleton, Addie Wyatt, Mary Crisp, Eleanor Smeal, Jill Ruckelshaus, three First Ladies Betty Ford, Rosalyn Carter and Ladybird Johnson, and Barbara Jordan, who gave the keynote address. The program Mrs. America trivialized, dramatized, or overlooked the issues and personalities who formulated the plan of action whose planks are given here in their original words, and the minority opinions that also were presented: The Declaration of American Women, penned by Maya Angelou, Arts and Humanities, Battered Women, Business, Child Abuse, Child Care, Credit, Disabled Women, Education, Elective and Appointed Office, Employment, the Equal Rights Amendment/ERA, Health, Homemakers, Insurance, International Affairs, Media, Minority Women, Offenders, Older Women, Rape, Reproductive Freedom, Rural Women, Sexual Preference, Statistics, Women, Welfare and Poverty, and an ongoing Committee of the Conference. The Spirit of Houston is a great look back and inspiration going forward. State-by-state information with delegate names and accounts of the preliminary women’s meetings in all 50 states and US territories are among the many additional features that tie this book to the grassroots. The public law that brought the conference into being, its rules of order, portraits and bios of the commissioners, a tour of the convention center displays by NGOs and nonprofits, a chapter on international perspectives, a portrait of Baby ERA, even the music and lyrics of “We Shall Go Forth” - the anthem of the conference - and Caroline Bird, the conference historian’s “Houston Day by Day,” drill down and give the flavor and resonance of this unique and memorable event. Diana Mara Henry 11/1/21