Information about the Houston conference and accommodations. October 12, 1977

National Organization for Women, Inc

Smeal, Eleanor Cutri

English

UNF Digital Commons

IQ\ NATIONAL. .... National Organization for Women, Inc. 425 13th Street, N.W. Suite 1048 Washington, O.C. 20004 October 12, 1977 b : 1!· .,:, ' • (202) 347-2279 Congratula.tions on your election as a delegate .to ,the irWY ·confer enc~ . in Houaton. Over 250 of the delegates a~e -NOW members -- the, -largest org~~iz~tional representation fo the Conference. We ·liaved:ound that NOW: members . all over the country are a~i6iis for ' info~ation from NaJ:,ional so .that NOW will hav~ · a highly visible and effective presence at the ·confe;t'ence~ We belie,ve , that a positive NOW effort will he1p to facilitate passage of t he IWY Commission's Plan of ~ct~on. , ' . ' • r , • ·.)~) Since this is a national conference, we ,be;lieve that , it is imperative that ·· · NOW members coordinate their efforts. A ·coordinating st~u~ture has been formulated. An !WY/NOW work committee, chaired by Fran, Kolb, in cooperation wi.th Houston ,volun-teers, 'will coordinate the following: Fr.an Kolb -:- Coordin~tor (Hospitality); Eve Norman - NOW Booth; Zelle . Andrews - Troubleshooter; · Carol Swaim - NOW volunteers; '.: Mary Jo Walsh - Press/Public Relations; Sandra Port.er - Registration, Friday · ' .,· Night Receptiqn/Information Meeting. Ellie ,Smeal, National President,. will coor-dinate .delegate action .and 'fl~or strategy along with Arlie Scott, National Vice President - .Action. Since E.llie is a National Commissioner, her ability to inter-face with other . national group$ will be vital. Mar,tha Buck will help to coordinate NOW observer· activities, All national officers will be at the conference. .' 1, • w ~ ' ' NOW's Hospitality Suite and press rooms on the 8th floor of the Hyatt-Regency will serve as . the internal and ~~ternal communications center .for NOW,. All NOW delegates and NOW member observers should register , at, the . headquarters. At that t~e, you will be given NOW identification buttons, badges, and armbands, .which will only be worn by NOW members. i,:~ ,. On Friday evening befor~ the session, ;National NOW will host for its members (observers and delegates), an informational ineet.ing which will include presen-, tations from officers and .volunteer workers, ··as . well as visits from well-known NOW members. In addition to distributing the most recent information, we ~ill review and discuss NOW st.rategy for the weekend. NOW delegates in each state sho~lfichoose a Delegate Coordinator to inter{ · face with National. The entire NOW delegation will caucus at various times ' throughout the Conference. Between caucuses, the State Delegate Coordinator information system will be enacted • . On-the-spot dec~sions will be'! tnade by a Delegate Steering Committee composed of , several NOW State Delegate Ct>ordinators·, the P1j1e,sident, . and the Vice President - Action. This committee muat b'~:appointed ·• and hav'e ' the approval of the National NOW Board .at, .its meeting October 15-161 in Seattle. ·~ J-:f.: I ):) J1.'t ;~ ...: ; The National IWY Plan of Action · (to· 'he presented at the Houston Conference for a vote of t.he delegates) · .will be approved by the IWY National Commission at the October 20-21 National iCommission_ !1eeting. Pro-women's rights resolutions were adopted in a majority of the states on all issues, and the plan will reflect this. NOW's position will probably, therefore, be in favor of the adoption of the National IWY Plan of Action. A pto--Pi.an caucus will undoubtedly emerge which will activate a cooperative effort of all the national groups supporting women's rights. ' " ';;/· ~,Jt ,_, j .•i ELEANOR CUTRI SMEAL President MARTHA BUCK Vice President-Executive ARLIE C. SCOTT Vice President-Action SANORA REEVES ROTH S.Cretary EVE NORMAN Tre•urer - 2 -This National Women's Conference wiU be a major media event. All networks (TV & radio), 111,ajor papers, and wire services, will be treating it as front page· news. · The strategy of the opposition, since they do not have the delegate votes, is to .make it appear that they are the grassroots majority. They will say the · delegates represent NOW and feminists only, because the. ·gr~~s~ootll' were .clpsed ,, out. We know this is not true, but they will try to .have 'thousands of observers. Picture thousands of Morjll.Ons &Jld other artti-women"s fights _group~ ·J?ooing passage of a pro-woman plan and picketing and demoruitr~ting outside • . therefore, . it is important that we get as many pro-women siipporters as 'possible there. ·· The reaspri . , t , I that an overwhelming majority of .the delegates support a pro-women's rights plan is because a majority of the people ~f the country do. We are the majo.rity. , iet us be sure to -show t~at we are, by encou~aging people 'to .. come to .the 1Conference as. observers. Do not fear the disruptions. Ther~ ~as never been a nat~o~al .. women's rights conference tha.t some have not · souglit · to ridicule and 'divide. It is not women fighting women; it is a mat~er · df divided' 'political viewpoints. On one hand, the pro-woman niovement ~s supported 'by ·most of l he. women and men in this country and is led by all major national \l,orlien • s groups and the ·largest · ~nd strongest feminist group (NOW)~ On the other 111and, ' the anti-women reactionary social ,policies position is led by the all male-dominated Mormon hierarchy, t~e . John Birch Society, the Klu Klux Klan, the .American Nazi 'Party; 'the Conseryat~ve • • '( I ' ' ' • Caucus, the American Independent Party, the conserv~tive ,wing of the Catholic hierarchy, pro-life groups (primarily funded by the Catholic hierarchy), women's auxiliaries of these groups, Birch Society inspired groups, e.g. "Women Who Want to be Women," "Hot Dog," •and "HOW." Stop ERA:, whi'ch appears 'to be woman led ,, . draws many of its leaders from the conservative pol±t'ical movements -- tile right wing of ~he Republican Party, the American Party, the Conservative C~ucus, or the Birch Society. ' · · Our job at Houston is to help the majority register its will, to help .assure . that ,minority., rights are observed, that th~ process 18 fair, · and t~~t the maj'ority · ,;) viewpoint be presented to the' TV and ra4io audience positively • To help coordinate our effort, we are asking a'.11 observer's (not delegate.s) to list their choice of hotels in the following order: (1) Lamar, (2) Whitehall, and (3) Ramada. We are asking all NOW delegates to stay at the Hyatt-Regency, the main del·egate hotel, where many activities will be, and where the NOW headquarters . . will be. Although it is not a union hotel, most 1of the Sheraton is not' unionized either. Houston simply · is not a union· city, ·and Texas · is a r ~ght~~o-work state. (As a Commis.sioner, I voted that the Conference should not be in Houston for · these and oth·er reasons. But it is, so we must be where .the activity·· is.) I We believe these plans will insure a pro-woman conference. We are looking . forward to seeing you in Houston. For ' equality, EleanorCutri Smeal President PS: Be sure to put NOW/8th floor on your housing form! ( 

Memorandum: Election as a Delegate to IWY Conference, Houston

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Memorandum: Election as a Delegate to IWY Conference, Houston

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