Forty years ago this week, the often overlooked 1977 National Women's Conference started with a torch relay starting at Seneca Falls, New York – where the First Women's Rights Convention was held in 1848 – and ended in Houston.
The 1977 Houston convention brought together 2,000 delegates from across the country to work on action plans for a multitude of issues affecting women in America: reproductive rights, child care funding, sexual orientation, education reform, as well as the rights of disabled, minority, and aging women.
At least 15,000 observers also joined the four-day event, including feminist icons Gloria Steinem, Coretta Scott King and Barbara Jordan, as well as First Ladies Rosalynn Carter, Lady Bird Johnson and Betty Ford.
What have been the biggest victories and defeats for women's rights in the U.S. since 1977? Is it time to bring back the drive for the Equal Rights Amendment?
Guests:
- Cynthia Salzman Mondell, co-director and co-producer of "Sisters of '77" PBS Independent Lens documentary
- Gloria Primera, torch relay runner for 1977 National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas
- Nancy Baker Jones, president of the Ruthe Winegarten Foundation's Women in Texas History project
