NOW Chapter Forms to Aid Local Women

Ross Hetrick

Cavalier Daily

Cavalier Daily

1974-09-16

Cavalier Daily

NOW Chapter Forms to Aid Local Women
By ROSS HETRICK
Fifty to sixty women came together Saturday at the Wesley Foundation to found the Charlottesville chapter of National Organization of Women (NOW).
Explaining the existence of “a false sense of security that women are getting ahead,” Lynn Edgerton, the organizer of the chapter, said more action was needed in women’s rights, most especially in the area of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
The ERA is a proposed amendment to the Constitution which would forbid discrimination due to sex. It has been rejected twice by the Virginia State Legislature.
Also speaking at the meeting was Flora Crater, a candidate for Lt. Governor in last year’s state elections. Mrs. Crater said women have “unfinished business relative to Thomas Jefferson.”
She emphasized that they must work for the ERA, “the women’s declaration of independence,” to bring women under the protection of the constitution.
Founded in 1966 by Betty Freiden, NOW is dedicated to “bringing women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now.”