North Dakota Coordinating Council for the Equal Rights Amendment Records
Collection Overview
Title: North Dakota Coordinating Council for the Equal Rights Amendment Records
Predominant Dates:1973-1975
ID: OGLMC289
Extent: 4.0 Linear Feet
Subjects: Women's History - Equal Rights Amendment, Women's History - Women's Organizations
Languages: English
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Collection Historical Note
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was first presented to Congress in 1923. It was sponsored by Daniel Anthony, a representative of Kansas who was Susan B. Anthony's nephew. Attempts to push the bill through Congress were unsuccessful in 1923, and were so until 1970. This was due chiefly to the efforts of New York representative Emanuel Celler, the powerful chair of the House Judiciary Committee, who strongly opposed the bill.
In 1970, the Amendment was finally forced out of the Judiciary Committee through the efforts of Martha Griffith, a representative from Michigan. It was then approved by the House of Representatives on August 10, 1970 by a vote of 350-15. The Senate approved the bill by a vote of 84-8 on March 22, 1972.
For the Equal Rights Amendment to become law, it still needed to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. Hawaii became the first to ratify the amendment, taking only 30 minutes to do so. By August 1974, the amendment had been ratified by 33 of the required 38 states. By June 1978, the number had climbed to 35. Congress had originally set a ratification deadline of March 1979, but this deadline was extended to June 30, 1982. By the time the extension was up, the bill was still three states short of ratification, and failed to become law.
In North Dakota, efforts to pass ERA fell to the Coordinating Council for the Equal Rights Amendment (CCERA). The CCERA was composed of many different political, economic, religious, and social organizations, all of which were supportive of the amendment. Some of the groups included: the YWCA, the League of Women Voters, the North Dakota Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, the American Association of University Women, and the National Organization for Women.
The first attempt at ratifying the amendment failed. In the 1973 session, the amendment was passed by a 30-20 vote in the North Dakota Senate, and by a 51-49 vote in the House. The margin in the House, however, fell one vote short of a constitutional majority, so CCERA was forced to begin again during the next legislative session.
Following an immense lobbying and informational campaign by CCERA, the amendment was ratified in North Dakota in February 1975. It passed the Senate by a 28-22 vote on January 24, 1975. On February 3, 1975, the House voted in favor of the amendment 52-49, which did represent a constitutional majority. CCERA was instrumental in preventing a potential reconsideration vote two days later, on February 5. CCERA rounded up enough supporters to flood the phone lines at the capital in an attempt to forestall a reconsideration vote. Their efforts were successful, and the reconsideration vote failed. In doing so, North Dakota became the 34th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections
Accruals: Additional material was donated in 1987 (Acc.87-1505).
Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.
Acquisition Method: Donated by Donna Chalimonczyk, Fargo, North Dakota, in April 1975 and June 1981 (Acc.81-777).
Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). North Dakota Coordinating Council for the Equal Rights Amendment Records. OGLMC 239, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.
Finding Aid Revision History: Finding aid migrated to Archon in April 2014.
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Box:
[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[All]
- Box 2
- Folder 1: Donna Chalimonczyk’s Calls Diary: September 1974-January 1975
- Folder 2: Pro-ERA pamphlets: undated
- Folder 3: American Psychiatric Association statement on ERA: 1974
- Folder 4: Citizen’s Advisory Council on the Status of Women: undated
- Folder 5: Commission on the Status of Women: 1974-1975
- Folder 6: CCERA meeting minutes and newsletters: 1974-1975
- Folder 7: CCERA press release: February 22, 1975
- Folder 8: 1974 ERA Ratification Council Newsletter
- Folder 9: Memos, press releases and newsletters from the League of Women Voters: 1973-1975
- Folder 10: Lobbying and campaigning materials from League of Women Voters: 1973
- Folder 11: Montana ERA materials: 1973
- Folder 12: Newsletters from National Commission on the Observance of International’s Women’s Year: 1977-1978
- Folder 13: North Dakota Council of Churches: 1975
- Folder 14: Press releases from the CCERA Regional Coordinators: 1974-1975
- Folder 15: Women in Politics workshop: September 22-23, 1973
- Folder 16: Women’s Coalition: 1974-1975
- Folder 17: CCERA Resource File: 1974-1975
- Folder 18: Arguments for and against ERA: March 1974
- Folder 19: ERA bibliography: June 1974
- Folder 20: The Constitution Study Group of North Dakota Inc. Bulletin: November 21, 1976
- Folder 21: Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions from Seneca Falls Convention, July 19, 1848
- Folder 22: Miscellaneous articles, papers and pamphlets regarding ERA
- Folder 23: Miscellaneous flyers regarding ERA
- Folder 24: CCERA Guidelines for presenting information to the media
- Folder 25: ERA Handbook: undated
- Folder 26: Press release: ERA History in North Dakota: November 26, 1974
- Folder 27: RSVPs to March 22, 1975 CCERA meeting
- Folder 28: Issues of various publications by the League of Women Voters and the AFL-CIO containing articles on ERA: 1972, 1974-1975
- Folder 29: Legislative Handbook for North Dakota Legislators and Employees: 1974
- Folder 30: Press release: N.D. Labor Laws and the Equal Rights Amendment: January 17, 1975
- Folder 31: Miscellaneous information regarding lobbying
- Folder 32: Memorabilia (2 napkins): undated
- Folder 33: Press release: Military Concerns Regarding the Equal Rights Amendment: December 10, 1974
- Folder 34: ERA-Montana: 1975
- Folder 35: Miscellaneous material from the National Organization for Women: 1974-1975
- Folder 36: Press releases: May-November 1974
- Folder 37: ERA pamphlets published by the North Dakota Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, 1974-1975
- Folder 38: Publicity material: undated
- Folder 39: Public relations material: 1975
- Folder 40: Press release: Religious and Biblical Concepts of the Equal Rights Amendment: January 19, 1975
- Folder 41: Reprints of the Journal of the Senate and The Journal of the House (North Dakota) which relate to ERA: January-February 1975
- Folder 42: Press release: Social Security Legislation Affected by the Equal Rights Amendment: January 1, 1975
- Folder 43: Speaker’s Bureau: 1975
- Folder 44: How-to material relating to effective public speaking: undated
- Folder 45: Press release: Support and Custody Laws Possibly Affected by Equal Right Amendment: January 15, 1975
- Folder 46: Agenda, RSVP for ERA Task Force Meeting: May 11, 1974
- Folder 47: Material related to Women’s Equality Day in North Dakota: August 26, 1973 and 1974
- Folder 48: Correspondence from the Women’s Resource and Development Center, Grand Forks: 1975
- Folder 49: Workshop registration forms: 1974
- Folder 50: Miscellaneous newsletters, newspapers and periodicals related to ERA: September 1974-January 1975
- Folder 1: Donna Chalimonczyk’s Calls Diary: September 1974-January 1975
Browse by Box:
[Box 1],
[Box 2],
[Box 3],
[Box 4],
[Box 5],
[All]