Women's Rights

During the 1970s debate over women's economic and civil rights, social role, and political power became a more prominent part of the public agenda. The Ford White House faced these issues in many guises: an Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, development of Title IX regulations barring sex discrimination in education, military academy admissions, abortion policy, and credit and property law, for examples.

The substantive and the symbolic intertwined on such matters as the appointment of women, communication with women voters, and participation in the United Nations International Women's Year, 1975. First Lady Betty Ford was the focus of conflicting reactions and expectations for her candor on some social, political, and health issues. Throughout the Ford administration, women office-holders such as Housing Secretary Carla Hills, the first woman appointed to the Cabinet in 20 years, sought to exercise greater power on issues unrelated to gender.

Resources:

• Betty Ford White House Papers
• Betty Ford speeches from the Frances Kaye Pullen Files
• Sheila Weidenfeld Files (Betty Ford daily events, trips, and general information on East Wing handling of women's issues)
• Philip Buchen Files, folder Women's Groups
• James Cannon Files, folder Women's Rights
• Betty Ford White House Papers, folder Women in 1974 - Citizens Advisory Council on the Status of Women
• Women's Equality Day Proclamations, 1974-1976
• Photograph of President Gerald R. Ford Signing the Proclamation on Women's Equality Day 1974 in the Cabinet Room, August 22, 1974