The World Split Open (57 page)

The National Conference on Women in 1977 featured a torch relay from Seneca Falls, New York (site of the first women's rights conference), to Houston. Bella Abzug, Billie Jean King and Betty Friedan—pioneers who had dramatically changed the lives of American women—accompanied young runners through a euphoric crowd.
Photo by Diana Mara Henry

When delegates at Houston finally voted for the first far-reaching National Plan of Action, activists cheered and snake-danced across the hall.
Photo by Diana Mara Henry

Feminists joined United Farm Workers in their campaign to improve the labor conditions of agricultural workers. Dolores Huerta and Gloria Steinem with Bella Abzug, congresswoman, Chair of the 1977 Houston Conference.
Photo by Bettye Lane

In 1978, Gerda Lerner, who had co-founded the first program in women's history at Sarah Lawrence College with Joan Kelly, brought together leaders of women's organizations for a summer institute in women's history. They took on the project of creating women's history week, which later turned into a month. From left to right: Professors Gerda Lerner, Amy Swerdlow (with her fist raised) and Alice Kessler-Harris.
Courtesy of Gerda Lerner

Every January 23rd, on the anniversary of the 1973
Roe v. Wade
Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion, activists against abortion demonstrated in Washington, D. C. In 1987, feminists satirized the opposition, but the media couldn't tell the difference.
Photo by JEB

On October 11, 1987, 500,000 lesbians, gay men, and their supporters assembled in Washington, D. C., to demand an end to discrimination against lesbians and gay men. A few days later, Congress passed amendments restricting funds for AIDS research.
Photo by JEB

When the UN declared 1975 International Women's year, delegates immediately expanded it to a decade. Conferences in Mexico (1975), Copenhagen (1980), Nairobi (1985), and Beijing (1995) brought together thousands of the world's women, who created vast networks, redefined women's rights as human rights, and began to build a global feminist movement. (Beijing, 1995)
Photo by Jo Freeman

With the publication of
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
(1970), poet and novelist Maya Angelou transported readers through the searing and exhilarating experiences of African-American women. (Berkeley Community Theatre, 1994)
Photo by Lynda Koolish

Poet and essayist Susan Griffin's pioneering essay, “Rape: The Ail-American Crime,” (Ramparts, 1970) was followed by such critically acclaimed works as
Woman and Nature
(1978) and
A Chorus of Stones
(1992). (Author's home, Berkeley, California, 1975)
Photo by Lynda Koolish

Toni Morrison, the author of
The Bluest Eye
(1970),
Sula
(1974),
Song of Solomon
(1977), and
Beloved
(1987), was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her entire literary work. (Black Oak Books, Berkeley, California, 1987)
Photo by Lynda Koolish

A novelist, short fiction writer, essayist, and activist-at-large, Tillie Olsen taught a new generation of women about their lives in
Tell Me a Riddle
(1961) and
Silences
(1978). (Virginia Woolf Conference, Santa Cruz, California, 1973)
Photo by Lynda koolish