Episode 11: Oral History and the ERA
From the Southern Oral History Program, this is Press Record: a podcast about the joys and challenges of learning history by talking to those who lived it.
Episode 11: Oral History and the ERA
Welcome back listeners! For our first episode of 2017, we continue our discussion of women and politics in the South by focusing on the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). While we were putting together last month’s episode, we noticed many women organizers and political leaders mentioned battles over the ERA in their interviews. As we dug deeper, we realized we had more than enough material to make an entirely new episode.
image courtesy of www.ncwu.org
Pauli Murray, image courtesy of http://lgbthistorymonth.com/pauli-murray?tab=multimedia
The ERA was a proposed constitutional amendment that codified equal rights between men and women. It was introduced to every session of congress since 1923 but ultimately failed in 1982. The story of the ERA follows the complex web of national and state legislature, the pitfalls of the ratification process, and deep partisan loyalty. However, on a deeper level, what happened to the ERA reveals major gaps in understanding among women who sometimes had profoundly different aspirations for American society. Oral history interviews about the ERA bring to light some of the main stresses on coalition-building.
image credit: http://loc.gov/exhibits/civil-rights-act/epilogue.html
image credit: https://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2014/07/09/july-9-1978-feminists-make-history-with-biggest-ever-march-for-the-equal-rights-amendment/
As it turns out, this episode is timely. The recent Women’s Marches are just one public example of the upsurge in activism and organizing activity. What can we learn, then, about the historical roots of our current moment? By looking back into the oral history archives about the ERA, we may better understand how women vocalized their concerns in their own words over the years.
First, graduate student in U.S. women’s history Danielle Balderas provides a brief historical overview of how the Equal Rights Amendment fared over the twentieth century. Then, we’ll delve into the archives to hear how women navigated these political battles. You’ll hear seven excerpts of oral history interviews gathered over the past five decades. Finally, we’ll take the discussion into the present and listen to Marena Groll, chair of NC4ERA and some recordings from the Women’s March on Washington to close out the episode.
Below are links to the full transcripts of interviews featured in the podcast listed in the order that they appear.
Find the link to NC4ERA here.
Find information about Roslyn Brock here.
Find more information about the Women’s March on Washington here.
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EPISODE ARCHIVE
Episode 1- Silence Speaks Volumes
Episode 3: Feminism and Oral History
Episode 4: LGBTQ Southern Oral History and Activism
Episode 7: Oral History For Movement Building
Episode 8: Voices From Charlotte
Episode 9: Veterans and Oral History
Episode 10: Women and Politics in the South
