Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

Membership lists for the Morgantown and West Virginia University National Organization for Women Chapters are closed for fifty years after the latest date of creation in accordance with private and sensitive material policies. Membership lists in box 12 may begin to be accessed in 2026.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], National Organization for Women, West Virginia and Morgantown Chapters, Records, A&M 3247, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Howe, Barbara, 1997/02/03

Gift of Howe, Barbara, 2008/10/15

Biographical / Historical

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is a feminist non-profit organization that was founded by twenty-eight women attending the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C., on June 30, 1966. The original statement of purpose included "to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men."

The first NOW-affiliated organization in West Virginia, the Morgantown-Fairmont (Mor-Fair) chapter, was formed in the early 1970s under the leadership of its first president, Jennifer L. Hipp. Also crucial to its creation were Letty Lincoln and Barbara Nailler. By 1974, the Mor-Fair chapter split into separate Morgantown and Fairmont NOW chapters due to the mid-1970s gasoline crisis. Dr. Lillian J. Waugh became heavily involved in what would become the Morgantown chapter beginning in 1973. West Virginia University (WVU) faculty, staff, and students furnished the largest number of new members of the newly separated Morgantown chapter.

Morgantown NOW had a strong Consciousness Raising Task Force whose members engaged in public speaking, building foundations in political activism.

The Morgantown chapter, alongside Charleston and Martinsburg, had a strong emphasis on changing state and national laws related to violence against women. Morgantown NOW's Rape Task Force was pivotal in that regard and enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with the Women's Information Center (WIC) under the leadership of Rev. Reba Thurmond, Methodist Campus Minister. In the fall of 1973 women from both town and gown constituencies coalesced to found Rape Information Services, which would later become the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center (RDVIC).

In 1974, the growth of local NOW chapters led to the creation of a state organization, West Virginia NOW, to strengthen connections between the national organization and local chapters. WV NOW would hold state councils and conferences throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The first State Compliance Coordinator was Morgantown's Letty Lincoln. Jennifer L. Hipp became a State Officer of WVNOW and Sandy Roth took over the presidency of MNOW.

Given the emphasis on legal reforms and attendant lobbying at the state and national level, WVNOW chapters became points of entry for feminist activists in elected office. These included Sondra Lucht (Martinsburg, state Senator), Bonnie Brown (Charleston, House of Delegates), and Barbara Evans Fleischauer (Morgantown, House of Delegates). All three women served both as home and state chapter presidents.

Morgantown NOW was also pivotal in providing significant support to National NOW: Sandra Reeves Roth of Wadestown, a WVU psychology graduate, served two terms as national NOW secretary under Ellie Smeal's presidency. Beth Leopold left her WNPB-TV position to work in field organizing and public relations. Sherry O'Dell of Charleston was a member of Smeal's leadership team in the last half of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Morgantown NOW became well-known for its success in taking busloads of activists to marches in Washington, D.C., for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and pro-choice rallies, and regularly raised funds to support a lobbyist during the state legislative sessions for the last quarter of the 20th century.

Morgantown NOW members were also central to the development of Women's Studies at WVU in the mid 1970s and early 1980s and often co-sponsored events with the WVU NOW chapter.

Although diminished in size and prevalence, as of 2025 NOW still operates nationally and in all 50 U.S. states. The West Virginia state, Morgantown, Kanawha Valley, and Huntington chapters are the only NOW chapters still in operation in West Virginia, with focuses on reproductive rights, economic justice, domestic violence, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, and constitutional equality.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains materials relating to the National Organization for Women (NOW) and its related chapters in West Virgina, particularly the state and Morgantown chapters. Prominent topics include the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), abortion, sexual assault, discrimination, and domestic abuse. Also prominent are organizational records of the West Virginia state and Morgantown chapters, such as meeting notes, agendas, and newsletters. Materials include agendas, correspondence, ephemera, memos, newsletters, newspaper clippings, articles, mailers, flyers, posters, press releases, song lyrics, publications, handbooks, T-shirts, stickers, pins, minutes, budgets, by-laws, legislation, and photographs.

The materials have been divided into three series based on the creating organization and intended audience.

Series 1. National: This series contains materials collected by the West Virginia National Organization for Women (WVNOW) and the Morgantown National Organization of Women (MNOW) that were created by a national organization or created with the intention of a national audience. It includes materials created by the National Organization of Women (NOW) as well as related feminist organizations such as the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. Box 5, 7, 8, and 11 contain materials from an addendum of 2008/10/15.

Series 2. Regional and State: This series contains materials collected or created by regional and state organizations, predominately WVNOW. WVNOW materials were created for internal and external distribution. Also included in a lesser quantity are materials from other state NOW organizations (New Jersey and Pennsylvania) and the NOW Middle Atlantic Region and South Region conferences. Boxes 6-11 contain material from an addendum of 2008/10/15.

Series 3. Local: This series contains materials created by local organizations, predominately MNOW. Also included in a lesser quantity are materials from the West Virginia University (WVU) NOW, largely in relation to events co-sponsored by the MNOW. Other local organizations are represented, including Charleston NOW, Elkins NOW, Harrisburg NOW, Clarksburg NOW, Mor-Fair NOW, Pittsburgh NOW, Uniontown NOW, Huntington NOW, Harrison County NOW, Parkersburg NOW, Rape Information Service, Inc., and the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center (RDVIC). Boxes 7-8 and 10-11 contain material from an addendum of 2008/10/15.

Separated Material

To book collection: The Third Wave and West Virginia by Lyle Sattes, 1996.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Activism
• Equal rights amendments
• Howe, Barbara J.
• National Organization for Women
• National Organization for Women (NOW)
• National Organization for Women. Morgantown Chapter
• National Organization for Women. West Virginia Chapter
• West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection
• Women political activists
• Women's rights