Republicans and Evangelicals I National Women's Conference Part 2 (featuring Marjorie Spruill)

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The National Women's Conference was set to take place. State meetings were overrun by conservative women causing disruptions to the meetings as they paid the entrance fee with pennies or made noises during the discussions. But liberal women were not angels either. Some went so far as to accuse the conservatives of sending in mental patients to do their voting.

It's easy in all of the noise to forget that this was a monumental meeting. Women from all over the country gathered together to discuss issues that impacted them. They ran the show. They set the agenda. Conservative women, by and large, didn't show up for the main meeting. Why? Because of conspiracy theories circulated by groups led by people like Phyllis Schlafly saying that the elections would be rigged. Also, they started their own conference across town.

This pro-life, pro-family rally was only about three hours long. But it packed a big punch. People from all over the country took busses overnight to attend. They couldn't stay the night because hotels were already booked up for the main meeting. So they came and went on the same day, taking the pro-family, pro-life movement with them.

In this episode, Chris winds up a three-part mini-series that takes us from Phyllis Schlafly's turn against the ERA to this momentous weekend in 1977. The fallout of the conference is still with us today as religious people on the right work together to accomplish their goals, often trying to undo what liberals on the far left have already done. Extremes continue to snipe at extremes as the middle tries to get things done.

Our guest for this episode is Marjorie Spruill, author of the book Divided We Stand. It is an excellent resource that is balanced and well-notated.

Sources:

• Divided We Stand by Marjorie Spruill
• Reaganland by Rick Perlstein
• Interviews from the National Women's Conference
• Phyllis Schlafly Report from December 1977
• NBC's coverage of Phyllis Schlafly's funeral with Donald Trump's eulogy

Discussion Questions:

• What were some positive outcomes of the National Women's Year conference?
• What were some challenges they faced?
• Why did conservatives feel shut out of the conference?
• What do you think about the role of conspiracy theories in conservative circles (example: Schlafly's insistence that the meeting votes were rigged)?
• Schlafly was overlooked in the Reagan administration. Why do you think that is?
• Why is it so hard for people of different beliefs to work together, even for the common good?
• What do you think would have happened if the IWY conference had not featured lesbian rights? Should it have avoided that controversial topic, or was it an issue whose moment had come?

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