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Boise NOW collection 1976-1987 MSS 204 The Boise NOW collection consists of papers collected and generated by members of the Boise Chapter of the National Organization for Women during the final years of the campaign to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, 1976-1982. They document both the chapter’s efforts to rally support for ratification and a number of issues surrounding the ratification campaign, including the extension of the ratification deadline, the Idaho legislature’s vote to rescind its approval of the amendment (1977), the suit to settle the legality of recision (Idaho v. Freeman), and calls for U.S. District Judge Marion Callister to step down from the case. Secondary topics include the role of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in opposing the ERA and the excommunication of ERA advocate Sonia Johnson by the LDS Church. The papers reveal the tension between the local chapter and the national office over strategy in Idaho v. Freeman, particularly the national office’s calls for Judge Callister to disqualify himself because of his position of leadership in the LDS Church, which officially opposed the ERA. The collection contains letters, speeches, and documents reflecting NOW activities in Idaho in support of the amendment, clippings from Idaho newspapers about the ERA-related issues, and documents emanating from the national NOW office. Also included are copies of legal briefs, petitions, and motions filed in the case of Idaho v. Freeman and a small file of papers on the Boise chapter’s role in moving and restoring the historic City Hall Fountain in Boise. Persons represented in the collection include Beverly Crogan, Beverly A. Miller, Anne Pasley-Stuart, and Lois Warner. More information about the Boise chapter and the statewide NOW organization can be found in their newsletters, From NOW On and Idaho NOW Times, located in the Special Collections Department’s periodical collection. The Boise NOW collection was presented to Boise State University Library in 2001 by Beverly A. Miller. Collection
number: MSS 204 Series descriptions and Box and folder lists The collection is divided
into four series, described below Series
I: Local activities
Chiefly documents relating to activities of Boise NOW and the statewide
organization in Idaho in support of the ERA, along with photocopies of clippings
from Idaho newspapers (chiefly the Idaho Statesman, in Boise), reporting
on ERA support and opposition, the case of Idaho v. Freeman, calls for
the disqualification of Judge Marion Callister, and the excommunication of
pro-ERA Mormon Sonia Johnson. Also
includes papers relating to the restoration of the Boise City Hall Fountain, a
project spearheaded by Boise NOW. Originally
presented to the city of Boise by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
in 1910, the outdoor drinking fountain was restored by NOW and moved to the site
of the new city hall in 1980. Box 1: Local ActivitiesFolder 1
Correspondence, Writings, Speeches: Beverly Crogan
(1978) Series II: Idaho v. Freeman As the March 1979 deadline for ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment approached, it appeared that the requisite number of states would not ratify in time. Proponents of the amendment convinced Congress to extend the deadline until June 30, 1982. At the same time, opponents of the amendment in several states (including Idaho) convinced their state legislatures to rescind earlier ratifications. The Carter administration (through the General Services Administration, the federal agency responsible for certifying ratification) maintained that once a state had approved the amendment it could not reverse itself, and refused to remove those states from the list of ratified states. In April 1979, Idaho Attorney General David Leroy filed suit in federal district court against the administrator of the GSA, Admiral Rowland G. Freeman, to test the validity of the Idaho legislature’s recision and to question the constitutionality of the Congressional vote to extend the ERA ratification deadline as well. In December 1981, after hearing arguments in federal district court in Boise, Judge Marion Callister ruled in favor of Idaho’s suit, declaring that states could indeed rescind approvals and that Congress could not extend a pre-ordained deadline. The National Organization for Women, in NOW v. Idaho, appealed Callister’s decision. The U.S. Supreme Court took up the appeal and stayed implementation of Callister’s decision until the extended deadline passed. After the new deadline passed without any more states ratifying the amendment, the Supreme Court dismissed the case as moot and did not rule on the merits of Judge Callister’s decision.
Folder 19
Chronology of lawsuit Box 2: Idaho v. Freeman
Folder 1
Resolution by Idaho NOW Series III: National activities This series consists chiefly of mailings and information sheets from the national NOW office on issues surrounding the Equal Rights Amendment. Also included is a document from the Mountain States Legal Foundation stating the case against the constitutionality of extending the ratification deadline (Box 3, Folder 4).
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