WOMEN IN THE 1960s
Logo for NOW
"We, men and women, who hereby constitute ourselves as the National Organization for Women, believe that the time has come for a new movement toward true equality for all women in America, and toward fully equal partnership of the sexes, as part of the world-wide revolution of human rights now taking place within and beyond our national borders."
-The National Organization for Women’s 1966 Statement of Purpose
N.O.W. members protest at White House, 1969 (Getty)
Get credit cards: It was not until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974, that it became illegal to refuse a credit card to a woman based on her gender.
Serve on jury duty: Women were thought to be too fragile to hear details of crimes and too sympathetic to remain objective.
Use birth control: There were many restrictions to women getting the pill.
Attend elite universities: Harvard didn’t admit women until 1977.
Non-discrimination: Even the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not protect women from discrimination in the workplace.
Advertisement for birth control pill, 1967 (Getty)
Credit card, 1959 (Elist10)