Meetings held to plan National Organization for Women June 30,
1966 The foundation for the National Organization for Women
(NOW), now the largest feminist organization in America, was
laid in Washington, DC, at a meeting in Betty Friedan's hotel
room during the Third National Conference of Commissions on the
Status of Women. Although the Commissions had reported
widespread discrimination against women as early as 1963,
conference rules prohibited passage of any resolution suggesting
that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission act on its
mandate to end sex discrimination. Stymied by the rules, Friedan
and 27 like-minded women decided to launch a new campaign for
combating bias against women. Four months later, the group met
again to approve a Statement of Purpose and by-laws for a civil
rights organization dedicated to advancing gender equality. The
organization's goal was "to take action to bring women into full
participation in the mainstream of American Society NOW,
assuming all the privileges and resp