March 2024 Program: Celebrating 50th Anniversaries of the Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues, Ms. Magazine and Other Feminist Organizations

For Women’s History Month of 2024, the Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues (CWI) is delighted to celebrate its own history and that of other feminist organizations also celebrating 50 year anniversaries. The first 30 minutes of the informal in person March 26 CWI meeting will be at our pre Covid meeting location, The Alliance for Justice, (address above) for attendees to enjoy a light lunch. It will be followed by our hybrid (in person and virtual) meeting at 12:30 pm for our many friends across the country.

During the hybrid meeting (starting at 12:30 pm on zoom link above), we will hear from our long time Vice President, Anne Martin about CWI’s first 30 years described in Women Networking: Three Decades of the Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues (pdf) as well as more in-depth highlights of our meetings during the most recent 20 years. CWI works as an educator and catalyst for feminist action in areas ranging from the arts to fighting sex discrimination and promoting women’s empowerment in all areas of our lives domestically and globally. In doing so our CWI meetings feature the expertise of other feminist and progressive organizations. The meetings provide opportunities for all participants to gain knowledge and insight which will not only further our democratic feminist goals but allow us to honor and work with each other in achieving these goals.

Next we will hear from Eleanor Smeal and Katherine Spillar about 50 Years of Ms. Eleanor Smeal is publisher of Ms. Magazine and President of the Feminist Majority and the Feminist Majority Foundation. Katherine Spillar is the Executive Editor of Ms. and Executive Director of the Feminist Majority Foundation. They will discuss how feminist organizations and Ms. Magazine have advanced and documented progress for gender equality as well as many attacks on our goals such as we are enduring now with the oral arguments (3-26-24) at the Supreme Court to defend the widespread availability of Mifepristone for non-surgical abortions and other reproductive health care.

We have also noted that there are other 50 year celebrations. For example, March 8, 2024 was the 50^th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The Women’s Sports Foundation founded by Billie Jean King is celebrating its 50^th anniversary as is MANA, a National Latina Organization, the Society for the Psychology of Women (Division 35 of the American Psychological Association), the Equal Rights Advocates, and the Women’s Department in the American Federation of Government Employees. Let us know what other Feminist organizations are celebrating 50^th anniversaries and we will report this in our April CWI newsletter.