Catch up on your reading
There are many more books and resources about the Equal Rights Amendment today than there were when we started the ERA-NC Alliance! Here are some excellent resources to learn more about the ERA:
Books
Equal Means Equal, Jessica Neuwirth, 2015. The book that re-started the movement for many of us, and source material for Kamala Lopez’ film by the same name.
We the Women, the Unstoppable Mothers of the ERA, Julie Suk, 2020. From the publisher’s website: “Julie Suk excavates the ERA’s past to guide its future, explaining how the ERA can address hot-button issues such as pregnancy discrimination, sexual harassment, and unequal pay.”
Gendered Citizenship: The Original Conflict over the Equal Rights Amendment, 1920-1963, Rebecca DeWolf, 2022. A deep, historical dive into the origins of the ERA, the arguments for and against it through our changing culture over these years.
Sex, Gender, and the Politics of ERA: A State and the Nation, Donald Mathews and Jane Sherron De Hart, 1990. The authors examine the effort to ratify – and kill – the Equal Rights Amendment in North Carolina. Frustrating but essential reading to understand the history of the ratification effort in our state. Out of print but there are used copies to be found.
An updated pocket Constitution has been published by VoteEquality in partnership with the ERA Project of Columbia University! It includes the 28th Amendment – the Equal Rights amendment! You can read the advance copy online.
Frequently Asked Questions about the ERA:
Winston & Strawn, an international law firm that is doing amazing pro-bono work on the ERA, prepared this FAQ for the ERA-NC Alliance in 2018.
The Alice Paul Institute published this explainer in 2020.
This document from the ERA Coalition includes a good history of the ERA, though the legislation it references is out of date.
ERA history as a timeline.
Learn about the ratification process, and how bills become law, in North Carolina.
NCpedia’s page about the ERA effort in North Carolina
Read the transcript or listen to the audio of an interview with Martha McKay, a North Carolina ERA activist in the 1970’s; here she describes how the ratification failed in NC when some key legislators changed their votes at the last minute.
Would you like to suggest other reading materials on the ERA? Drop us a note at info@era-nc.org.