A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
- 1923 – ERA is written by Alice Paul.
- Introduced in Congress yearly till 1972.
- 1940 – ERA added to Republican Party platform.
- 1944 – Democratic Party added ERA to its platform.
- 1972 – ERA, finally passed by 2/3 vote in Congress, is sent to states with 7-year deadline for ratification by ¾ of state legislatures.
ERA is ratified by 35 state legislatures, 3 states short.- Congress extends deadline to 6/30/82.
- Well-organized anti-equality forces (political, economic, social, religious) prevent any more state ratifications before the deadline.
- In NC: Sen. Ervin and Phyllis Schlafly opposed ERA. It passed the House, but lost in the Senate by 2 votes.
- ERA has been introduced again in every session of Congress since failure to win 38 ratifications by the 1982 deadline.
- 1992 – Meanwhile, the Madison Amendment was ratified after 203 years. The 27th Amendment deals with congressional pay raises.
- Since 1992, ERA has emerged as an issue in several unratified states.
- 2010 – RATIFY ERA-NC was organized to push ratification in NC.
- 2015 – National ERA Coalition organized.
- 2015 – ERA introduced in NC General Assembly
- 2016 – ERA-NC Alliance organized—a coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to ratification of the ERA in NC. The Alliance is a lead organization of the ERA Coalition.
- #Me Too movement – added impetus.
- 2017 – ERA re-introduced in NC General Assembly
- 2017 – Nevada Legislature ratified the ERA.
- 2018 – Illinois Legislature ratified ERA.
- 2018 – ERA re-introduced in NC General Assembly
- 2019 – ERA re-introduced in NC General Assembly
- 2020 – Virginia ratified the ERA, becoming the 38th and final state necessary to certify the Amendment to the Constitution
- 2020 – US House passes resolution to eliminate the time limit in the Equal Rights Amendment preamble
And the beat goes on . . .