Dolores Alexander was a freelance writer, a reporter, and the first executive director of the National Organization for Women. This collection consists of records pertaining to the founding of NOW, including correspondence, printed material, minutes, and notes. It also includes biographical material, correspondence, and notes related to Alexander and her speaking engagements. Additionally, it contains audiotapes of a NOW conference, Priorities for Action, held in New York as well as a Betty Friedan appearance on "The American Week," CBS radio, in 1970.

An active member of the National Organization for Women, Bernard was Western Membership Task Force chair (1967), co-convener of Orange County (Calif.) NOW (1968-1969), on the national board (1968-1972), and Western Regional director (1970-1972). This collection includes correspondence, speeches, clippings, brochures, newsletters, women's studies bibliographies, printed material, and photographs, mostly concerning her work in NOW. Also included are interviews Bernard conducted for her doctoral dissertation on the Women's Strike of August 26, 1970, and a survey she conducted to assess the needs of older women students in the North Orange County Community College District.

Berry was national coordinator of the Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Task Force of the National Organization for Women (1968-1973). She was active in the New York Chapter of NOW as recording secretary (1967-1968) and as chair of the chapter's Marriage and the Family Committee (1967-1971). In 1974 she received a grant from the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund to compile and edit "A Woman's Guide to Florida Laws." This collection includes correspondence, notes, printed material, photographs, speeches, testimonies, and writings, mostly from Berry's involvement with NOW, the Marriage, Divorce, and Family Relations Task Force, the New York Chapter of NOW, and the New York Chapter's Marriage and the Family Committee. It also includes drafts of articles and newsletters published by the Marriage and Divorce Press, Inc., and material related to International Women's Year events.

Kathy Bonk was coordinator of the National Organization for Women's Media Task Force. This collection contains correspondence, printed material, reports, legal briefs, clippings, and notes, mostly from Bonk's involvement with NOW, NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the feminist movement. Also included are materials from the Women's PR Group.

Toni Carabillo joined NOW in 1966 and one year later helped found the California chapters. She served as president of the Los Angeles Chapter of NOW (1968-1970, 1980-1982), was a member of NOW’s national Board of Directors (1968-1977), served as a national Vice President (1971-1974), and chaired NOW’s National Advisory Committee (1975-1977). She was also the director (ca. 1980) of the NOW Equal Rights Amendment Countdown office in Los Angeles during the final ratification drive.

This collection includes correspondence, minutes, and other materials concerning NOW and NOW-NYC; other women's movement material; and transcripts of interviews conducted by Cohen with prominent feminists, including many who were involved in NOW.

Mary Jean Collins was Midwest Regional Director of NOW (1970-1972), president and executive director of Chicago NOW (1978-1980), and co-director of the NOW Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) campaign. A member of the National Board, she was in charge of task forces (1972-1975) and she also served as National Action vice-president, focusing on lesbian and minority women's rights as well as reproductive choice and pay equity. Collins was also on the board of directors of NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund.

A lawyer and activist in the National Organization for Women, Lynne Darcy served as treasurer of Central New Jersey NOW, coordinator of the Central New Jersey NOW Employment Task Force, and coordinator of NOW's Task Force on Compliance and Enforcement, which was originally called the Task Force on Equal Opportunity in Employment. She was also coordinator of NOW's Task Force on Task Forces. This collection includes correspondence, reports, press releases, minutes, printed material, and notes, mostly concerning Darcy's work with NOW's Task Force on Compliance and Enforcement. This work included sex discrimination actions taken by individual NOW members, NOW chapters, and the task force, particularly actions against Xerox and General Mills.

A lawyer employed by the federal government, Eastwood was active in the formation of the National Organization for Women (NOW); a board member of Human Rights for Women (HRW), an organization formed in 1968 to help finance sex discrimination litigation and research projects on women's issues; and a member of Federally Employed Women (FEW), a group that sought an end to sex discrimination in the federal government. This collection includes papers relating to these and other feminist organizations. The files contain correspondence, minutes, memos, and printed material covering a number of women's issues, as well as drafts of position papers and records of court cases involving sex discrimination.

Elizabeth Farians was a founder of the National Organization for Women's Ecumenical Task Force on Women and Religion. She was also a member of the national board of NOW (1967-1972) and a convener of NOW chapters in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Cincinnati. This collection includes correspondence, reports, printed material, and writings, especially concerning Farians’ work with the NOW Ecumenical Task Force on Women and Religion.

A founding member of the New York City Chapter of the National Organization for Women, Faust served as the organization's first president (1966-1967), vice president (1968), chair of the board (1969), and chair of the Committee on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1967-1970). From 1968 to 1969, she served on NOW's national board and was legislative co-chair from 1968 to 1970. The majority of the materials in this collection represent Faust's efforts, as a member of NOW and as administrative aide to New York Congressman William F. Ryan, to end the practice of gender segregated help wanted advertisements and to eliminate gender biased language from federal and New York state legislation.

Muriel Fox was a public relations executive and one of the founders of the National Organization for Women. She served NOW as vice president (1967-1970), chair of the board (1971-1973), and chair of the national advisory committee (1973-1974). A spokeswoman for women's rights for almost forty years, she was also active in the NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund.

Betty Friedan helped found the National Organization for Women and served as its first president (1966-1970). Her first book, The Feminine Mystique, was published in 1963. Afterward, Friedan quickly became a leading advocate for change in the status of women in the United States. This collection includes material relating to Friedan’s career and writings; NOW correspondence, founding documents, memos, minutes, and leaflets; and printed material and correspondence concerning NOW's Legal Defense and Education Fund. See also the additional papers, MC 576 and MC 577.

Georgia Fuller was appointed co-coordinator of the National Organization for Women's Ecumenical Task Force on Women and Religion in 1976. This collection includes correspondence, clippings, printed material, and a photograph pertaining to the task force.

Doris Gold was the Eastern Region coordinator for the National Organization for Women's Task Force on Volunteerism (1973-1976). The collection includes articles, speeches, and correspondence, mostly regarding women and volunteerism or Jewish women and their organizations. It also includes correspondence and literature of the NOW Task Force on Volunteerism.

A self-described "radical feminist anarchist," Hacker was a member of the national board of the National Organization for Women and coordinated NOW’s task force on AT&T. With her husband, Barton C. Hacker, she helped found NOW chapters in Ames and Des Moines, Iowa, and Houston, Texas. This collection contains materials documenting Hacker's work as a sociologist and professor as well as her involvement in NOW and other feminist and political causes.

Hays joined the National Organization for Women in 1975 and served as recording secretary, newsletter editor, chapter delegate to national NOW conferences, and president of the Midland, Michigan, NOW chapter. In 1987, she began working for national NOW, serving as Legislative Liaison (1987-1989), Chapter and State Development Director (1989-2005), and Organizational Development Director (2005-2007). The collection includes correspondence, notes, conference materials, training materials, printed material, buttons, stickers, etc., documenting Hays' work for NOW at the chapter and national levels, as well as her participation in other feminist activities.

Wilma Scott Heide was the chair of NOW from 1970 to 1971 and served as president of the organization from 1971 to 1974. This collection contains correspondence, minutes, agendas, printed material, notes, clippings, and photographs relating to Heide’s work as a feminist leader, with the bulk of the materials relating to her role as chair and later president of NOW.

Joan Hull was coordinator of the National Organization for Women's Task Force on Compliance and Enforcement during the early 1970s. This collection contains correspondence, clippings, and printed material relating to her work with the task force.

In 1980, Ireland was elected as a representative to the National NOW Board, and in 1983 she became chair of Florida NOW’s lesbian rights task force and a member of the internal structure review committee. In spring 1987, Ireland was elected executive vice-president and national treasurer of NOW. In 1989, she developed NOW's Project Stand Up for Women, an initiative to defend women's access to abortion, and worked as the national coordinator. She was elected president in 1991. Ireland led NOW in organizing the March for Women’s Lives and initiated the Elect Women for Change campaign to bring a record number of women to political office. She was the prime architect of NOW’s Global Feminist Program. Her tenure as president ended in 2001 but she continued to be involved with NOW in other capacities.

A longtime activist with the National Organization for Women, Kolb was a founder of the Pittsburgh Chapter, Eastern Regional Director (1973-1975), and a member of NOW's national board (1975-1977). She served as NOW's archivist and was preparing a history of NOW before her death from breast cancer in 1991. This collection consists of correspondence, clippings, research notes, printed material, audiocassettes, memorabilia, and writings by Kolb, focusing mainly on her work for the National Organization for Women and her research documenting the history of NOW.

A freelance writer and editor, Lucy Komisar was vice president for public relations for the National Organization for Women (1970-1971) and also served on the Compliance Committee. This collection contains correspondence, articles, and printed material relating to NOW's efforts to have women included in the affirmative action clauses of the Federal Communications Commission's regulations.

An administrator and systems consultant, Judith Lightfoot was a member (1971-1975) and chair (1973-1975) of the board of directors of the National Organization for Women. She also served as NOW's Southern Regional Director in 1971. This collection contains correspondence, minutes, reports, and printed material which chronicle the computerization of NOW's national office systems, the NOW-led Sears boycott, and the debate between the NOW Majority Caucus and Womansurge over the reorganization of NOW during the mid-1970s. The collection also includes correspondence regarding NOW chapters and regions and the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Eve Norman was treasurer of the National Organization for Women and coordinator of NOW's Western Region. She first joined NOW in 1969, was coordinator of the Los Angeles NOW Speakers Conference (1971), and in 1972 was elected NOW California state coordinator. This collection contains writings by Norman on rape; budgets and financial correspondence from her years as NOW treasurer; and administrative correspondence, newsletters, and printed materials from the NOW Western Region.

Pickering was the founding president of Connecticut NOW (1971-1973) and New London NOW (1968-1971), and served on NOW's national board from 1973 to 1975. She was instrumental in the passage of the Connecticut Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and advocated for the passage of the national ERA as president of Conn ERA and chair of NOW's Resources for the ERA committee.

Jane R. Plitt was executive director of the National Organization for Women from September 1973 until her resignation in August 1975. She had previously been active in the Genesee Valley Chapter of NOW (1970-1973), as a member of the National NOW Compliance Task Force (1970-1973), and as a NOW representative to the Women's Media Coalition (1973). This collection includes board minutes and notes; affidavits; testimonials and letters in support of Plitt; correspondence with Karen DeCrow, Jo-Ann Evans Gardner and Esther Kaw; and photographs and slides of national office staff and board meetings.

Mordeca Jane Pollock was the founding chapter president of Eastern Massachusetts NOW (1969-1970) and a member of the national board of the National Organization for Women (1971-1973, 1975). She also served as chair of the Chapter Advisory Board (1971-1972) and was on the NOW National Conference Resolutions Committee (1971-1973). This collection chronicles her work with the National Organization for Women. It includes correspondence regarding the debate between the NOW Majority Caucus and Womansurge over the reorganization of NOW during the mid-1970s.

An activist and publisher, Anne Pride served on the board of the National Organization for Women (1975-1978), was editor of Do It NOW, NOW's national newsletter, and later was chair of the Do It NOW publications committee. This collection consists of correspondence, budgets, and circulation records regarding Do It NOW as well as correspondence and printed material from the NOW board of directors, especially concerning the NOW Majority Caucus, which advocated a reorganization of NOW.

Attorney and feminist Marguerite Rawalt was active in the National Organization for Women and chair of its legal committee (1966-1969) as well as founder and treasurer of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund. This collection consists of personal and professional correspondence; photographs; scrapbooks; oral histories; speeches; clippings; and minutes, bylaws, financial records, reports, and other publications of the organizations with which Rawalt was affiliated.

Rossi was a sociologist as well as a founder and board member of the National Organization for Women. This collection includes personal and professional correspondence, professional and autobiographical writings, datebooks, photographs, and audiovisual material. It also includes records of Sociologists for Women in Society and the American Association of University Professors Committee W on the Status of Women.

Scott was the vice president for legislation of the National Organization for Women and a founder of the Buffalo, N.Y., Chapter of NOW. This collection includes correspondence, audiotapes, speeches, and articles she wrote concerning her work with NOW and her work on sex discrimination at colleges and universities.

Lawyer Faith Seidenberg was legal vice president of the National Organization for Women. This collection contains correspondence, writings by Seidenberg, legal briefs, clippings, and printed material, mostly pertaining to cases on which Seidenberg worked for NOW, especially NOW's case accusing Syracuse University of sex discrimination.

Shauna Shames served as assistant to the president of the National Organization for Women and as representative of the Northeast Region on the national board until her resignation in October 2009. She serves on the board of Massachusetts NOW and teaches women's studies at Berea College (2009-). This collection includes board agendas, notes, and other materials, especially regarding the 2009 election of NOW officers; other national and Massachusetts NOW material; and Shames's California high school NOW chapter files (1995).

Elizabeth Coxe Spalding was head of the National Organization for Women's Task Force on Marriage, Family Relations, and Divorce (1973-1976), and president of the NOW chapter in Hartford, Conn. This collection includes writings and speeches by Spalding as well as correspondence and printed material relating to Spalding's work with the Task Force on Marriage, Family Relations, and Divorce. Also included is correspondence and printed material from the Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women.

This collection includes audiotapes and transcripts of interviews with forty-four activists in the National Organization for Women along with biographical information and photographs. Also included are transcripts of a September 12, 1991, roundtable discussion among five early members of NOW concerning a major split in the organization in 1975; a transcript of a workshop on the origins of NOW; a transcript of a discussion on the founding of NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund; and transcripts of toasts from Betty Friedan's 75th birthday party in 1996.

Among other positions, Helene Weitzenkorn was a membership chair and vice-president for finance of Boston NOW and president of Massachusetts NOW, and she served on the national NOW board. In 1987 she organized Massachusetts NOW's first leadership conference and led the delegation to the Lesbian and Gay Rights March on Washington. This collection includes minutes, conference material, and mailings from National and Massachusetts NOW, buttons and other memorabilia, and audiovisual material.