In December 1978, Wisconsin Governor-Elect Lee Dreyfus announced to a room of journalists that he would allow the most powerful women’s organization in the state “to croak.” His coarse language led to lots of media coverage. It began a mediated discussion about women’s roles in Wisconsin after a decade of social change. In the end, Dreyfus followed through on his threat but it was not without a fight. Sparta native Katherine “Kay” Clarenbach, a powerful but behind-the-scenes figure, took on the governor. It was a more visible role than Clarenbach typically played. Lastly, unlike the national media which often mocked feminism, the state media took on a nuanced coverage of the issue. And, when it came to the editorial page, Clarenbach usually won.

A study of the Wisconsin media coverage – both in the women’s pages and the editorial pages – of the concluding months of the Wisconsin Commission on the Status of Women allows for a better understanding of how change for women took place in the 1970s. It also demonstrates the role of politics and media coverage in the fight for women’s roles. Material for this study comes from Clarenbach’s extensive papers at the University of Wisconsin archives. As a longtime university employee she documented numerous women’s issues and the media’s coverage of these issues. Yet, her papers are most extensive when it came to the media’s coverage of the commission’s demise. It was this commission that she oversaw, during numerous administrations, beginning in 1964.

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In December 1978, Wisconsin Governor-Elect Lee Dreyfus announced to a room of journalists that he would allow the most powerful women’s organization in the state “to croak.” His coarse language led to lots of media coverage. It began a mediated discussion about women’s roles in Wisconsin after a decade of social change. In the end, Dreyfus followed through on his threat but it was not without a fight. Sparta native Katherine “Kay” Clarenbach, a powerful but behind-the-scenes figure, took on the governor. It was a more visible role than Clarenbach typically played. Lastly, unlike the national media which often mocked feminism, the state media took on a nuanced coverage of the issue. And, when it came to the editorial page, Clarenbach usually won.

A study of the Wisconsin media coverage – both in the women’s pages and the editorial pages – of the concluding months of the Wisconsin Commission on the Status of Women allows for a better understanding of how change for women took place in the 1970s. It also demonstrates the role of politics and media coverage in the fight for women’s roles. Material for this study comes from Clarenbach’s extensive papers at the University of Wisconsin archives. As a longtime university employee she documented numerous women’s issues and the media’s coverage of these issues. Yet, her papers are most extensive when it came to the media’s coverage of the commission’s demise. It was this commission that she oversaw, during numerous administrations, beginning in 1964.

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