Kay Clarenbach
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On Wisconsin Mention of My Book
My upcoming 2017 book about women and politics is mentioned in this article in the University of Wisconsin Alumni Magazine, On Wisconsin. “Media and historians may focus on public protests for women’s rights, but the steady work of state commissions is what allowed women to enter the public sphere, laying the foundation for the women’s liberation movement, says Kimberly Voss, a journalism associate professor at the University of Central Florida. Her book Politicking Politely: Well-Behaved Women Making a Difference in the 1960s and 1970s profiles a half-dozen female journalists and political operatives who worked behind the scenes to push for change. “Without them, a lot of what happens in the…
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The Creation of N.O.W.: Kay Clarenbach & Betty Friedan
I have been working on the creation of the National Organization for women and the role of Kay Clarenbach & Betty Friedan. This image is from the second meeting of the organization. Clarenbach has been largely overlooked in the history of N.O.W. My women and politics book will detail Clarenbach’s story. Clarenbach was good friends with Wisconsin’s women’s page editors and encouraged them to present reasonable media coverage of the women’s group. One of the only journalists to an early N.O.W. meeting was Milwaukee Journal women’s page editor Dorothy Witte Austin.
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News of Gerda Lerner’s Death
I was sad to learn about the death of historian Gerda Lerner. Lerner worked with NOW pioneer and the longtime head of the Wisconsin Commission on the Status of Women, Kathryn “Kay” Clarenbach. At Kay’s memorial service, Lerner said:“Kay was the foremost organizer of the modern women’s movement, recognized as such by all who worked with her . . . the reliable, sustaining force without which there is no social change.” Kay worked with women’s page editors to cover feminist topics in a positive way. I found proof of this in Kay’s papers at the University of Wisconsin. The finding guide is available here. Here is a previous post about…
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Kathryn “Kay” Clarenbach’s Papers & AJHA
I just received the good news today that our panel has been accepted by the American Journalism Historians Association. It’s called: “Into the Archives: A Look at Some Major American Resources.” I will be speaking about going through the papers of Kathryn “Kay” Clarenbach at the University of Wisconsin last summer. Clarenbach was a leading feminist but not always the most visible person. Much of her work was done behind the scenes although she did serve as the first president of the National Organization for Women. She was also the chair of the Wisconsin Commission on the Status of Women – one of the most active state commissions in the…
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Kathryn “Kay” Clarenbach’s Papers & AJHA
I just received the good news today that our panel has been accepted by the American Journalism Historians Association. It’s called: “Into the Archives: A Look at Some Major American Resources.” I will be speaking about going through the papers of Kathryn “Kay” Clarenbach at the University of Wisconsin last summer. Clarenbach was a leading feminist but not always the most visible person. Much of her work was done behind the scenes although she did serve as the first president of the National Organization for Women. She was also the chair of the Wisconsin Commission on the Status of Women – one of the most active state commissions in the…
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Demise of Wisc. Commission on the Status of Women
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…
