Inwas originally introduced 1923 by alice paul. People might know her from the national womans party, a radical suffrage group. During the 1910s especially, sheep brought it forth to greater stabilize political equality between men and women. For the 1920s, it was unfathomable for most people. It was brought up again between the 1920s and 1970s, but never got much credit. It did not go farther than congressional committees. 1972, there was a lot of work in the house and senate, and he got brought up for ratification in 1972 to be sent to the states, yes or no, do we want this added to the u. S. Constitution . How he focused your research . Ms. Griffis looking at broadly defined conservative women. Some such as Phyllis Schlafly were against the era. But other women we would consider conservative supported it. Were to come forward again, and if the era were to go to the states for ratification again, where can we look to, other than liberals and feminists and groups that we know would support the era for solidarity and eight . And 80s, at the 70s how is it defined by women who call themselves conservative . In soiffis it is defined many ways, historians are trying to figure out just how conservative they were. Howme, i am looking at women define their own womanhood. What does it mean to be a woman for them, based on their Historical Context . And for women like Phyllis Schlafly it means women who stay in the home, submit to male whatrity, are wary of affect socially it will have. It is turning back to older visions of what womanhood meant, and what our country used the to be, challenging the forward progress. Challenging progress, or is it going backward . What was that the Organization Called . Ms. Griffis it was called stop era, stopped taking our privileges. She felt women would not have a special place in American Society and in that would just be treated like men. Others like her . Ms. Griffis she was the largest grassroots organization. Other groups, particularly among the new christian right, there is another one by beverly lehay, that argued if the era were put in place it would mean a loss of privilege for women, and not necessarily more benefits. On the other side, betty ford supported it. Betty ford is one of the most fascinating first ladies in American History. She is called the first modern first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt because of her activism. She was already known as a supportive supporter of womens rights and womens issues. Cancer. Ered from breast she gained a lot of notoriety and appreciation from women because that she publicized Breast Cancer and the importance of getting screened. Betty ford supported the equal rights amendment, she did so based on the premise that it was important to be a woman, in the traditional way people understood it, but also, she believed women should be legally and politically equal. And the only way america could go forward and progress is if women gained that legally quality, in terms of equal rights in the workplace, equal pay. And, the social changes that would occur if women got legally quality. She joined forces with her successor, rosalynn carter. Ms. Griffis absolutely, and i felt dont think many saw that one. She joined forces with carter, especially at the end of the 19721982 ratification period. Seem bipartisan. It failed, in the end, unfortunately. But it was a moment of both parties coming together to say yes, Women Deserve equal rights. What were the most influential arguments against the era . Down, if thehands era were to be put in place, women would be subject to the draft. Periodr for this time you are either living through the vietnam war or had a long historical memory of it. The idea that not only men would be subject to this, that women would, too. Segments of the population believed that women should be protected, that they were more vulnerable. And to subject women to the draft was unthinkable. A lot of the stories argued that the draft was really the killing blow for the era. That if conscription was not on the table, the era may have had a greater chance of success. Boost the defeat give a to conservative womens groups . Say aiffis i would not boost. One of the arguments they used to validate the fact that they were political actors was the idea that yes, women should be in the home, but we understand that this era, the amendment, would have ramifications on the home. It would change the way women are imagined, change the way we thought about children. One of the arguments was, when women would be, happy to return to the home as homemakers. Once their position in the home was safe. But the struggle against the era women it was defeated, did not go back to the home. Saidconservative women who they would when it was safe, retained their position and politics. It might be need to think of the era as a political boot camp for a lot of women when they were power arealized the political presence could have. And once you have that power, it is hard to step away. Defeated,ith the era there were still challenges they were bringing to traditional ideas of what it meant to be a woman. Unless all of them were defeated, it seemed reasonable that women could stay within that public realm of eating part of politics. What interested you in the topic in the first place . Ms. Griffis when i was in graduate school, there was an understanding within the wasrature that conservatism fading from power. And i was looking around me and recognizing the sexism of the reagan revolution, recognizing i was living through a george w. Bush presidency, and it was hard to argue that conservativism was fading away. When i started reading more and more, it was clear that conservativism was not going anywhere. As we can see from the current president ial four people interested in conservatism or people interested in challenging this new form of conservatism, the study of historical conservatism becomes more important. In your research, were there any particular surprises . Ms. Griffis not necessarily surprises, because the arguments they used in the 1970s and 1980s are the same arguments they use to. Thats probably the most surprising part, how these arguments get recycled in different ways and different contexts. A lot of the arguments Beverley Lahaye were putting forward against the era are the same arguments people are making today about womens reproductive rights. How far are we going to let women go toward equality before we start to challenge what the women of the past were considering our judeochristian worldview . You are seeing those same arguments again. What kind of resources did you go to when doing your research . Ms. Griffis my Phyllis Schlafly i used the Phyllis Schlafly report. It was an incredible challenge for me to get my hands on those microfilms. The other thing which i got to do was go to the National EvangelicalAssociation Archives and sift through some of the papers of evangelical women who fought against the era. It is completely different to hear historical interpretations of those pieces of evidence then to actually see the evidence with your own eyes. And to form your own interpretations. Sometimes, my interpretations were copacetic with the old interpretations and historiography, and sometimes, they were brandnew based on the context i was reading them in. It was a blast. Thank you griffis, very much. The church committee, 40 years later. Beginning next weekend on American History tv, we will show extended segments of the 1975 hearings that investigated fbi, irs, and nsa intelligence activities. Next weekend saturday at 10 00 p. M. And sunday at 4 00 p. M. Eastern time, only on American History tv. This sunday night on q a, historian run sure no talks about the Broadway Musical hamilton based on his biography of alexander hamilton. He said, ron, i was reading your book in mexico and as i was the musical started popping on the page. He started telling me, hamiltons life is a classic hip pop narrative. I thought, what on earth is this guy talking about . He picked up he had a class ignoramus in hiphop turns on his hands. My first question was, can hip hop be the vehicle for telling story . Rge and complex he said, ron, im going to educate you about hiphop. He did on the spot. Started talking about how you can pack more information into the lyrics than any other form, because its very dense. He started talking about the fact that hiphop not only has run endings it has internal rhyme. Alltarted educating me and of these different delights that are important to the success of the show. P. M. Nday night at 8 00 eastern and pacific on q a. Madam secretary, we proudly toe 72 of our delegate votes the next president of the united states. The u. S. Patent act of 1790 require that anyone applying for a patent must submit a model of their invention. Were200,000 models requirementfore the was abolished. Alan rough child and his wife had collected over 4000 patent models, including conventions, such as the breach loading firearm and the 1879 carburetor. Next, the Smithsonian American Art Museum hosts a presentation by Alan Rothschild who shows images of the collection and talks about the book he and his wife coauthored inventing a better mousetrap. Its about 50 minutes. When betsy and i decided i would put on a necks edition of patent models in the building a few years ago, we thought this was a nobrainer because we could go to the Smithsonian National museum