Kristin Buchanan
Staff Writer
"We shall go forth from this place proud of the things we've done, sharing the things we've won ... Bringing together all we are, offering those who want to find us a way to find us, a way to see ..."
This, the anthem of the first National Women's Conference in 1977, held here in Houston, still rings clearly in the hearts of women today.
Women like Andrea Bean Hough, former archivist, and Patricia Bozeman, who is now keeping the University of Houston Women's Studies Community Outreach Archives intact, have taken on the responsibility of offering those who want to find female role models a way to find them.
The archives are a collection of records of historically significant women and pro-women establishments.
These records, which include materials relating to the Houston Area Women's Center, publications and clippings from the National Women's Conference, materials from the Top Ladies of Distinction and papers of Nikki Van Hightower - the Women's Advocate for Houston - will be in the M.D. Anderson Library through the end of March.
The First National Women's Conference, held at the Houston Civic Center and Albert Thomas Hall, drew a crowd of almost 20,000 women and men and featured as guests First Ladies Rosalynn Carter, Betty Ford and Lady Bird Johnson. Barbara Jordon, a Congresswoman from Houston, was the main speaker.
In the 1970s, young women had to get their fathers' written permission to lease apartments. The Women's Conference met to change things like this, as well as to establish equal opportunity for women in the arts, expand legal protection for battered women and influence government action to end double discrimination against women of minority groups.
Another group showcased at the exhibit are the Top Ladies of Distinction. This group was organized in 1964 to promote high scholarship for youth, to help young women and men develop social graces, to provide information for employment opportunities, to beautify America and to assist the elderly.