Eleanor Smeal

Ellie Smeal Honored with Presidential Citizens Medal for Defining the Women’s Rights Movement

Eleanor “Ellie” Smeal, the president of the Feminist Majority Foundation and publisher of Ms., was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal—the nation’s second highest civilian honors—on Jan. 2 by President Joe Biden for “defining the movement for women’s rights.”

“It happened over and over that she would come up with some wonderful idea, and some other organization would take it and run with it. And we’re like, ‘Ellie, aren’t you mad?’ … [And she would respond,] ‘No, this is great. Now I can work on something else,’” said Kim Gandy.

Celebrating First Lady Betty Ford and Her Work for the Equal Rights Amendment

On Friday, April 5, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will issue a commemorative Forever stamp and hold an event to celebrate the life and legacy of Betty Ford, who served as first lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977. 

As first lady and wife of a Republican president, Betty Ford carved out a role for herself that included advocating for issues she cared about—including ratification of the ERA.

Nancy Pelosi Is Still Leader of the Pack

House Leader Nancy Pelosi announced to her caucus Wednesday morning that she will continue to serve as minority leader in the upcoming session of Congress. In a press conference Wednesday morning, Pelosi noted the huge impact women voters had on the outcome of the 2012 election: Yesterday, when we gathered here, I began my comments […]

Occupy Turns One: Women Are the Many, Not the Few

As the Occupy movement celebrates its first anniversary, we revisit an article from the Winter 2012 issue of Ms. magazine. Here’s an excerpt: In a few short months, Occupy grew from a small New York City encampment protesting corporate influence and Wall Street greed, to a populist movement with more than 2,500 incarnations around the […]

NEWS BRIEF: Global Population Hits 7 Billion

Today, according to projections from the United Nations Population Fund, the global population hit 7 billion—a number that continues to grow by more than 200,000 a day. As Ms. reported in the latest issue (on newsstands now or available here), the increasingly steep climb in the Earth’s population raises serious concerns about sustainability. The Feminist […]