National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist group founded on June 30, 1966 in Washington, D.C. by women attending the Third National Conference of the Commission on the Status of Women. Among the 28 founders were Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique (1963), who became NOW's first president, and Rev. Pauli Murray, the first African-American woman Episcopal priest. Molly Yard was president from 1987 to 1991. During the 1970s NOW promoted the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The group's original purpose (which Friedman scribbled on a napkin) remains "to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men". The organization remains active in lobbying legislatures and media outlets on women's issues.
It claims 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.
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