Item Detail
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31098
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1
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8
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English
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Missionaries to the Mormons: NOW's ERA Missionary Project
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Journal of Mormon History
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2019
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45
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4
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Illinois
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University of Illinois Press
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105-132
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[2020 Mormon Historical Association Winner for Article Award of Excellence]
"In 1980, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution stood three states short of the thirty-eight needed for ratification.
According to the National Organization for Women (NOW), theERA’s primary institutional advocate, one of the major obstacles to
the ERA’s final ratification by at least three of the remaining fifteen
states was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ vocal and
active opposition to it. A resolution at the 1980 NOW national convention called the LDS Church “a political force and a multibillion
dollar empire which is systematically blocking ERA ratification in
several states” and called for a response to the church.2 NOW’s staff
decided to launch a “Missionary Project,” also known as the “Mormon
Project,” to Utah in the summer of 1981 to bring attention to and
counter the LDS Church’s position on the ERA. An internal NOW
memo reinforced that NOW’s public statements about their objectives
were consistent with their internal discussions: the “goal/purpose”
of the project was twofold, to “expose our opposition at its core and
thus apply pressure on the Church”—that is, to let the country know
by use of the press how extensively involved the LDS Church was in
opposition to the ERA—and “organize support for the ERA among
the people of Utah.” -
An ERA Missionary in Utah
From Housewives to Protesters : The Story of Mormons for the Equal Rights Amendment
Pedestals and Podiums : Utah Women, Religious Authority, and Equal Rights
'`Salt Lake City . . . Is Our Selma' : The Equal Rights Amendment and the Transformation of the Politics of Gender in Utah'
The Culture of Obedience and Politics of Stealth : Mormon Mobilization against ERA and Same-Sex Marriage
The LDS Church's Campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment
The Mormon Hierarchy : Extensions of Power
The Mormon Image in the American Mind : Fifty Years of Public Perception