THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT
Bette Vidina
“It gets to be a part of your life. It’s part of an attitude, it’s the way you look at things.” – Bette, about Chicago NOW
Bette joined NOW in 1969. Membership chair for Chicago NOW, and offered her house whenever it was needed, including putting up the members of the San Fernando Valley NOW Marching Band when the members were in Chicago for an ERA rally. She also offered her house for use by Jane, the abortion services network, to perform abortions.
Interviewed by Wilma Stevens, VFA Board, April 2021
Photo 1. Bette Vidina and Kathy Rand of the National Organization for Women picket the offices of Illinois Bell Telephone Company, Chicago, IL, 1971. Photo 2. Bette at the 1975 NOW Convention in Philadelphia. Photo 3. Bette at a March. Photo 4. Mary-Ann Lupa, Bette, Anne Ladky and Mary Jean Collins at the Midwest Training Academy in Chicago.
More About Bette:
- Chicago Women’s History Center oral history interview
- Bette Vidina audio interview 2012, The Chicago Women’s History Center
- National Organization for Women, Chicago Chapter Records, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Illinois at Chicago
- Midwest Academy (Chicago, Ill.) records (Chicago History Museum)
- Cited in Barbara Love’s book, Feminists Who Changed America, page 472