THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Karen DeCrow

December 18, 1937 – June 6, 2014

“Most of us believe that women can do what men do. The challenge is to convince employers, legislators, mothers, that men can do what women do.”

Attorney, author, activist. Joined National Organization for Women (NOW), 1967. Co-founder, Syracuse chapter NOW, 1968. President, National NOW, 1974-1977. Established NOW’s National Task Force on Battered Women/Household Violence. Actively championed joint custody and equal rights for fathers, speaking at fathers’ rights conferences and joining the board of the Children’s Rights Council, 1980s. Inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, 2009. Bachelor’s degree Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, 1959. Juris Doctor, Syracuse University College of Law, 1972. 

Photo 1. NOW Presidents, Betty Friedan, Wilma Scott Heide, Karen DeCrow, Eleanor Smeal are applauded by delegates of International Women’s Year, Houston, Texas, 1977 (Photo by Dori Jacobson-Wenzel). Photo 2. NOW Founders and Presidents celebrate the 40th Anniversary of NOW, 2006. (left to right): Former President Patricia Ireland, Former President Karen DeCrow, President Kim Gandy, Founder Muriel Fox, Founder Elizabeth Farians, Founder Inez Casiano and Former President Aileen Hernandez (Photo courtesy of NOW).