THE VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT

Molly Yard

July 6, 1912 – September 21, 2005

“If you can’t control your reproductive life, you have no freedom.” – July 1989

Pittsburgh NOW, 1974. President of NOW from 1987–1991. Outspoken advocate for liberal causes. Close friend and adviser to Eleanor Roosevelt. Western PA coordinator for Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” march in 1963. Organized the 1989 national march for women’s lives, one of the largest marches in Washington, D.C. history. Chair of the Feminist Majority Foundation’s task force on women and girls in sports. Instrumental in passage of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988, which included the reinstatement of Title IX.

Photo. National Organization for Women (left to right): Karen DeCrow, former president; Muriel Fox, founder; Aileen Hernandez, former president; Judith Lightfoot, former chair of the National Board; Patricia Ireland, former president; Ellie Smeal, former president; Molly Yard, former president.