Women's Movement Loses Champion and Visionary Organizer

In Memoriam: NOW Founder Gene Boyer

As you enter the front door of NOW's headquarters in Washington, D.C., you see an engraved plaque bearing the names of the 28 intrepid women who founded the National Organization for Women. The third name on the list is Gene Boyer, a lifelong advocate for women who died on Aug. 19 after a long and fruitful life spent encouraging and promoting the dignity and worth of women and girls.

"Gene was an inspiration to work with—her energy and her devotion to grassroots organizing were boundless," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "The National Organization for Women—and all girls and women who have benefited from the modern women's movement—have lost a champion and visionary cheerleader."

Boyer served as NOW's national treasurer from 1968 to 1974 and was instrumental in forming the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund in 1970, serving on its board in various capacities through the mid-'90's. She was a driving force behind the 1977 celebration of International Women's Year and continued to promote the goals of the Houston conference for the rest of her life, encouraging state and local efforts to promote the International Women's Year agenda. She practiced what she preached and founded the Wisconsin Women's Network in 1979. She continued her efforts on behalf of Wisconsin women for the next two decades, serving as the Founding President of the Women Business Owners of Wisconsin (1987) and as Chair of the Beaver Dam Community Forum on Health Care (1993).

She tirelessly persisted in her campaign to advance women nationally and internationally, serving as a planning committee member of the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women (1994-95) and founding the Jewish Women's Coalition in 1995. She realized the potential of the Internet and e-mail communications long before many others, establishing a list-serve and contributing regularly to JWC's e-alerts and thoughtful feminist advisories.

During Boyer's long tenure as a feminist activist, she supported and furthered work on the Equal Rights Amendment, sexual assault reform, marital property reform, reproductive rights, sex equity in education and stopping violence against girls and women. She worked tirelessly to brighten the lives and improve the status of women across the country and specifically in her home state of Wisconsin and her winter home in Florida. Her special interest, however, was the economic status of women. She devoted much of her effort to bringing women into the business world as full and equal players. She did this through local chambers of commerce in Wisconsin and in Florida, through service on various government committees and task forces, both state and national, and through her own consulting firm, Gene Boyer and Associates.

Boyer was a member of the Veteran Feminists of America and appeared in the 1998 film, "Step by Step: Building a Feminist Movement." Boyer had this to say about the historic 1966 Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women at which NOW was born:

"... word about 'getting organized to take action' was soon buzzing around the conference, and I knew I wanted to be part of it. There were allusions to 'reaching the grass roots,' which struck a respondent note in me. Why, I had grass roots hanging out of my ears. Perhaps more than any other woman there, I was aware of the undiscovered hordes of frustrated feminists buried alive in the small, dusty corners of our nation ...

"For me, the most exciting moment was just before we all ran off to catch our planes when a few of us gathered in a small meeting room to start the ball rolling. Catherine Conroy pulled out a five-dollar bill from her wallet and in her usual terse style, invited us to 'put your money down and sign your name.' NOW was a reality, and I think we all felt somehow we had participated in a significant beginning."

Gene Boyer is survived by her husband Burt and their daughter Bari Lynn Boyer.

If you would like to make a donation to the NOW Founders Fund in Gene Boyer's memory, please contact Liz Gilchrist by email. The Founders Fund was established to honor the memory of the feminists who paved the way for the current and future generations of girls and women working for equality. Contributions to this special fund will be used to carry on the work of building the strong and vibrant feminist community that is NOW. From sustaining grass roots activism to developing new chapters to reaching out to new constituencies, the Founders Fund will be used to ensure that NOW continues to grow and thrive for many years to come, which, after all, was Gene Boyer's dream in 1966 when she helped make NOW a reality.