26 Facts About Eleanor Smeal

Eleanor Marie Smeal is a modern-day American feminist leader.

Eleanor Smeal is the president and a cofounder of the Feminist Majority Foundation and has served as president of the National Organization for Women for three terms, in addition to her work as an activist, grassroots organizer, lobbyist, and political analyst.

Eleanor Smeal has appeared frequently on radio and testified before Congress.

Eleanor Smeal has organized numerous events around and given speeches on the concepts of feminism, equality, and human rights as they pertain to people in and outside of the United States.

Eleanor Smeal is of Italian ancestry, born on July 30,1939, to Peter Anthony Cutri and Josephine E, in Ashtabula, Ohio.

Eleanor Smeal's father emigrated to America from Calabria, Italy and became an insurance salesman.

Eleanor Smeal participated in the fight for integration at Duke and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1961.

Already confronted with a lack of day-care facilities for her young child, while dealing with a back disability, Eleanor Smeal realized there was no disability insurance for wives and mothers.

Eleanor Smeal joined the National Organization for Women in 1970 and served as president from 1977 to 1982 and again from 1985 to 1987.

Eleanor Smeal reconciled her vision of a new feminist organization and the task of empowering women and men who support equity by cofounding the Feminist Majority Foundation in 1987.

Eleanor Smeal was first elected as the President of NOW in 1977, preceded by President Karen DeCrow.

In total, Eleanor Smeal was elected as NOW's President three times.

Eleanor Smeal was elected at a time when conference delegates had authorized a NOW ERA Strike Force to campaign for ratification.

In 1979, Eleanor Smeal was reelected as NOW's President, running for her second term as the head of the organization.

Eleanor Smeal led NOW organizers to help stage the 1979 National March for Lesbian and Gay rights.

Eleanor Smeal's run for presidency the third time around was hard-fought against previous President Judy Goldsmith.

Eleanor Smeal initially supported Goldsmith when she ran for Presidency after Eleanor Smeal's second term, but now challenged Goldsmith the second time around.

One of the biggest reasons Eleanor Smeal decided to run for yet another term as President was not only due to the support of many other NOW members, but from her wish that NOW could be more outspoken, assertive, and publicly active on multiple different issues.

Eleanor Smeal noted that while Goldsmith was in power the organization lost its focus and membership declined and she wanted to do something about that.

In July 1985, Eleanor Smeal won by a 139-vote margin over Goldsmith.

Eleanor Smeal is a longtime supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment and has campaigned for its passage since the 1970s.

Eleanor Smeal has campaigned for the ERA for over fifty years.

Eleanor Smeal continues to lobby for the ratification of the ERA and is one of the most prominent activists for its passage.

In 2010 Eleanor Smeal delivered the commencement address at Rutgers University's graduation and was conferred a Doctorate of Human Letters honoris causa.

In 2015 Eleanor Smeal was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

Eleanor Smeal contributed the piece "The Art of Building Feminist Institutions to Last" to the 2003 anthology Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium, edited by Robin Morgan.