Beverly Jordan oral history interview, February 26, 1997

Interviewed by Janet Paulk. Jordan describes her experiences and aspirations as a young girl growing up in Buffalo, New York during the Second World War, and how her childhood was complicated by her mother’s dedication to Christian Scientists. As an adult, Jordan married and traveled with her husband, moving to various cities and working a variety of jobs. And as a young housewife with three daughters, Jordan recalls reading Betty Freidan’s, The Feminine Mystique for the first time, and how much it spoke to her at that particular moment in her life. Jordan became involved in the Women’s Movement in Georgia after finishing her master’s degree in architecture at Georgia Tech. She worked as the office manager for the ERA Georgia and was also the administrative vice president for three years, from 1979 to January of 1982. Jordan explains the machinations of the ERA Georgia campaign, in creating a network for women organizing throughout the state. She also explains some of the problems the ERA faced in Georgia. Issues that concerned Jordan included equal pay, reproductive freedom, access to previously forbidden vocations, and also larger social issues like civil rights and gay rights. According to Jordan the biggest obstacles to the movement were the religious right and conservative legislators. She discusses the accomplishments of the Women’s Movement and asserts, "I think the Women’s Movement has been most helpful by allowing women to feel that they are important, as important as men, and that they can do whatever they want to do."