Celebrating the legacy of the
First National Women’s Conference
Join the relay to carry the torch! Please join our preservation project for the official photographs. “Thank you for holding this precious gift so long.” - Melba Tolliver
Now that Diana is about to bow out, there needs to be a succession plan for the framed exhibit, the vintage prints, the correspondence over the last 50 years with delegates, commissioners, workers, torchbearers, her copyright filing, notes from day to day of the conference from many participants and “marching orders” from Bella - the works!
The project involves finding a permanent home for the collection, reprinting The Spirit of Houston with Gloria Steinem’s additional essay from 1978, ( now available on Amazon in lower-quality paper ) and Women on the Move and finding a host for the exhibit to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Conference.
Your purchase of prints from the selection below will be a great help for all these efforts to preserve the legacy. Thank you.
Honorary Co-Chairs
First Ladies The ones who lead the way.
Torch BearersThe ones who make it happen.
Women on the Move
For our first participants, access to limited edition vintage prints…
From one to four vintage 11×14” prints in return for a donation and joining the relay!
A very few available in 16×20 or larger….
(Anyone can buy a print for full price, but first members to join the team will receive one as a thank you 50% off.)
Delegate with Robert’s Rules
Availability/Donation: 1 / $250 (8×10 on 11×14”)
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan
Signing autographs after her keynote speech
Availability/Donation
4/$500 each
Majority delegate needlepointing
Availability/Donation: 2 / 500
Availability/Donation:
2 / 500 each (8×10) (cprints, mounted)
1 - 20×24 Cibachrome ( permanent color) $2,500 including shipping.
Final mile torchbearers Sylvia Ortiz, Peggy Kokernot [Kaplan] and Michelle Cearcy
The fine print….
From one to four vintage 11×14” prints or 8×10 on 11×14 board, as noted, in return for a donation and joining the relay! These are all printed in the decade after the conference and there may be some wear to the boards. .Prints for personal/display use only. Reproducation for other use by permission of the photographer, except for social media of the purchaser with copyright credit to DMH. Please contact dhenry188@gmail.com for details.
NY State delegate in wheelchair
Availability/Donation: 1 / $250 (8×10 on 11×14”)
Alice Bibeau and Colleen Wong
California delegates.
Availability/Donation
2 /$500 each
C. Delores Tucker at microphone ( alternate but similar image )
Availability/Donation: 2 / 500
Availability/Donation: 2 / 1,000 each
Gloria Steinem at podium and on monitor
Gloria’s favorite!
See Gallery section for more images!
Please contact dhenry188@gmail.com for details as to which images there are also available as vintage prints.
Coretta Scott King applauding Barbara Jordan’s keynote address
Availability/Donation: 2 / $500 ALSO AVAILABLE in 16×20” for $2,000
“Keep ‘em in the closet”
A delegate holds up handmade sign.
Availability/Donation
3 / $500 each
Susan B. Anthony calling the question on the ERA
Availability/Donation: 2 / 500 each, plus one 16×20” $2,000
Availability/Donation: 4 / 250 each
NASA booth “Picture Yourself as an Astronaut”
Seemed incredible in 1977….
See Gallery section for more images!
Please contact dhenry188@gmail.com for details as to which images there are also available as vintage prints.
Pro-Plan delegate with first raised
Availability/Donation: 3 / $500
Grey Panther Betty Hambuerger of Maryland
Her hard bat brim reads Pro God, Pro Family, Pro ERA
Availability/Donation
One 16×20” for $1,000
First Lady Betty Ford applauding Barbara Jordan’s keynote address.
Availability/Donation: One vailable as a 16×20” print for $2,000
Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman making a fist
Availability/Donation: 3 / 500 each
Grand opening!
Please contact dhenry188@gmail.com for details as to which images from the Gallery section of this website may be available as vintage prints.
Clara McLaughlin and her daughter Rinetta
Availability/Donation: One available as a 16×20” print for $2,500
Grand opening with Three First Ladies, Bella Abzug, and athletes Donna De Varona, Peggy Kokernot, Michelle Cearcy and Sylvia Ortiz
Availability/Donation
One 16×20” for $2,500
Jean Westwood, Democrat Party Co-chair, at microphone
Availability/Donation: One available as a 16×20” print for $2,000
Mary Crisp, Republican Party Co-Chair, Pro-Plan button and pearls, knitting
Availability/Donation: One available as a 16×20” print for $2,000
Hi, Diana…
This is Nikki Patricia’s youngest daughter and little sister to Michelle Cearcy. I’m writing to you because our Mother has recently transitioned and I’m organizing the ‘Celebration of Life’ to honor Mom and all she has done in life and career to make substantial gains in the support of people, but Women in particular.
Would you be so kind to help share this information with all of the people from the Womens Conference who may or may not still be in body. Please share and keep me in the loop of may be able to attend and say words about Mom’s contribution. I know the last time you saw her was 2012 in New York. I was there with my son, Mom and Michelle.
The funeral will be held February 2nd at Fallbrook Church, 12512 Walters Rd., Houston, Texas 77014. 9-10:45 am viewing . Service begins at 11am -1 pm.
Flowers can be sent there and correspondence can be sent to: PatCearcyMemorialemail@yahoo.comThank you, Nikki.
I am so honored to share my memory in tribute to Patricia Darlene Cearcy, who arrived with Michelle from Houston to celebrate the 35th anniversary in NYC in 2012 of the First National Women's Conference. At that event I was able to fill in my knowledge of her great role in preparing for and provisioning the conference, which required immense savvy, dedication, and wisdom as well as outstanding teamwork, networking, and communications. Since then, I have also had the pleasure of meeting her daughter Darlesia, who like all of the family continues to bring her light into the world. May her memory be for a blessing to us and generations to come. -Diana Mara Henry
Let us also add to our pages of memory: Elizabeth “Betty” Athanasakos, 1927-2022, Presiding Officer, IWY Commission, 1976, here at left
next to former Commissioner Gilda Bojorquez Cjurich, at Houston. Her Interview
and account of the conference and its funding obtained by Bella ( minute 2:55 on)
https://www.bpwfl.org/member-spotlight-elizabeth-betty-athanasakos/
Her memorial video with lots of IWY images:
https://www.bairdcaseftlauderdale.com/tributes/Elizabeth-Athanasakos
How Valerie Pettis designed
the iconic logo.
Teeshirts are here! in aqua and black…
“My big challenge will be to make sure my teenage daughter does not borrow it! She saw it today
and tried to nab it for her own collection!”
-Thank you to one of our first supporters, Professor!…
Please email us with your choice of size and color, for $35 each including postage
Assembled in Honduras from US made components, 52% cotton and 48% polyester
Unisex sizing - S, M, L , XL
BELLA+CANVAS uses sustainable manufacturing processes with Blue Sign certified dyes, efficient dye houses that adhere to the state of California’s EPA regulations around waste water treatment and usage, and cutting facilities in Los Angeles that run on partial solar power with comprehensive recycling programs for paper waste and fabric scraps.
Message on the occasion of the 35th anniversary.
Thank you, Billie Jean King!
What do you think?
Women leaders of the 1970’s on US
postage stamps, from photos by
Diana Mara Henry….
Here are Sylvia Ortiz, Peggy Kokernot Kaplan and Michelle Cearcy.
Who are we?
We are participants and colleagues who are positive and inclusive, in The Spirit of Houston