Women of Ellensburg
Washington State Historical Society

The Washington State Historical Society's Women of Ellensburg collection consists of donated materials from participants of the 1977 Washington State Women's Conference and the 1989 Ellensburg Revisted Conference. The collections currently includes photographs from the Ellensburg Conference by Charlyn Adams, conference ephemera from Senator Karen Fraser and architect Elaine LaTourelle. Ann Simon, a particpant of the 1977 and 1989 conferences donated conference documents, newspaper articles, and ephemera.

The Women of Ellensburg, together with two collections from the Washington State Archives, the Governors Commission on the Status of Women and Governors Papers Regarding Women's Issues 1904-1984, and the Central Washington University's 1977 Women's Conference & Related Materials collection, enables the WHC to provide visitors a broad look at the women and the issues that propelled the movements for and against state and federal ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment during the 1970s.

In early July 1977 the pro-ERA and anti-ERA movements met up at the 1977 Washington State Women's Conference held in Ellenburg, Washington. The events which transpired at the Ellensburg conference shaped the admistration of Governor Dixy Lee Ray in many ways. Governor Ray, Washington's first woman governor, dissolved the Washington State Women's Council in September of 1978, following the will of the voters. The 1977 November elections included Referendum 40, a movement to dissolve the Washington State Women's Council.

Washington state ratified an Equal Rights amendment to its state constitutionin 1972, long before the International Women's Year state conferences were held throughout the country in the first half of 1977. The July 8-10 Ellensburg Conference worked to send 24 delegates to the National Women's Conference in Houston, which occured in November 1978. The election of the delegates at the Ellensburg Conference led to a lawsuit challenging the results of the voting.

Issues and Related Terms

• Washington State Women's Council
• Referendum 40
• Governor Dixy Lee Ray, first woman governor of Washington
• The Women's Center, Central Washington University
• Women for Integrity in the Nation
• Equal Rights Amendment
• Governor Daniel Evans
• International Women's Year