First consciousness-raising groups on the SSU campus

Ann Neel taught first women's studies course at SRJC

Women's Survival Center founded in Clarice Stasz's office at SSU

Women's Studies Conference in Santa Cruz inspired SSU students and faculty to develop women's studies courses

First women's studies course at SSU

Women's Studies courses taught at SSU

Courses on Chicanas and African American Women first offered at SSU

J.J. Wilson and Karen Peterson put on the Women Artists Slide Show, at SSU

Distaff, a campus women's newspaper, first published at SSU

Women Against Rape founded

SSU students created a Women's History Slide Show for a class, which they then presented at venues around the county

Penngrove Women's Center opened

Women's Studies recognized as an academic program at SSU

Marjory Downing Wagner became president of SSU, the first female president in the California State University system

Sonoma County YWCA founded

Battered Women's Shelter founded in conjunction with the YWCA

Athena House, a re-entry program for women offenders, founded

The Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) founded by the Board of Supervisors

SSU students started a support group for women re-entry students

Runes, a women's newspaper, began publication

Helen Rudee became first woman elected to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors

Karen Peterson and J.J. Wilson published Women Artists

CSW creates the Women of Color Task Force

Sonoma County chapter of NOW

Conference on Non-Traditional Careers for Women organized by the CSW drew over 200 women.

YWCA and CSW co-sponsored "Money Matters" conference on women and finances

Women's Studies minor approved at SSU

Women's Studies minor approved at SSU

First Women's History Week (March 6-10) organized in Sonoma County

California State Ballot Proposition 6 sought to ban openly gay and lesbian teachers and prohibit discussion of homosexuality in the classroom.

SCRAP 6 (Sonoma County Residents Against Proposition 6) organized.

First Women's Art Festival

Title IX Compliance Project in county high schools

Women on Wheels Concert

Working Women, Inc. incorporated to facilitate women's entry into non-traditional employment

Proposition 13 passed in California

First Take Back the Night

Students and faculty organize to save Women's Studies Program at SSU

Brown Bag Readers Theater organized as support group for alcoholic lesbians

"Conference on Women and Power" at SSU drew 500 participants

Women's Music Festival--Penngrove

Women's Support Network created to serve as an umbrella organization for feminist non-profits

Moonrise Cafe opened

Women of Color Task Force passed a resolution demanding that the Army Corps of Engineers protect traditional Pomo basket sedge collection sites at the Warm Springs Dam construction site.

KBBF (Koalition of Bi-lingual Broadcasting Feminists) began broadcasting

Laura Somersal awarded the CSW Women of Color Humanitarian Award for her work preserving the language and culture of the Pomo people

Women's Voices, a women's newspaper, began publication

National Women's History (NWHP) Project founded

Common Woman's Health Project opened to serve women's health needs

Lesbian Voters Action Caucus (LVAC) organized

Latina Women's Conference held in Sonoma County

Mujeres Unidas formed

National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) organized in Sonoma County

Child Abuse Prevention Project (CAPP) founded

Asunto de Niņos (a Spanish language child abuse prevention program) opened

Walk-a-thon for the Equal Rights Amendment

Eddie Mae Sloan awarded the CSW Humanitarian Award for her lifelong efforts on behalf of the black community and poor people

The Sitting Room, a community library and center, opened in Cotati

De Colores, a Latina music group, formed

Women's History Month parade in Santa Rosa

Last Walk for ERA, held in Santa Rosa

Gloria Bradley received the CSW Humanitarian Award for her work with the Alianza Farmworkers Clinic in Healdsburg

Sisters of Lesbos Against Radiation (SOLAR) organized

Chrysalis Counseling Center opened

Lucy Cadena received the CSW Humanitarian Award for her work with Accion Unida and Mujeres Unidas

Porter et al., v. Davis Realty: Michelle Porter won a State Supreme Court case forbidding racial steering in housing

Gertie's Cafe replaced Moonrise Cafe

Gay and Lesbian Parade and Picnic first held in Santa Rosa

Sonoma County Older Women's League (OWL) organized

Claire Sapiro opened Clairelight, a women's bookstore

Women's Resource Center opened at SSU

Redstockings West began in San Francisco

The Boston Women's Health Book Collective published a booklet that later became Our Bodies, Ourselves, selling over 200,000 copies

Women's Strike for Equality: On the 50th anniversary of the woman suffrage amendment, women demonstrated in favor of equality in every major city in the U.S. as well as overseas

Kate Millett appeared on the cover of TIME magazine due to the popularity of her book, Sexual Politics

Members of Lavender Menace read "The Woman-Identified Woman" at the Congress to Unite Women in response to the treatment of lesbians in some mainstream feminist organzations

California became first government to pass no-fault divorce law

National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) founded

Feminist Women's Health Center (FWHC) opened in Los Angeles, later becoming a model for other women's clinics

The Furies founded. The group would become perhaps the most famous of lesbian separatist groups

Ad Hoc Coalition on Child Development organized nationally to promote child care programs and funding

New York Radical Feminists held first speakout on rape

First battered women's shelter opened, in London

Eisenstadt v. Baird: The United States Supreme Court overturned a statute prohibiting distribution of contraceptives to unmarried people

Three women ran for president, including Shirley Chisholm (Democratic Party), Linda Jenness (Socialist Workers Party), and Evelyn Reed (Communist Party)

MS magazine began regular publication

Equal Rights Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress and sent to the states for ratification

Title IX passed by the U.S. Congress, requiring that educational programs receiving federal assistance not discriminate on the basis of sex

Cambridge Women's Center opened its doors, housing a variety of feminist groups

Jane Roberts Chapman and Margaret Gates formed the Center for Women Policy Studies

Center for the American Woman and Politics established at Rutgers University to examine women's status in politics and government

Roe v. Wade decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, legalizing abortion

Congress enacted the Comprehensive Training and Employment Act (CETA) to provide funds and training for non-profit staff

Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA) passed in Congress, to promote educational equity and provide funds to help institutions comply with Title IX

National Black Feminist Organization founded

Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act helped women get access to credit

First National Women's Music Festival

Amazon Music Festival in Santa Cruz

National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education brought together over thirty women's groups concerned with women and education

Alliance for Displaced Homemakers organized

Combahee River Collective founded as a more radical outgrowth of the National Black Feminist Organization

Mexican American Women's National Association (MANA) founded

First center for displaced homemakers established, in Oakland

International Women's Year

Michigan Womyn's Music Festival

Dade County, Florida, passed an ordinance prohibiting some discrimination against homosexuals; Anita Bryant strongly opposed the ordinance and fought to have it repealed

Organization of Pan Asian American Women founded

National Women's Conference in Houston

National Women's Studies Association formed

Congress and the state of California passed landmark legislation prohibiting employers from discriminating against pregnant women

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence formed

March on Washington to demand an extension of the time to ratify ERA (the date was extended to 1982).

MS magazine reported on Sonoma County activists efforts to have Women's History Week declared a national celebration

Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party" at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Prompted by Sonoma County activists, the U.S. Congress declared the week of March 8 to be National Women's History Week

First National Hispanic Feminist Conference held in San Jose

NOW created a program to try to counter gender bias in the judicial system

Older Women's League (OWL) formed to work on policies affecting older women, such as pensions, social security, and health insurance

The Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women received the National Association of Counties award for the Women's History Week Project

National Black Women's Health Project opened in Atlanta

The AIDS crisis began

National Institute for Women of Color brought together a variety of women's groups to work toward common goals

ERA failed

EMILY's List (Early Money Is Like Yeast) established to fund pro-choice Democratic women running for national office

Congress passed the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, providing funding for shelters and family violence programs

Congress passed the Retirement Equity Act

Geraldine Ferraro nominated as Democratic Party candidate for vice president

National Latina Health Organization formed in Oakland, CA

National Women's History Week became National Women's History Month