Please note, we have changed a number of our venues to accommodate greater numbers due to the excitement and interest in this conference. On Monday, November 6, we still have seats available for the daytime panels, lunch talk by Dr. Spruill, and McGovern lecture and roundtable. On Tuesday, November 7, we still have tickets for the daytime panels and evening program.

****AS OF 1 P.M. ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3 OVER 500 SEATS REMAIN AVAILABLE FOR THE MCGOVERN LECTURE.****

****GO TO THE TUESDAY TAB WHEN REGISTERING AND YOU WILL FIND SEATS FOR THE MCGOVERN.****

SEATS ALSO REMAIN AVAILABLE FOR THE MONDAY LUNCH, BUT WE HAVE RUN OUT OF BOXED LUNCHES. Please avail yourself of the food service options in the Student Center where the talk is located.

There are many options at the student center--allow for time to purchase. For sold out receptions and the Living Archives lunch on November 7, we will provide entrance to ticketed guests first, and will allow as many others in as we can in line with room capacity requirements. THANK YOU FOR YOUR EXTREME ENTHUSIASM AND WE HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL AT THIS 40TH ANNIVERSARY GATHERING!

For the full conference schedule and parking/campus map, check out our website: http://uh.edu/class/77womensconf

Be sure to check out events around town Friday through Saturday hosted by Houston Women March for the 40th Anniversary as well: www.houstonwomensmarch.org

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the National Women’s Conference held November 18-21, 1977. At this momentous event, 2,000 elected delegates and around 32,000 observers descended upon Houston, Texas, to participate in the first and only federally funded National Women’s Conference in U.S. history. The Houston Conference reflected the tensions of a nation at a crossroad with some seeing it as a promising expression of a more representative, rights-centered democracy and others viewing it as a liberal cooptation of taxpayers’ dollars.

We expect to carry on the conversation in Houston once again this fall, looking forward to the challenges women face in the early twenty-first century as we reflect on past successes and failures. We invite you to return to Houston, Texas and take stock of this historic gathering. In honor of this moment the University of Houston is hosting a two-day conference, November 6-7, bringing together former participants and dynamic scholars.

THIS CONFERENCE IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Highlights of the conference include the following:

• There are two dozen panels with activists and academics speaking spaced over Monday and Tuesday, located in Rockwell Pavilion, the Student Center South, the Law Center, the College of the Arts, the campus Hilton Hotel, and the Writing Center (see full program for details).
• A luncheon talk Monday by Dr. Marjorie Spruill about her new book Divided We Stand: The Battle Over Women's Rights and Family Values that Polarized American Politics takes place in the Student Center.
• A Monday afternoon plenary session in Rockwell Pavilion features Shelah Leader and Patricia Hyatt discussing their work as IWY staff for the 1977 Houston Conference and their new book, American Women on the Move.
• The McGovern Lecture in Cullen Performance Hall features Martha Cotera discussing her work with minority issues at the Houston Conference. Following her talk there will be a roundtable with Charlotte Bunch, Cotera, Gloria Steinem, and Melba Tolliver, all of whom played significant roles in the conference.
• The Tuesday lunch in the Hilton Hotel features a Living Archives panel with Houstonians who worked on the conference including Nikki Van Hightower and Elma Barrera.
• Cynthia and Allen Mondell, filmmakers who produced Sisters of '77, will spotlight the Tuesday afternoon plenary in Rockwell Pavilion with a screening of their film and showing of some outtakes.
• The conference wraps up Tuesday evening in the UH Law Center with a discussion on women, politics, and the law since the 1970s. This panel features Sissy Farenthold, and Sarah Weddington.