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COLLECTION Identifier: MC 479

Papers of NOW officer Muriel Fox, 1966-1971

Overview

Papers of National Organization for Women officer Muriel Fox, coordinator of NOW's Eastern Region.

Dates

  • Creation: 1966-1971

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

TERMS OF USE

Access. Unrestricted

As of November 2015, written permission of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is no longer required for access to this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in papers created by Muriel Fox while an officer of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is held by NOW. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

.42 linear feet ((1 file box) plus 1 photograph folder)

The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence, most of which focuses on Fox's role in NOW's administration. Other correspondence concerns NOW events, as well as the case of Cindy Hill, a teacher from Pennsylvania who was fired on grounds that she had misused her sabbatical year by having a baby. There are also member mailing lists, Do It Now articles by Fox and others, membership and administrative correspondence, printed material, clippings, and a photograph of the founders of NOW.

Folder headings are those of Fox, with the archivist's notes in square brackets. All printed material by or about Fox, as well as all printed material with annotations, has been kept in the collection. Other NOW publications and reports, except those created by Fox, were transferred to the NOW records in the Schlesinger Library. Non-NOW printed material produced by mainstream organizations and publications was discarded; leaflets and other ephemera of small, transient organizations were retained.

BIOGRAPHY

Muriel Fox, public relations executive and co-founder of the National Organization for Women's Eastern Region, is the daughter of M. Morris and Anne (Rubenstein) Fox. She was born February 3, 1928 in Newark, New Jersey, and received her B.A. from Barnard College in 1948. She married Dr. Shepard Gerard Aronson in 1955 and they have two children, Eric and Lisa. A political speechwriter and publicist (1949-1950), she became a television-radio writer for Carl Byoir & Associates in New York City (1950), and was executive president when she left the firm in 1985. She served as a president of Media Com (1975-1985), By/Media, Inc. (1984-1985), and was a consultant for Hill & Knowlton, Inc. (1986-1990).

Fox has been an active spokeswoman for women's rights for almost forty years. One of the founding members of the National Organization for Women (NOW), she served in several positions: vice president (1967-1970), chair of the board (1971-1973), and chair of the national advisory committee (1973-1974). She also has been active in the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (LDEF); she was appointed to the board of directors in 1974, and served as vice president (1977-1978), president (1978-1981), chair of the board (1981-1992), and honorary chair of the board (1993-present). Fox has also been an active member of the Woman's Forum (president 1977), the Women's Economic Advisory Committee in New York City, the National Women's Political Caucus, and Women Today.

Fox has received several awards for her professional and political work. She was named one of the 100 top corporate women by Business Week magazine (1976), was the recipient of the Matrix award in communications (1977), and was named Business Leader of the Year by Americans for Democratic Action. She received the distinguished Alumna Award from Barnard College, as well as the Eleanor Roosevelt Leadership Award from NY State NOW in 1985. NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund has honored her with the first Muriel Fox Communications Leadership Award (1991) and the Our Hero award (1995). Rockland County NOW gave her the Caroline Lexow Babcock award (1997). She is currently (2007) board chair of Veteran Feminists of America and is president of the Rockland Center for the Arts, the largest cultural institution in Rockland County New York.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession number: 72-8

These papers were given to the Schlesinger Library by Muriel Fox in January 1972.

Processing Information

Processed: October 2002

By: Johanna Carll

Title
Fox, Muriel, 1928- . Papers of NOW officer Muriel Fox, 1966-1971: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
Sponsor
These papers were processed under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
EAD ID
sch00253

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

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