A Woman's Place · Episode 9 of 12 · 21 min
The Front Door and the Back Door: ERA vs. Title IX
In March 1972 the Equal Rights Amendment left Congress in a landslide, and then Phyllis Schlafly stopped it three states short. Three months later a funding provision drafted to attract little attention, Title IX, did what the amendment could not. The episode steelmans the STOP ERA campaign and follows the zombie ERA through 2026.
Who's who
- Alice Paul+3 more episodesauthor of the ERA in 1923
- Martha Griffiths+1 more episodecongresswoman whose 1970 discharge petition freed the ERA
- Phyllis Schlafly+2 more episodesconservative who founded STOP ERA
- Bernice Sandler+2 more episodesGodmother of Title IX
- Edith Green+3 more episodescongresswoman who drafted Title IX
- Patsy Mink+5 more episodesTitle IX co-author and namesake
- Birch Bayh+3 more episodessenator who managed both the ERA and Title IX
- Colleen ShoganArchivist who declined to certify the ERA in December 2024
Where it happens
- Washington, D.C.+31 more episodeswhere Congress passed both measures
- Seneca Falls, New Yorksite of Paul's 1923 amendment announcement
Timeline
- August 10, 1970House passes the ERA after Griffiths' discharge petition
- March 22, 1972Senate passes the ERA 84-8
- June 23, 1972Nixon signs the Education Amendments containing Title IX
- June 30, 1982ratification deadline expires at 35 of 38 states
- January 17, 2025Biden declares the ERA the law of the land
- November 4, 2025Ninth Circuit rejects the 28th Amendment claim
Still debated
Whether the five states' rescissions were valid and whether the congressional deadline binds the states are formally open. Advocates assert the ERA is already valid, while the Archivist and courts have not recognized it.
← PreviousThe Mothers: How the Plaza de Mayo Defied a JuntaNext →Paper Rights, Real Power: How the South Passed the North
Connected episodes in other series
The Opening: The Laws That Changed, and the ERA That DiedHaving It All · Episode 2Also features Alice Paul, Martha Griffiths
Who Created Title IX? The Godmother and the CongresswomenTitle IX · Episode 2Also features Bernice Sandler, Birch Bayh
STOP — The Women Who Defeated the ERABest Supporting Actress · Episode 2Also features Phyllis Schlafly