Since thousands of women flooded into Houston, Texas for the 1977 National Women's Conference, women’s representation in policy and political leadership in the U.S. has increased: over the last 40 years, women’s participation in the Senate has increased by 21% and by 15% in the House. This has ensured key issues from 1977, such as maternity leave and equal pay, continue to play a role in national policy conversations.

In the early 1970s, both major political parties in the United States supported the goals of the women’s rights movement. But the political dissonance sparked by the 1977 conference can be considered the source for many of the cleavages in U.S politics today.

Join the Women in Public Service Project at the Wilson Center for a book event with former Wilson Center Fellow Dr. Marjorie J. Spruill, author of the book Divided We Stand: The Battle Over Women's Rights and Family Values that Polarized American Politics to discuss the findings of her research that led to the publication of this book, and her work in women’s history to show that, indeed, “progress is not linear”.