The National Women’s Committee on Civil Rights

Abstract

The National Women’s Committee on Civil Rights (NWCCR) was designed as an important clearing house and coordinating body on civil rights, bringing together 300 women’s organizations representing more than fifty million women across the United States. While the NWCCR was able to lobby for the passage of civil rights legislation such as the 1964 Civil Rights Bill, it was less successful in its efforts to enlist its membership in the South to work locally in support of civil rights. This failure reflected the breakdown in the relationship between the national leadership of these organizations, who were broadly supportive of civil rights, and the local branches in the southern states, who were reluctant to become involved in racial issues. This chapter examines both the limitations of the NWCCR and its legacy in contributing to the development of grass roots activism among white women in the South.