Born in St. Louis, Phyllis Schlafly earned a bachelor’s degree at Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s degree from Radcliffe College (now part of Harvard University). In the 1950s she became active in conservative Republican politics. In 1952 Schlafly ran for Congress. She won the Republican nomination but lost the election. A national spokesperson for the conservative movement, she served as a delegate to seven Republican National Conventions. She also served as president of the Illinois Federation of Republican Women. Schlafly established her conservative credentials with a number of books, including A Choice Not an Echo, which supported Republican Barry Goldwater for president and sold over 3 million copies. Schlafly rose to national prominence when, in 1972, she began her work to stop passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). She used her monthly newsletter, The Phyllis Schlafly Report, to oppose the ERA. She also wrote The Power of the Positive Woman, in which she stated her views on the status of modern American women and attacked the women’s liberation movement. In the late 1970s Schlafly earned a law degree from Washington University Law School. After the defeat of the ERA, Schlafly became active in other political issues, including support for the Strategic Defense Initiative and for parental rights in public schools.
