AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN, a national nonprofit organization that promotes education and equality for women. The organization is divided into three components: the Association, the Educational Foundation, and the Legal Advocacy Fund. With 150,000 members at more than 1,500 branches across the country, the Association has long been a powerful lobbying voice on such issues as education, social security, sex discrimination, reproductive rights, affirmative action, pay equity, and health-care reform. The Educational Foundation funds community action projects, grants, and fellowships for exceptional women scholars and scientists and research into girls and education. The Legal Advocacy Fund provides economic support and advice for women involved in lawsuits regarding sex discrimination in higher education.

The American Association of University Women grew out of the 1921 merger of two preexisting organizations, the Association of Collegiate Alumnae and the Southern Association of College Women. The former was founded in 1882 to augment opportunities for women in the workplace and in higher education. In 1885 they published their first research report debunking the popular myth that higher education impairs the health of women. In 1919 they helped form the International Federation of University Women, with organizations from Canada and Britain.

After the formation of the American Association of University Women, they set up their offices in Washington, D.C., ushering in a new era of political influence and activity. One of their earlier initiatives was to promote the appointment of women to foreign service. In the 1930s they strongly supported the right of doctors to provide information on contraceptives. In 1938 they published "The Living Wage for College Women," documenting sex discrimination in higher education.

The organization supported the formation of the United Nations and was accorded permanent observer status in 1946. In 1948 they strongly backed the Marshall Plan for economic redevelopment in Europe and as a result were awarded the Federal Republic of Germany's Order of Merit in 1953. The Association supported the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Solomon, Barbara Miller. In the Company of Educated Women: A History of Women and Higher Education in America. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985.

Eli MosesDiner

American Association of University Women (AAUW).In 1881, seventeen women met at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the invitation of Marion Talbot, a Boston University graduate, and her mother, also college educated, and formed the Association of Collegiate Alumnae, forerunner of the AAUW. In the 1890s, the new organization established graduate fellowships to encourage women to pursue science careers. By the 1920s, it pursued equity in education, equality for women, and internationalism. During World War II, led by Helen C. White of the University of Wisconsin, AAUW women performed community leadership and public service. In the Cold War, however, AAUW's progressive stance on women's rights, international cooperation, and educational reform brought charges of disloyalty. Nonetheless, the AAUW Educational Foundation (1955) expanded the organization's fellowship program; by 1967, nearly 100 fellowships were awarded annually from an endowment of some $3.5 million.

The post–1970 women's movement brought significant changes. Active in Washington on women's and family issues, the AAUW endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment and reproductive rights in 1971, and joined the coalition that promoted Title IX of the Education Act of 1972, mandating gender equity in higher‐education athletic programs. The AAUW Report: How Schools Shortchange Girls (1992) and Hostile Hallways: The AAUW Survey on Sexual Harassment in America's Schools (1994), based on extensive research, showed the prevalence of gender bias in public schools and its link to adolescent girls' drop in self‐esteem, and proposed strategies for improvement. While never abandoning its initial goals, the AAUW has steadily expanded its agenda, from supporting graduate education for women to addressing the needs of public school girls and young women.
See also Education: Rise of the University; Feminism; Women's Rights Movements.

Bibliography

Marion Talbot and and Lois Kimball Mathews Rosenberry , The History of the American Association of University Women, 1881–1931, 1931.
Susan Levine , Degrees of Equality: The American Association of University Women and the Challenge of Twentiety Century Feminism, 1995.

Gretchen Kreuter