Phyllis Schlafly

Phyllis Schlafly was an influential and polarizing conservative author and political activist who played a key role in preventing the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. 

Schlafly grew up in St. Louis and obtained a political science degree from Washington University in St. Louis and, later, a master’s degree in government from Ratcliffe College. 

She became a key conservative voice against communism in the 1950s and ran an unsuccessful campaign for the House in Illinois in 1952 as a Republican, winning the primary but losing the general election. 

Schlafly wrote “A Choice Not an Echo” in 1964, a nonfiction book that is seen as playing a key role in the Republican presidential nomination of Barry Goldwater that same year. 

She began publishing her monthly “Phyllis Schafly Report” in 1967, in which she announced her opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that aimed to stop sex-based discrimination and ensure gender equality.

Schlafly argued that certain privileges afforded to women would be lost under the law. She established an organization to lobby against the act and was credited with preventing it from becoming ratified.

Schlafly was a prominent conservative voice, appearing on radio and television a commentator. She died in 2016 at the age of 92. 

— Morgan Chalfant

photo: Getty Images