The Heritage Society hosts the 45th celebration of a federal women’s conference that was held where The Hobby Center for Performing Arts now stands
On Thursday, November 17, Houston’s women’s organizations and universities are invited to join former Mayor Annise Parker, The Heritage Society, and the Houston Suffragists Project to time travel back to the 1970s where Houston’s Coliseum once stood and when women’s rights was in the forefront. The 45th Anniversary of the 1977 National Women’s Conference held in Houston will start at 5:00 p.m. near the conference’s historical marker at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts at 800 Bagby Street. Immediately to follow, there will be a processional walk to 1100 Bagby Street for a reception and panel commemorating the historic conference.
“Thousands of women gathered on November 18-21, 1977, for this conference, including Annise Parker, for the biggest event of its kind since the Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls in 1848,” the Heritage Society’s board president Minnette Boesel said. “We plan on recreating the 1977 photos of the relay runners who carried the torch through 14 states to kick off the conference, so wear your seventies attire.”
“The University of Houston will be discussing campus connections to this storied conference, and students will be conducting interviews of the 1977 conference attendees,” The Heritage Society’s executive director, Alison Bell said. “UH is displaying historical artifacts from the conference, and we will also have artists and authors at the free wine reception to celebrate.”
The panel of speakers includes: Annise Parker, former Mayor of Houston; Drs. Nancy Beck Young and Leandra Zarnow, Co-Directors for the Sharing Stories from 1977 project, Center for Public History, University of Houston; Dr. Karen Kossie-Chernyshev, Professor of History at Texas Southern University; Wanda Adams, Justice of the Peace of Precinct 7; Dr. Annie Benifield, President of the League of Women Voters – Houston; Dr. Laura Oren, Professor Emerita University of Houston Law Center; and a poetry performance by TaKasha Francis, a director of Neighborhoods for the City of Houston. A special appearance by the three young athletes in the famous 1977 photos – Sylvia Ortiz, Michelle Cearcy, and Peggy Kokernot – will also kick off the event and planned processional.
To reserve your attendance, please register at https://1977NWC.eventbrite.com.
More about The Heritage Society: The Heritage Society, a 501 (c)(3) organization, tells the stories of the diverse history of Houston and Texas through collections, exhibits, the arts, educational programs, film, video, and other content. Founded in 1954 by a number of public-spirited Houstonians to rescue the 1847 Kellum-Noble House from demolition, The Heritage Society has since saved an additional nine historic buildings, moved them from various locations to join the Kellum-Noble House in Sam Houston Park, and restored them to reflect their respective eras. These ten buildings, along with the museum gallery, serve as historic reference points and exhibition spaces for more than 23,000 artifacts that document life in Houston from the early 1800s to the mid-1900s. For more information, please contact info@heritagesociety.org or see www.heritagesociety.org.