The National Federation of Democratic Women (NFDW) is the official organization of the Democratic Party focusing on women's issues. The NFDW was established in 1971 as a means of supporting women's voices within the Democratic Party of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The NFDW hosts national and state-level conferences and activities. The NFDW is a recognized constituent group of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well ...

(DNC) and therefore has three seats on the DNC and the president of NFDW is part of the executive committee of the DNC. The NFDW has 37 chapters around the country and looks to expand to every state and protectorate.

History

The National Federation of Democratic Women was formed on October 6, 1971, when 27 women gathered at breakfast during the Democratic Women's Leadership Conference at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, D.C. Rilla Moran was elected temporary chair and the group set May 1972,

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, as the first annual meeting. Rilla Moran (from Tennessee) was elected the first President of the Federation at the May 1972 meeting and served until 1977 when Jean Ohm of South Dakota was elected president. At this convention, the women of the Federation established the Founders Internship for a young woman between the ages of 18 and 25 to work at the

. During the period 1972–1977, the Federation gained recognition from the Democratic National Committee as the official women's organization and received a seat on the DNC Executive Committee and three seats on the DNC. Rilla Moran Woods, C. DeLores Tucker and Caroline Wilkins were instrumental in establishing this official recognition for NFDW through their work on the Charter Commission and the

1976 Democratic National Convention The 1976 Democratic National Convention met at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from July 12 to July 15, 1976. The assembled United States Democratic Party delegates at the convention nominated former Governor Jimmy Carter of Geor ...

Committee.

References

External links

* {{Democratic National Convention Democratic Party (United States) organizations Factions in the Democratic Party (United States) Women's wings of political parties Women's organizations based in the United States