The Chicago Women's Liberation Union (CWLU) was a citywide organization of Chicago feminists from 1969-1977. With protests and other women's liberation projects, the CWLU emphasized organizing women for revolutionary change. CWLU feminists called for society to do more than just "make room for women" within a flawed patriarchal structure.
Women's Liberation in Action
CWLU activities ranged from consciousness-raising groups to a speakers' bureau that sent women around the Midwest. CWLU women organized a lesbian rights group, employment equality activities and the underground abortion referral service "Jane," which saved thousands of women from potentially fatal illegal abortions in the years before Roe v. Wade.
There were several CWLU publications, such as:
- Womankind
A monthly newspaper that spread the message of women's liberation - Blazing Star
The newsletter of the Lesbian Group, a subgroup of the CWLU that outlasted the larger organization - Secret Storm
Another publication that sought to raise awareness by covering issues from various neighborhoods, colleges and communities
CWLU also had an action committee for child care, a rape crisis hotline, a legal clinic working group and even a women's liberation rock band.
Key Members and Principles
Among the founders of CWLU were Naomi Weisstein, Vivian Rothstein, Heather Booth and Ruth Surgal.
The CWLU Statement of Purpose included the following:
"We know that changing women's position in society isn't going to be easy. It's going to require changes in expectations, jobs, child care, education. It's going to change the distribution of power over the rest of us to all people sharing power and sharing in the decisions that affect our lives."
Issues important to the CWLU and its feminist theory included:
- Family
- Women's health
- Sexuality
- Work
- Feminist Art
- Internationalism
- Consciousness raising and "the personal is political"
CWLU Timeline: 1969-1977
The official existence of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union lasted from 1969-1977. CWLU founders came from other activist groups of the 1960s that fought for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. In those groups, they had often found that men held leadership positions and expected women to type and make the coffee, even as they fought for equality and freedom. This disparity, in Chicago and elsewhere, influenced many feminists who became involved in the U.S. women's liberation movement.
When the CWLU began in 1969, it was a loosely organized group with a steering committee but no precise delineation of duties and membership. The group grew quickly over the next few years, especially as the women's movement and feminism received more media coverage.
As was often the case in women's liberation groups, ideological differences developed among the members. CWLU eventually disbanded in 1977.