Born: October 7, 1920
Died: March 4, 1994
Known as: Feminist, Organizer, Advocate, Scholar, First Chairwoman of NOW
“Chairman of the Board” was a phrase that rolled easily off the tongue, from real-life society to the game of Monopoly. The phrase may have tripped up anyone who referred to Kathryn Clarenbach’s role in the newly formed National Organization for Women in 1966.
When the founding members of the prominent feminist organization elected their first slate of officers, Kathryn Clarenbach became NOW’s first Chair of the Board. It is one of her many significant leadership roles in the story of 20th century feminism.
Background and Education
Kathryn (Kay) Frederick Clarenbach was born in Sparta, Wisconsin in 1920, the same year women in the U.S. won the right to vote. Her parents, Nina and Alexander Frederick, were active in their community and strong advocates of education.
Kay Clarenbach participated in many extra-curricular activities in high school and at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she earned a B.A. in Political Science. She went on to earn both a master’s and doctorate. She passed the federal Civil Service Exam and worked in Washington D.C. during World War II.
Kathryn married Hank Clarenbach in 1946. She eventually taught political science at several universities, but left the workforce for a time when she and Hank had three children.
Women’s Issues
During the early 1960s, Kay Clarenbach began to work on women’s issues, such as the University of Wisconsin’s continuing education program for women and Wisconsin’s Commission on the Status of Women, which she chaired. The statewide commission addressed laws that had unfairly affected women in areas such as sexual assault, divorce and property rights.
Equality NOW
Kay Clarenbach was one of the women who famously gathered in Betty Friedan's hotel room to organize a group that would work for women's rights. The women were attending a national conference on the status of women. Clarenbach was a well-regarded leader, and she recruited other women to join NOW. Betty Friedan later wrote that Kay Clarenbach was ready to take action and had provided astute analysis of what wasn’t being done on behalf of women.
While there were disagreements between Friedan and Clarenbach, they came together in their leadership positions to work for women's equality. As the first chair of NOW, Kathryn Clarenbach was very involved with the organization’s early work on equality for women in the workplace. She later served as president of the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Behind the Scenes?
Kay Clarenbach co-authored The Green Stubborn Bud: Women’s Culture at Century’s Close in 1987. She also worked on the National Women’s Conference in Houston in 1977, the National Association of Commissions on the Status of Women and the National Women’s Political Caucus.
While Kathryn Clarenbach may not be discussed as often as Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem, she was a driving force on behalf of women in Washington, in Wisconsin, and among the revolutionary feminists who kept working after the formation of NOW. She died in 1994.