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Veteran Feminists of
America 
VFA is one of the
foremost sources of information about the Second Wave women's movement for journalists,
historians and other
writers.
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our mission!
Veteran Feminists
of America
VFA is a nonprofit organization for veterans
of the Second
Wave of the feminist movement.
The goals are to enjoy the camaraderie forged during those years of intense commitment, to honor ourselves and
our heroes, to document our history, to rekindle the spark and spirit of the feminist revolution and act as keeper
of the flame so that the ideals of feminism continue to reverberate and influence others.
VFA is the foremost source of information
about the Second Wave women's movement for journalists, historians and other writers. It is the foremost organization
for honoring the achievements of Second Wave feminists. It is the foremost organization for bringing together pioneer
feminists in a continuing campaign to educate and motivate today's young people through the example of feminist
victories and sacrifices.
Contact: Jacqui
Ceballos jcvfa@aol.com
Veteran Feminists
of America
>
PO Box 44551,
Phoenix, AZ 85016 |
VFA
Officers and Board
2013-2015
President - Jacqueline Michot Ceballos - Phoenix,
AZ
Chair
of the Board - Muriel Fox - Sleepy Hollow, NY
Co-President, VP
for Events - Sheila Tobias - Tucson, AZ
Secretary - Virginia
Watkins - Minnetonka, MN
Treasurer - Amy Hackett
, Brooklyn, NY
Of Counsel - Helen
Z. Pearl - Bloomfield,
CT
VP for Development - Lois Herr
- Elizabethtown, PA
VP - Intergenerational - Zoe Nicholson
- Newport Beach, CA
VP Preservation- Judy Kaplan -
Altamonte Springs, FL
VP Membership Mary Ann Lupa – Chicago, IL; Mary Jean Collins - Washington, DC
VP Media Relations
-Eleanor Pam -
Manhasset,
NY
VP Diversity - Gracia
Molina Pick - San Diego , CA
Special
Portfolios
FWCA - Barbara Love - Danbury, CT
Liaison/Outreach - Heather Booth - Washington, DC
Editor at Large - Joan Michel - Lakewood, NJ
Board
Barbara DeBaptiste - Hartford, CT
Constance Comer - NY, NY
Roxanne Barton Conlin - Des Moines, IA
Carole de Saram - Rhinecliff, NY
Dori Jacobson- Evanston , IL
Sally Lunt - Cambridge, MA
Rebecca Lubetkin - Mountain Lakes, NJ
Leah Margulies - Brooklyn, NY
Beverly McCarthy - Stockton, CA
Jeanne McGill - Middletown, NJ
Kathy Rand - Lake Forest, IL
Karen Spindel - Clifton, NJ
Mary Stanley - Fresno, CA
Linda Stein - NY, NY
Grace Welch - Islandia, NY Bonnie Wheeler - Dallas,
TX
Pam Ross,
- St. Louis, MO
Martha Wheelock, Los Angeles, CA
Shelley
Fernandez, S.F, CA
Anita Murray, Las Vegas,
NV
A brief history
by
Jacqueline Ceballos
VFA Founder & President
In the 1980s I was living in New Orleans, recuperating from ten years of heavy feminist activity in New York. It
was the Reagan years, the ERA had failed and feminists were dubbed Feminazis by some. Though, as always, men were
being honored for their contributions to society, the feminists who'd changed America were practically disdained.
Destiny moved me to South Florida
in 1989, where I met old NOW buddy Mary Jean Tully, who had made the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund a thriving
reality. Mary Jean was excited about an oral history project for the Schlesinger library involving the history
of NOW and Betty Friedan, for which she needed help. So back I went to New York and began interviewing my sisters
from NOW and Women's Liberation. To a woman, they expressed a wish to reunite. With the help of Dorothy Senerchia,
from New Feminist Theater, and Barbara Seaman, founder of the Women's Health Movement, a committee was organized
to undertake the planning of a reunion.
Remembering how my
father and brother met regularly with their war buddies, I asked the
group to think beyond a single reunion toward an organization to
document our history and inspire future feminists. Recognizing that we too are veterans, Barbara Seaman suggested
we call ourselves Veterans of the Feminist Wars. Later, warned that we could be sued, we became Veteran Feminists
of America.
In May 1993, we organized our first reunion in honor of Catherine East of Washington D.C., the woman Betty Friedan
called "the midwife of the feminist movement." Over 250 came to New York to honor the beloved Catherine.
After that glorious occasion, Catherine and D.C. attorney Mary Eastwood, both founders of NOW, wanted us to honor
other Pioneers, starting with Congresswoman Martha Griffiths, who made it possible to include "sex" in
Title VII; Virginia Allen, Director of the Women's Bureau under President Nixon; and Phineas Indritz, the attorney
who had advised feminists. In Spring 1994, we honored these, and other greats, right here at the Sewall Belmont
House.
1996 was the 30th anniversary of NOW, and Muriel Fox, one of that organization's founders, helped organize a landmark
celebration that reunited founders and early leaders. Muriel then became chair of VFA's board, and, when Sheila
Tobias, a founder of university Women's Studies programs, became our executive vice president, VFA was able to
expand its projects and hold events beyond New York and Washington. Since our founding, we've held over 35 reunions
and conferences: in New York, Washington, Boston, Baltimore, Connecticut, Chicago, New Orleans, Boca Raton, Los
Angeles, Tucson and Phoenix.
Barbara Love's monumental Feminists Who
Changed America 1963-1975
, published in 2006, has generated more local
celebrations of pioneer feminists. Tonight, we're paying tribute to 140 Washington-based pioneers, with particular
attention to White House correspondent Helen Thomas and Elizabeth Chittick, who was eight-term president of the
National Woman's Party.
On June 9, 2008, VFA hosted a "Salute to Feminist Lawyers" with special tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
founder of the Woman's Project at the ACLU, and, since 1998, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. We have a fabulous
webpage, an archive of news and events collected by our web manager, Jan Cleary, and we send out a monthly ENEWSletter.
Future events will honor athletes, the women's health movement, women journalists, and women in business and finance.
DVDs of our events are, or will, be housed at major Women's History libraries.
My hope is that VFA will continue to offer support and camaraderie to pioneers of feminism's Second Wave and provide
the recognition, respect and honor they so richly deserve.
HOW YOU CAN HELP THE VFA!
You can send a check to keep Veteran
Feminists of America going. You can become an:
Activist Angel - $1000
Big time Benefactor - $ 500
Super Supporter - $ 250
Devoted Donor - $100
Other amount $__________
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR:
NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, FAX,
E-MAIL
Tell us if you'd like to make
your donation in the honor of someone and who that person is.
REMEMBER VFA IN YOUR WILL!
You can also donate stock! VFA
's tax deductible number is 72-1301951
E-mail Jacqui Ceballos here:
jcvfa@aol.com
Veteran Feminists of America
Jacqui Ceballos
VFA
PO Box 44551,
Phoenix, AZ 85016
WEBPAGE: www.vfa.us
E-MAIL Jacqui:
jcvfa@aol.com |