Women and the Democratic Party: The Evolution of EMILY's List By ...

Chapter 2

The Second Wave and Emily's List

As the story goes, Malcolm and twenty-five women met in the basement of Malcolm's Washington, D.C., home one day in 1985, Rolodexes in hand, to embark on a letter-writing campaign (EMILY's List 2009). While a basement might not seem like an auspicious setting to begin a political organization, in many ways it was the perfect location. EMILY's List was borne of frustration and fraternization, most of which can be traced to the Founding Mothers’ experience in the women's movement and various political organizations.

One of the most lasting images of the liberal feminist women's movement, beside the protest at the 1968 Miss America pageant, is that of women coming together in consciousness-raising meetings. As Jo Freeman (1975) discussed, these meetings played a