Time_23Mar2020

1970s

American Women

1975 PERSON OF THE YEAR | MAKING WAVES

The cover of TIME’s Jan. 5, 1976, issue was unprecedented. It featured a dozen “Women of the Year” who symbolized

ascent in myriad realms: literature, the military, religion, education, the White House, the statehouse, the Cabinet,

Congress, sports, law, journalism and labor. “Enough U.S. women have so deliberately taken possession of their lives,”

the story proclaimed, “that the event is spiritually equivalent to the discovery of a new continent.” —Katy Steinmetz

‘THE SEARCH FOR

HUMAN FREEDOM

CAN NEVER

BE COMPLETE

WITHOUT

FREEDOM FOR

WOMEN.’

FROM LEFT: SUSAN BROWNMILLER, KATHLEEN M. BYERLY, THE REV. ALISON CHEEK, JILL CONWAY, BETTY FORD, ELLA GRASSO,

CARLA HILLS, BARBARA JORDAN, BILLIE JEAN KING, SUSIE SHARP, CAROL SUTTON, ADDIE WYATT

— BETTY FORD

FROM LEFT: SUZANNE VLAMIS—AP; U.S. MILITARY; BOB DAUGHERTY—AP; ALISON SHAW/SMITH COLLEGE ARCHIVES; GERALD R. FORD PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY/TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE/GETTY IMAGES; BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES;
COURTESY GERALD R. FORD PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY; WILFREDO LEE—AP; ALLSPORT UK/GETTY IMAGES; NEWS & OBSERVER/AP; COURIER JOURNAL/AP; CHICAGO URBAN LEAGUE RECORDS