Phyllis Schlafly

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Lore & Background

Phyllis Schlafly was born Phyllis McAlpin Stewart in St. Louis. During the Great Depression, her father faced long-term unemployment beginning in 1932, and her mother worked as a librarian and teacher to support the family. Schlafly attended Maryville College for one year before transferring to Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1944 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received a Master of Arts in government from Radcliffe in 1945 and a Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 1978. During World War II, she worked as a ballistics gunner and technician at the largest ammunition plant in the world. Schlafly ran for Congress three times as a Republican in Illinois but lost each general election. She gained national attention in 1964 when more than three million copies of her self-published book A Choice Not an Echo were sold or distributed for free in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. The book denounced liberal East Coast Republicans personified by Nelson Rockefeller, accusing them of corruption and globalism. She had been a member of the John Birch Society; founder Robert Welch Jr. referred to her as a 'very loyal' member. She later quit and denied she had been a member because she feared her association with the organization would damage her book's reputation. In 1972, she founded the Eagle Forum and began her STOP ERA campaign, arguing that the ERA would take away gender-specific privileges enjoyed by women, including dependent wife benefits under Social Security, separate restrooms for males and females, and exemption from the military draft.

Reader's Guide

Phyllis Schlafly's significance lies in her role as a central figure in the conservative movement and her effective opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment. When she began her campaign in 1972, the ERA had already been ratified by 28 of the required 38 states. Seven more states ratified the amendment after Schlafly began organizing opposition, but another five states rescinded their ratifications. The last state to ratify the ERA was Indiana in January 1977. The Equal Rights Amendment was narrowly defeated, having only achieved ratification in a total 35 states. Political scientist Jane J. Mansbridge concluded that the amendment would likely have been ratified by 1975 or 1976 had it not been for Schlafly's early and effective organizing. Schlafly also organized the Pro-Life, Pro-Family Rally in 1977 as a counter to the National Women's Conference, drawing over 15,000 attendees and announcing the beginning of a pro-family movement. Her legacy includes the enduring influence of the Eagle Forum and her role in shaping modern conservative activism on social issues.

Did You Know?

• More than three million copies of her self-published book A Choice Not an Echo (1964) were sold or distributed for free.
• During World War II, she worked as a ballistics gunner and technician at the largest ammunition plant in the world.
• She earned her Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law in 1978, more than three decades after her undergraduate degree.
• She attended every Republican National Convention from 1952 until her death in 2016.
• The John Birch Society distributed 300,000 copies of A Choice Not an Echo in California prior to the June 2, 1964, GOP primary.

Roots in St. Louis and a Depression-Shaped Childhood

Phyllis McAlpin Stewart entered the world on August 15, 1924, in St. Louis, into a family with deep Midwestern and Scottish roots. Her great-grandfather Stewart, a Presbyterian, emigrated from Scotland to New York in 1851 and moved westward through Canada before settling in Michigan. Her grandfather, Andrew F. Stewart, was a master mechanic with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. Her father, John Bruce Stewart, was a machinist and salesman of industrial equipment, principally for Westinghouse, and was granted a patent in 1944 for a rotary engine. The Great Depression struck the family hard: her father faced long-term unemployment beginning in 1932, and her mother, Odile Stewart (née Dodge), who had previously taught at a private girls' school in St. Louis, returned to work as a librarian and teacher to support the family and maintain Phyllis in a Catholic girls' school. Phyllis had one younger sister, Odile.

Education, Wartime Service, and a Late Law Degree

Schlafly's academic path was steady and ambitious. She began at Maryville College but transferred after a single year to Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in 1944 and was recognized as a Phi Beta Kappa member. The following year, after attending Harvard, she completed a Master of Arts in government at Radcliffe. During World War II, she wrote in Strike From Space (1965) that she worked as 'a ballistics gunner and technician at the largest ammunition plant in the world.' She earned her Juris Doctor from the Washington University School of Law in 1978.

A Choice Not an Echo and the Goldwater Campaign

In 1964, Schlafly achieved a level of national visibility that few self-published authors ever reach. Her book A Choice Not an Echo, a polemic in support of Republican candidate Barry Goldwater and condemning more liberal East Coast Republicans personified by Nelson Rockefeller, sold or was distributed free in quantities exceeding three million copies. The book's impact was especially felt in California's winner-take-all Republican primary. Schlafly had earlier been a member of the John Birch Society; founder Robert Welch Jr. called her 'very loyal.' Though she later quit and denied she had been a member because she feared her association with the organization would damage the book's reputation, the Society helped distribute roughly 300,000 copies in California prior to the June 2, 1964, GOP primary. Gardiner Johnson, Republican National Committee for California, stated that the distribution of her book in California was a major factor in Goldwater's winning the nomination. Critics called the book a conspiracy theory about 'secret kingmakers' controlling the Republican Party.

Three Congressional Runs and the Eagle Forum

Schlafly tested the waters of elected office three times, always as a Republican in Illinois's heavily Democratic districts. In 1952 she won the Republican primary over John T. R. Godlewski by 18,793 (61.14%) to 11,943 (38.86%) but lost the general election to incumbent Democrat Charles Melvin Price, winning 63,778 votes (35.20%) to Price's 117,408 votes (64.80%). She was the Republican nominee again in 1960, losing to Price by 144,560 votes (72.22%) to 55,620 (27.79%). In 1970 she lost a bid for Illinois's 23rd congressional district to Democrat George E. Shipley by 91,158 votes (53.97%) to 77,762 (46.04%). After that defeat she never sought public office again. Instead, in 1972 she founded the Eagle Forum, a conservative political interest group, and remained its chair and CEO until her death on September 5, 2016. Through that organization and her broader activism, she campaigned against the Equal Rights Amendment, opposed feminism, gay rights, and abortion, and co-authored books on national defense while criticizing arms-control agreements with the Soviet Union. She attended every Republican National Convention from 1952 onward.

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