Rosalynn Carter with Betty Ford and Ladybird Johnson at the National Women's Conference

More than 20,000 people—including First Lady Rosalynn Carter, former First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson and Betty Ford, Coretta Scott King, and Susan B. Anthony II (the suffragist’s grandniece)—attended the First National Women’s Conference in Houston, Texas, in 1977. The torch was passed to a new wave of women reformers at the ambitious conference. Two thousand and five state delegates recommended to Congress and the President how to advance women’s rights. Delegates adopted a 26-plank national plan, addressing issues such as career interests, rights for minority women, and the Equal Rights Amendment. The outcome was a National Plan of Action for women’s rights, inclusive of women of color.