On May 8, 1970, the Seattle chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is chartered in the chambers of King County Superior Court Judge Evangeline Starr. NOW is a civil rights organization pledged to work actively to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society. The 13 founding members include Zelda Boulanger (1916-2012), who is appointed the chapter president.
In 1970, members of the Toastmistress Club of Seattle sponsored seminars for members of the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Federated Women, the League of Women Voters, and Radical Women. The seminars examined issues of equality for women and discrimination. At one of the meetings, Zelda Boulanger presented the bylaws for NOW, which Betty Friedan (b. 1921) had founded in 1966. Everything that the Seattle women had discussed was embodied in the NOW program.
The Seattle Chapter met for the first time in Judge Starr's King County Courthouse after business hours. In addition to Starr and Boulanger, the founding members were Pat Artz, Charlene Callahan, Esther Campbell, Naomi Holloway, Colleen Fitzgerald-Hansen, Mary E. Underwood, Joy Belle Conrad-Rice, M. Claire Gorman, Margaret J. Coster (Kuzens), Martha L. Westen, and Mary Pool.
Shortly after the chapter was organized, 11 members met with Governor Daniel J. Evans (b. 1925) to gain his support for legislation guaranteeing equal rights for women.
In 1972, there were 14 NOW chapters in Washington. In 2001, NOW in Washington state had 900 members.
