The Historic 1977 First National Women’s Conference to be Re-invented at Bay Path University as the On the Move Forum 2017

In recognition of the 40th anniversary year of the 1977 National Women's Conference, Bay Path University in partnership with the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts will reconvene, with similar format and topics, this groundbreaking event held in Houston, Texas.

On March 8, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Bay Path University in partnership with the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts will hold a capsulated re-enactment of the historic 1977 First National Women’s Conference, titled the “On the Move Forum 2017,” on the Longmeadow campus in the Blake Student Commons. This event is free and open to the public. March 8th is also the United Nations International Women’s Day.

The On the Move Forum was developed by Bay Path professor Janine Fondon along with Diana Mara Henry, the official photographer for the 1977 First National Women's Conference. Diana Mara Henry will be the keynote speaker at the Forum. Henry began her career in photojournalism at Radcliffe, as photo editor of the Harvard Crimson from 1967 to 1969. As the official photographer for the First National Women's Conference, she had unlimited access to many of the women leaders of the 1970's. Diana Mara Henry's photographs are currently in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Archives, the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, and the W.E.B Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst.

The On the Move Forum will mirror the format and topics, such as education, business and finance, and health and wellness. As it was in 1977, a key component of the Forum will have the participants/delegates of 2017 engaging in discussion about how to advance women in the workplace and communities.

This event is sponsored in part by NAMIC New England and ESPN. For additional details on the On the Move Forum 2017, visit www.onthemoveforum.com.

As space is limited and open to the public, you must register for the event. 

Diana Mara Henry's historic photographs are available for use by permission. Contact: dmh@dianamarahenry.com or dkovacs@library.umass.edu.