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The Montana ERA Ratification Council was organized in 1973 to campaign for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) by the Montana legislature. The Council, a single-issue grass roots organization with headquarters in Helena, brought together into a working coalition representatives from some thirty-five Montana organizations supporting the ERA, including the American Association of University Women, League of Women Voters, Federation of Business and Professional Women, AFL-CIO, Women's Law Association, American Federation of Teachers, Montana Education Association, Montana Democratic Party, Montana Nurses Association, National Organization of Women (NOW), Common Cause, State Bar, Soroptimist International Association, Press Women, and Church Women United.

Initially, Common Cause and Helena lawyer Jim Zion provided leadership for the Council by drafting bylaws, forming a board of directors, and setting membership criteria and dues for the first lobbying effort in the 1973 Legislative Assembly. Sue Bartlett, Natalie Cannon, Robin Hatch, Frances Elge, Senator Pat Regan, and Mary Van Buskirk volunteered as board members. Regional area coordinators were appointed by the board and a mailing list of approximately 2500 was developed. Robin Hatch and Natalie Cannon served as lobbyists. Belle Winestine was named honorary chair and Laura Nicholson served as secretary-treasurer.

The Montana House of Representatives passed the ERA in 1973 by a vote of 72-23. The resolution failed to get out of the Montana Senate that year, but was ratified the following year by a vote of 29-21. Montana became the 32nd state to ratify the ERA. A total of thirty-eight states was needed to add the amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The original deadline for adoption was March 22, 1979, but the amendment needed additional states to ratify. A controversy arose nationally and in Montana over the proposed extension of the seven-year ratification period. Opponents of ERA hoped to end the ratification campaign by defeating the extension. In 1978 the U.S. Congress voted to extend the deadline to June 30, 1982.

After the 1974 Montana ratification, the Montana ERA Ratification Council changed its name to the Montana Equal Rights Council. Four distinct periods characterized the work of the Montana Equal Rights Council: extension of the seven-year ratification period (efforts of the Council were directed nationally and in Montana); protecting Montana's ratification; blocking rescission efforts which extended throughout the eight year period; and preparation of strategies to reintroduce the ERA following the failure of ratification in the next Congress. Opponents of the ERA attempted to rescind Montana's ratification in every legislative session between 1974 and June 30, 1982. National "Stop-ERA," led by Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum, campaigned vigorously through Montana branches of organizations opposing the ERA including the Daughters of the American Revolution, Eagle Forum, John Birch Society, Knights of Columbus, Liberty Lobby, National Council of Catholic Women, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Rabbinical Alliance of America. A very strong and well organized opponent in Montana was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The rescission movement was stopped in 1975 by the Montana Senate as recommended by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Rescission was again stopped in the Senate in 1977 on a tie vote. In 1979 the Senate adopted a rescission resolution, but it was killed when the House Judiciary Committee voted a "do not" pass recommendation on the resolution and opponents could not muster necessary votes to Place it before the entire House. The Council employed Dru Styskel as its lobbyist during the 1979 session. In 1981 legislative leaders believed that the Amendment would fail on the national level and turned their attention to other issues.

The Montana Equal Rights Council phased out its work with a final public program in Helena directed by co-presidents Doris and Linda Brander with a promise to have the ERA arise "from the ashes like the Phoenix bird." As directed by the bylaws, remaining funds left in the treasury were distributed to organizations with interests in women's issues including the Women's Lobby Fund, National Organization for Women, and the League of Women Voters of Montana.