1921-
Author, Women's Rights Activist

Pioneer for Women.

Betty Friedan was at the center of the growing women's movement in the 1960s, as the author of one of the most influential books on American women's lives (The Feminine Mystique, 1963) and also as one of the founders of the National Organization for Women (NOW). She was the most visible champion of women's rights at the time, even though by the end of the decade more-radical feminist groups had already begun to think of her as old-fashioned.

Stifled Aspirations.

The eldest of three children, Friedan had a comfortable childhood until the Depression hit; as her parents struggled to support the family she watched her mother lash out at her father in "impotent rage." She determined that she would find the fulfillment for herself that her mother never did. In 1943, as a summa cum laude graduate from Smith College...