CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF NWPC-STL

Meet the Founding Mothers

They have quite an interesting story to tell. Our organization was founded in 1971 by Marcia Melitz, Betty Van Umm, Susan Block, Sally Barker, Vivian Eveloff, Stephanie Tranen. They were strangers before going to the JCCA in Creve Coeur to hear a speech on the raging Vietnam War by U.S. Representative Bella Abzug, a social activist and a leader of the Women’s Movement.

Congresswoman Abzug’s brief remarks on a new group called the National Women’s Political Caucus resonated with our founders. Little did they know that they were about to change the political landscape in the St. Louis area forever. They also did not see the bond of impending friendship between them that would last for the rest of their lives. 

Sue Shear was the first candidate NWPC-STL recruited to run for and win a seat in the Missouri House. Representative Shear filled the Equal Rights Amendment as her first bill. Next came the election of Betty Van Uum, the first woman on the St. Louis County Council, and of Harriett Woods, the first woman to be elected statewide in Missouri (first elected to the Missouri Senate, then as Lt. Governor). In 2018, NWPC-STL supported 29 winning women. 

From left to right: Marcia Melitz, Betty Van Umm, Susan Block, Sally Barker, Vivian Eveloff, and Stephanie Tranen.

Download the article to learn more about their history in the political movement!