It wasn’t mainly Baptists who stopped ERA

“In the South, [Phyllis Schlafly’s] STOP ERA was staffed by the Church of Christ and Southern Baptists, as well as smaller fundamentalist and independent Baptist churches.

“Interestingly…. North Carolina’s population was 23 percent Baptist and 0.2 percent Church of Christ, yet the latter actually outnumbered the former in anti-ERA organizations, 45 to 36 percent.”

— From “The Myth of Southern Exceptionalism,” edited by Matthew D. Lassiter and Joseph Crespino (2010)

ERA sunk by switcheroos in N.C. Senate

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On this day in 1977: Despite last-minute long-distance lobbying by President Jimmy Carter, the North Carolina Senate defeats the Equal Rights Amendment by a 26-24 vote.

It is the second time the ERA has failed in the Senate by that vote, each time falling victim to a switch by a Charlotte senator ostensibly committed to voting yes.

The ERA will die in 1979, the deadline set by the U.S. Senate for winning ratification by the required three-quarters of the states.

Pictured: From the collection a pinback button worn by ERA advocates.