Karen DeCrow, former president of NOW, dies at 76

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) — Celebrated activist and civil rights lawyer Karen DeCrow, who led the National Organization for Women in the 1970s, died Friday at her home near Syracuse. She was 76.

Longtime friend Rowena Malamud confirmed DeCrow's death from melanoma.

She said DeCrow, who started out as a journalist and was a prolific writer, was the "perfect model" for the women's rights movement.

As president of NOW from 1974 to 1977, DeCrow pressured government agencies and big corporations to hire more women and called on the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to investigate gender discrimination.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Karen-DeCrow-former-president-of-NOW-dies-at-76-5535494.php