The Group Driving the Fight for the Equal Rights Amendment
ERA NOW, founded by former Representative Carolyn Maloney, organized a nationwide tour nodding to the suffragists who paved the way.
| 29 May 2026 | 03:33
Jeryl Schriever (left) and Susan Nourse (right) pull up to City Hall in a replica of the Golden Flyer, a vehicle of the same make and model that was driven across country in 1916 to fight for the 19th Amendment. (
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Virginia Maloney, Council Member and daughter of former Representative Carolyn Maloney, speaks on the steps of City Hall. “As we prepare to celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary, what message do we send to future generations if women’s rights remain vulnerable to political winds?” Maloney asked. (
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Former Representative Carolyn Maloney, the founder and CEO of ERA NOW, waves from the Golden Flyer II. (
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Two of the women leading the fight to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) rolled up to City Hall on May 28 in style: in a bright yellow Saxton roadster from 1914.
110 years ago, the Golden Flyer, a vehicle of the same make and model was driven from New York to California and back by two suffragists with the goal of ratifying the 19th Amendment to guarantee women’s right to vote.
The trip was reimagined this year for the Driving The Vote for Equality Tour, a nationwide journey involving and expanding on the same cities that the original suffragists stopped at. This tour, which began March 1 and just wrapped up in New York City, was part of a campaign to convince Congress to recognize the ERA and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.
At the wheel was Susan Nourse, a former police chief from Maine. Jeryl Schriever, the author of “Driving the Vote for Women: An American Journey for Suffrage,” which chronicles the original trip, sat in the passenger seat.
Stepping out of the two-seat vehicle, the women headed to the steps of City Hall, where they were joined by several figures in support of the cause. Among them were Council Member Virginia Maloney and her mother, former Representative Carolyn Maloney. Carolyn pushed for the ERA during her 30 years in office and founded ERA NOW, the organization behind the tour.
“Equality delayed is equality denied,” Carolyn said.
The ERA was passed as a joint resolution in Congress in 1972. However, to be enacted as part of the Constitution, it required ratification by at least 38 states by 1982. It fell short and was only ratified by 35 states.
Three more states have ratified it in the past 10 years, despite the deadline. In 2020, Virginia became the 38th state.
However, the number was reached nearly 40 years after the deadline. Furthermore, since then, several states have rescinded their ratifications.
In March, a new joint congressional resolution to add the ERA to the Constitution was introduced in the House. Currently it is sitting in committee, but the organization hopes actions such as the tour will help promote it.
“Equality should not have an expiration date,” said Council Member Rita Joseph.