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In Memory of Alice Cohan, Beloved Feminist Leader
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For over 60 years, Alice Cohan devoted her life to the feminist movement, as an activist, political organizer, and long-time Political Director at both the Feminist Majority and the National Organization for Women. Alice was a nationally recognized expert on field organizing, mass mobilizations, and electing feminist candidates.
She had an extraordinary lifelong commitment to equality and began her activist work in her teens. Her interest in politics ran deep: she attended her first Democratic National Convention as a teenager in 1964 and attended every Democratic National Convention from 1976 through 2020 (and many Republican ones as well). She traveled extensively, sometimes for months at a time, organizing in most regions across the United States. She was a force: a dedicated friend, an inspiring mentor, and a brilliant creative tactician. Her work was critical in electing feminist candidates to office and in moving the Equal Rights Amendment campaign forward.
Organizing infused every aspect of Alice’s life. She loved to gather a group together after a meeting for dinner and fervently believed that such personal connection is crucial to keeping our movement fed (literally) and growing. She was aware of her exquisite sense of humor and was a “people person” who knew that sometimes a smile or a laugh can bring people together.
Alice served as the Feminist Majority’s Political Director and Chief Field Organizer for over twenty years. In this capacity, she led field operations in community organizing for the National Clinic Access Project, mobilized college students in many state-level ballot initiative and Congressional campaigns, and organized large events, including the Feminist Expos in 1996 and 2000, and the Women, Money, Power Summits in more recent years.
Alice worked extensively with feminist Congressional Candidates, interviewing them, recommending endorsements, and chairing an informal network of Political Action Committees that focused on women candidates. She also represented the Feminist Majority in a wide range of coalitions, ranging from those dealing with judicial nominations to reproductive rights, and many issues in between.
Alice served as Director of the 2004 March for Women’s Lives, which brought 1.15 million supporters to Washington, D.C. through the work of over 1,400 co-sponsoring organizations. The march was a monumental call to action to protect abortion rights, reproductive justice, access to birth control, and women’s health. As March Director, Alice braved countless storms, juggled egos and priorities, and pulled off the March of a lifetime.
Alice was active with NOW throughout her life and in 2019 received NOW‘s lifetime achievement award. She became Chief Field Director, specializing in direct and mass actions, and served as Political Director for the last 8 years of her tenure at NOW. She was the Director of all women’s rights mass mobilizations and marches for NOW, starting with the ERA Campaign.
Personally, Alice was also a genuine force. She took great pride in mentoring younger generations of feminists both through her work at NOW and the Feminist Majority, but also as a member of the Advisory Council of the Women’s Information Network, which was a group of pro-choice, Democratic Women under 30.
In an interview with her alma mater Rider University’s magazine about her lifetime achievement award from NOW, Alice explained her relentless pursuit of equality this way: “I remain enthusiastic about the work because I’m passionate about the issues and the people who come together to work on them. There is opposition everywhere we look, and its root is money. People profit from discrimination. Only if we are strong and united can we move closer to equality.”
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