the membership. However, in 1977 the American Library Association took a stand for the Equal Rights Amendment. The organization stated that they would no longer hold conferences in states that did not ratify the amendment, with the boycott measure set to take place in 1981. An ERA Task Force was formed in 1979 towards this goal and a sum of $25,000 was allocated towards task force operations in unratified states. At the time, a number of state library associations passed pro-ERA resolutions and formed committees on women in libraries. Progressive librarianship and African Americans History Negative or inaccurate depictions of African Americans have long been reinforced through literature and popular culture. To counteract this inaccurate portrayal, librarians of various ethnic and cultural backgrounds, have worked with authors and publishers to ensure that racist stereotypes are kept out of books. Such efforts have been supported by Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Approximately 85 years ago African American children were routinely exposed to the negative images of African American people and their culture. Around the 1920s African American parents, librarians, and educators realized these depictions were detrimental to both African American and Caucasian children, and therefore, needed to be removed from library shelves. There was a need for writers to create educational books for children that could be more useful and much more truthful. In response, the Associated Publishers, an African American publishing company founded in 1927 and backed by African American authors, educators, and historical scholars such as Carter G. Woodson and Charles Wesley, began publishing informative books that taught the history and culture of African Americans. Advocacy In 1871, Daniel P. Murray began working in the Library of Congress and much of his career was concerned with positive representation of Blacks in the U.S. In 1899, Murray organized an exhibit on "Negro Authors" for the 1900 Paris Exhibition, which culminated in the work known as the "Preliminary List of Books and Pamphlets by Negro Authors". Murray's goal was to collect every text authored by every Black author in existence. His collection would eventually become the Library of Congress's "Colored Author Collection". Charlemae Rollins, who began working for the Chicago Public Library system in 1932, wrote several collection development guides which suggest titles that feature fair depictions of African Americans. Rollins also advocated for considering African American children in the collection development process; she also urged the