By law, Francesca Benson (then Stonaker) had to stop teaching when she adopted her children. In 1969, she joined the central New Jersey Chapter of N.O.W., and was soon drawn into a committee tasked with setting up full-time day nursery. Alongside fellow activists. Francesca found and lost premises, recruited teachers, and enrolled the first crop of UNOW students. In this interview, Francesca remembers the hard yet rewarding work of founding a school, and reflects on the arc of women’s rights in the past five decades. As interviewed by Carolyn Jones, May 10, 2019.
