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Obituary: One by one the so-called "second wave" feminists are passing from the scene. Activist Karen DeCrow, 76, has died of melanoma.

She was prominent especially in the 1970s, having been president of NOW.

DeCrow was born Karen Lipschultz on Dec. 18, 1937. She grew up in Chicago, earned a degree in journalism from Northwestern University and attended a graduate journalism program and law school at Syracuse University. While a law student, she ran for mayor of Syracuse, the first mayoral campaign by a woman in the state.

She joined NOW in 1967, inspired by the pay inequality she saw in her own workplace - an issue that continues to simmer four decades later. She joined the organization's national board a year later and remained there until becoming president.

DeCrow advocated state ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, passed by Congress in 1972, throughout her tenure and lamented each time a state legislature voted against it. She called a North Carolina defeat in 1977 "an absolute crisis" and said a loss in Florida evoked the "Old South."

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