The National Organization for Women (NOW) is a feminist non-profit organization that was founded by twenty-eight women attending the Third National Conference of Commissions on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C., on June 30, 1966. The original statement of purpose included "to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men."

The first NOW-affiliated organization in West Virginia, the Morgantown-Fairmont (Mor-Fair) chapter, was formed in the early 1970s under the leadership of its first president, Jennifer L. Hipp. Also crucial to its creation were Letty Lincoln and Barbara Nailler. By 1974, the Mor-Fair chapter split into separate Morgantown and Fairmont NOW chapters due to the mid-1970s gasoline crisis. Dr. Lillian J. Waugh became heavily involved in what would become the Morgantown chapter beginning in 1973. West Virginia University (WVU) faculty, staff, and students furnished the largest number of new members of the newly separated Morgantown chapter.

Morgantown NOW had a strong Consciousness Raising Task Force whose members engaged in public speaking, building foundations in political activism.

The Morgantown chapter, alongside Charleston and Martinsburg, had a strong emphasis on changing state and national laws related to violence against women. Morgantown NOW's Rape Task Force was pivotal in that regard and enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with the Women's Information Center (WIC) under the leadership of Rev. Reba Thurmond, Methodist Campus Minister. In the fall of 1973 women from both town and gown constituencies coalesced to found Rape Information Services, which would later become the Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center (RDVIC).

In 1974, the growth of local NOW chapters led to the creation of a state organization, West Virginia NOW, to strengthen connections between the national organization and local chapters. WV NOW would hold state councils and conferences throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The first State Compliance Coordinator was Morgantown's Letty Lincoln. Jennifer L. Hipp became a State Officer of WVNOW and Sandy Roth took over the presidency of MNOW.

Given the emphasis on legal reforms and attendant lobbying at the state and national level, WVNOW chapters became points of entry for feminist activists in elected office. These included Sondra Lucht (Martinsburg, state Senator), Bonnie Brown (Charleston, House of Delegates), and Barbara Evans Fleischauer (Morgantown, House of Delegates). All three women served both as home and state chapter presidents.

Morgantown NOW was also pivotal in providing significant support to National NOW: Sandra Reeves Roth of Wadestown, a WVU psychology graduate, served two terms as national NOW secretary under Ellie Smeal's presidency. Beth Leopold left her WNPB-TV position to work in field organizing and public relations. Sherry O'Dell of Charleston was a member of Smeal's leadership team in the last half of the 1970s and early 1980s.

Morgantown NOW became well-known for its success in taking busloads of activists to marches in Washington, D.C., for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and pro-choice rallies, and regularly raised funds to support a lobbyist during the state legislative sessions for the last quarter of the 20th century.

Morgantown NOW members were also central to the development of Women's Studies at WVU in the mid 1970s and early 1980s and often co-sponsored events with the WVU NOW chapter.

Although diminished in size and prevalence, as of 2025 NOW still operates nationally and in all 50 U.S. states. The West Virginia state, Morgantown, Kanawha Valley, and Huntington chapters are the only NOW chapters still in operation in West Virginia, with focuses on reproductive rights, economic justice, domestic violence, racial justice, LGBTQIA+ rights, and constitutional equality.