Philly Women's March organizer: More to come

Most days, Emily Cooper Morse busies herself worrying about supply logistics for her employer, a large Center City-based chemicals company. That and her three children, twin sons, 5, and a 7-year-old daughter.

But when Donald Trump won the presidential election - and she learned a day later about the Women's March on Washington - she began to wonder whether there would be any interest in a similar march in Philadelphia. So, almost on a whim, she put up an event on Facebook.

"I wanted to see if I could get a couple of hundred people in a park to march in solidarity," said Cooper Morse, 33.

She succeeded, and then some: On Saturday, she spoke on stage in front of an estimated 50,000 people, stretching from Eakins Oval to Logan Circle on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway during the Women's March on Philadelphia.

"I couldn't stand on the sidelines," she said, confessing to the crowd that she was nervous. They responded by shouting her name, "Emily! Emily! Emily!" as she stood with her daughter, Izzy, beside her.

Cooper Morse, of King of Prussia, began her speech by quoting former President Obama, who said that "change only happens when ordinary people get involved. I'm an ordinary person who had to turn those words into action."

Cooper Morse talked about how she watched President Trump make fun of a disabled person, heard about how he rated women on a scale of 1 to 10, listened to him demean minorities.

"As a survivor of sexual assault," she said, she found herself unable to dismiss his remarks about women as simply "locker-room talk."

Maybe Cooper Morse's training in supply logistics helped her produce Saturday's event, because, she said, she had little experience in event planning.

"I've thrown a few birthday parties," Cooper Morse said with a laugh during an earlier interview.

Saturday's march required much more planning than that: She had to apply for city permits, and raise funds for portable toilets, insurance, hookups for electricity and water, and more. At one point, she said, she had a meeting with 30 city officials from the Police Department, Parks and Recreation, and its special events team, among others.

And although she had help from a team of volunteers - including five other women who led the planning with her - the responsibilities at times became all-consuming.

"There were nights, literally, where I didn't sleep," Cooper Morse said.

At Saturday's rally, many speakers said they hoped that the event would be more than just a feel-good episode, that it would turn into something capable of effecting real change.

While attempting to decompress Sunday, Cooper Morse said that she and the other women who spearheaded planning have already founded a nonprofit and want to continue fund-raising, organizing, and hosting events.

They were even texting as soon as Saturday's event was over, about possibilities for their next endeavor.

As exhaustion set in, Cooper Moore said, she wrote to her peers: "OK, guys, let's take a few days off."

"And then," she said with a laugh, "we were doing it again [Sunday] morning."

jvonbergen@phillynews.com

215-854-2769 @JaneVonBergen