Anne Nicol Gaylor, who helped found the Freedom From Religion Foundation in 1976, says she will step down as its president next week at the organization's annual meeting
Gaylor, 77, said Wednesday she has glaucoma and can no longer handle the burdens of her job.
The group best known for lawsuits it files seeking to promote the separation of church and state has grown from a core group of just three into a national atheist organization that claims 5,000 members.
Gaylor said people seem more accepting of her work today than when she began.
"When I started, the word 'atheist' was enough to set the phone ringing," she said. "But the flack has let up over the years. Freethinkers are freer to speak their minds."
Gaylor's daughter and foundation co-founder Annie Laurie Gaylor and her son-in-law, Dan Barker, will seek to replace her as the group's leaders at the convention Oct. 29-31 in Madison.