In this letter we describe a demonstration of the equalization of polarization dispersion in a direct-detection lightwave system. Polarization maintaining fiber was used to generate first-order polarization dispersion, and equalization was achieved by a manually-adjustable, analog tapped delay line that equalized the baseband electrical signal at the receiver. At a 1.1 Gbps data rate, a two-tap equalizer reduced the intersymbol interference due to polarization dispersion by more than 20 dB, eliminating a 3 dB eye closure penalty. © 1990 IEEE