Scope and Content Note
The records of the League of Women Voters (U.S.) span the years 1884-1986, with the bulk of the material dating from 1920 to 1979. The records document the league's national, state, and local activities from its founding in 1920 through the 1970s. The records are arranged and described in four parts.
Parts I, II, and III
Records contained in Parts I, II, and III were boxed and described for the most part according to how they were organized by the league. Material in Part I dates from 1910 to 1932 and was subdivided into Subject Files , Miscellany and Broadsides , Printed Matter , and Miscellany series . Files in Part II date from 1920 to 1946 and consist of state material and subject files subdivided into Biennial file groupings. Part III includes state material, subject files, special projects files, minutes, circular letters, publications, and publicity files that date from 1916 to 1964, with the bulk of the material from 1946 to 1963. Part III is organized as received in recurring or similar series grouped separately according to date span.
Subject files and state material files comprise the greatest portion of Part I, II, and III. Subject files document the activities of the national office and include material on the national board, general council, committees and departments, conventions, councils, programs, and publications. These files also concern the league's interest in such issues as women's rights, child labor and welfare, voter education, consumer issues, international relations and trade, labor, election laws, race relations, welfare, immigration, education, civil service, and health. The league's involvement in these issues became the foundation of many of its programs and led to a cooperative relationship with other citizen's groups and women's organizations.
State files consist of the records of individual state and local chapters. These files document local activities and complement the plans, policies, and administrative materials in the records of the national organization.
Part IV
Records of the league contained in Part IV span the years 1884-1986, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1950s through the 1970s. Part IV consists of the records of the national organization, but activities at the state and local level are also well documented. The records are grouped in the following series: Congressional File , Conventions and Council Meetings , Education Fund , Equal Rights Amendment Campaign File , Printed Matter , and Subject Files .
The Congressional File contains records kept by the league on members of Congress from 1943 to 1982, principally during the 1970s. This series documents efforts by the league to monitor the activities and views of members of Congress, to inform them of league positions on specific issues, and to push for passage of related legislation. These files contain reports on interviews with members of Congress and their staffs, correspondence, newsletters, and clippings. Related information on the league's position with regard to program issues can be found in the legislative action section of the Subject Files.
The Convention and Council Meetings series documents the league's national conventions and council meetings held biennially since 1928. The first seven conventions, 1920-1926, were held annually. Conventions are attended by the board of directors and delegates from local, state, and interleague organizations who vote on programs, elect officials and board members, and adopt budgets. The league's programs, developed through local consensus, support the organization's governing principles and serve as a guide for action and study on governmental issues. Although the series includes material from 1921 through 1986, documentation is most extensive for conventions held between 1954 and 1978. Council meetings allow state delegates to meet with board members during nonconvention years and advise on program, administrative, and budgetary matters. The series includes material from the first council meeting in 1927 through 1977, with the bulk of the material dating from 1959 to 1977.
The Education Fund series concerns five of the fund's more extensive projects. The League of Women Voters Education Fund was established in 1957 as a separate, tax-deductible organization. Its activities consist largely of generating publications and organizing conferences designed to enhance citizen awareness of political, social, and environmental issues. In 1975 and 1976, the Education Fund organized a series of six seminars in which historians, political scientists, journalists, and public officials reexamined fundamental questions of government raised in the Federalist Papers. In 1973, it joined with three other organizations in conducting a general revenue sharing monitoring project to evaluate the balance of federal and state responsibility, needs and rights of the poor, and extent of citizen involvement under "New Federalism" revenue sharing. The study focused on six states and fifty-six localities. General Revenue Sharing: The Case for Reform, published in 1976, served as the project's final report. The inner-city citizenship education project, begun in 1965, functioned as a grass-roots program to increase citizen participation and develop indigenous political leadership in inner-city neighborhoods. The land and water use project assisted local community leaders in organizing seminars to address concerns over water quality and related land use questions. The first seminar was held in 1965 and reflected the league's growing involvement in environmental issues. Finally, military spending and national security conferences held in 1970 organized public debates on security issues and national priorities. Contained in the Education Fund series is material from conferences in Columbus, Ohio, and Racine, Wisconsin, although a total of nine conferences were planned. Smaller Education Fund projects are included in the Subject Files series.
The Equal Rights Amendment Campaign File documents the league's support for the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution and its work for ratification of the amendment. The campaign lasted ten years but proved unsuccessful. The league adopted the ERA as a priority in 1972, established an ERA campaign office to coordinate nationwide ratification efforts, and set up an ERA fund outside the regular league budget. This series documents planning and strategy for the campaign, efforts to secure ratification of the amendment in the various states, fund-raising activities, public relations and media efforts. Files on issues, opposition, and supporting organizations relate to issues raised on both sides of the debate surrounding the ERA. Judicial, legal, and legislative authority files provide information on the legal basis and arguments for the amendment and contain documentation on court cases surrounding efforts to extend the deadline for ratification and moves by states to rescind ratification.
The league was an active supporter of ERAmerica, the nonprofit organization established in 1976 to promote passage of the ERA, and this activity is documented in the ERAmerica files under supporting organizations. The league was also a sponsor and organizer of the National Business Council for ERA which was founded in 1979 to organize business support to push aggressively for ratification of the ERA. Individuals who appear prominently in the ERA campaign files include Ruth C. Clusen and Ruth J. Hinerfeld, presidents of LWV; Ellouise Schoettler and Nancy Neuman, ERA directors; Mary E. Brooks, ERA staff specialist; and actress and businesswoman Polly Bergen, founder and co-chair of the National Business Council for ERA.
The Printed Matter series contains material sent to the Library of Congress by the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Radcliffe College. The variety of printed and near-print material provides a valuable look at the evolution of league positions on issues such as the legal status of women, education, government, international cooperation, labor, Equal Rights Amendment, immigration, public welfare, and the environment from 1920 to 1970. The series complements League printed matter located in the Subject Files series.
The largest portion of the league records is contained in the Subject Files that document the league's overall activities and focus. Topics include subjects such as welfare reform, individual liberties as related to federal loyalty and security programs, and the United Nations; activities such as sponsorship of presidential debates and forums; and projects such as the women's mortgage credit project and the metropolitan project. Interaction between state and local chapters and the national organization to develop a consensus is demonstrated in the compilation of consensus data on issues such as housing, the United Nations, and welfare reform. The earliest material in the collection consists of biographical and historical files on women's suffrage. Biographical files contain clippings and other information on women involved in the suffrage movement.
Records in the Subject Files have been organized using the league's filing system as a guide. The series includes subject files corresponding to league departments such as environmental quality, government, human resources, international relations, legislative action, and voters service. Filed under the term government are documents relating to LWV work on issues such as apportionment and constitutional revisions and on surveys of state and local governments. Human resources documents deal with topics such as desegregation and food assistance. Some material on the ERA is found in the human resources files, but the bulk of material on the ERA is in the Equal Rights Amendment Campaign series. Documents under voters service relate to the league work on voter education and citizenship issues. The Legislative Action Department directs action on national program issues. The files within this grouping detail lobbying activity and support for legislation, and complement the Congressional Files . Administrative and organizational materials are filed under the heading of League of Women Voters. Topics included in this category are membership, budget, finance, program, and policy. Throughout the Subject Files , groups of material are described as "basic documents," a designation assigned by the league to documents of important reference value to its departments. Types of materials so designated include project studies, reports, press releases, and bulletins.