Scope and Content Note
The Citizens' Joint Committee on National Representation for the District of Columbia lobbied for the passage of the Twenty-third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which, in 1961, granted the citizens of the District of Columbia the right to vote in presidential elections. The records of the organization span the years 1926-1961 and are organized into five series: Miscellaneous , Old Records , Political , and Publicity . The papers include correspondence with members of Congress, chiefly members of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Rules; records of congressional hearings; publicity materials; lists of local groups backing the Twenty-third Amendment; and a file by state showing contacts made by the committee with leaders of the various state legislatures.
The series "Old Records" contains committee files primarily from the 1920s through the early 1940s when, under the leadership of Theodore W. Noyes, the committee worked to build support for a constitutional amendment to grant full voting rights to District citizens. The series includes correspondence, minutes of meetings, lists of members, and official endorsements from organizations.