Series III. POLITICAL ACTIVISM, 1971-1991, undated (#3.4-7.7, SD.1, PD.2, Mem.1)

Series III, Political activism, 1971-1991, undated (#3.4-7.7, SD.1, PD.2, Mem.1), includes flyers, memoranda, notes, volunteer lists, meeting minutes, and other material relating to Matsumiya's political activism. Her interests varied widely, and included rent control, elder housing, the MBTA Red Line extension, women's issues, and the Coalition for Cambridge (#3.4-3.5). After volunteering for the 1972 George McGovern and Sargent Shriver presidential campaign, Matsumiya became the women's issues coordinator for Shriver during his 1976 presidential campaign (#6.6-6.8). She also served on the steering committee of the Cambridge Convention, held in May of 1977, which was an attempt at building a winning coalition of candidates for school committee and city council within the City of Cambridge. All endorsed candidates pledged to support in-common candidates for mayor, city manager, and school superintendent (#4.3). After the state-wide Governor's Commission on the Status of Women was created in 1977, an Ad Hoc committee was formed to establish the Cambridge Commission on the Status of Women. The group's intention was to act as a clearinghouse for all women's services within Cambridge (#3.7-4.2). Matsumiya's letters to Cambridge City Councilors Francis Duehay and Saundra Graham describe her opinion of the in-fighting occurring within the nominating committee for the commission (#6.2). In 1980 Matsumiya was asked, as a Carter supporter, to join the Massachusetts Women for Carter Committee (#6.5). She was also involved with Citizens for Participation in Political Action (CPPAX), which consisted of local community groups seeking to influence local Massachusetts politics at the grassroots level (#5.4). The series is arranged alphabetically.