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SERIES Identifier: MC 496: M-152

Series I. ORGANIZATION AND POLICY

Scope and Contents

Series I, ORGANIZATION AND POLICY, 1966-1994 (#1.1-1.43, E.1), contains brief histories of NOW; the Statement of Purpose (both draft, October 26, and as adopted, October 29, 1966), copies of the Articles of Incorporation (February 10, 1967), and the 1968 NOW Bill of Rights; national by-laws, 1967-1993 (scattered); model by-laws for states, regions and chapters; comprehensive policy manuals covering all conference resolutions, policies, and Board decisions concerning administrative procedures within NOW, and positions on a wide variety of issues, from 1966 through August 1994; lists of national officers, Board members, task force chairs, state coordinators, and chapter convenors and presidents, 1966-1991 (scattered); and biographical information on some Board members. Of particular interest are the questionnaires completed by Board members in 1974 (#1.40), as well as Karen DeCrow's autobiographical statement in 1973 (#1.39). NOW's web site is being captured periodically as part of Harvard University Library's Web Archive Collection service (WAX); searchable archived versions of the web site will be available through this finding aid in 2010.

Dates

  • Creation: 1959-2002
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1966-1998

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

TERMS OF USE

Access. The majority of the collection is unrestricted.

Access to folders #103.3-103.4 requires the written permission of NOW until January 1, 2017. Access to folders #67.13 and 87.58 requires the written permission of NOW until January 1, 2018. Access to folders #67.8-67.9 requires the written permission of NOW until January 1, 2019. Access to folder #108.36 requires written permission of NOW until January 1, 2020.

Grievance files and financial records are closed for 50 years. Certain confidential records are closed to all research use for specified periods; included are individual documents access to which would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Time limits for closure of NOW Foundation records (Series XXII, #88.1-88.11) will be determined by mutual agreement between NOW and the Schlesinger Library at a future date; the finding aid notes that such records are closed pending negotiations.

As of December 2015, written permission of the National Organization for Women is required only for documents 20 years old or less.

Extent

206.27 linear feet ((185 cartons, 23 file boxes, 8 half file boxes, 14 file card boxes, 3 folio+ boxes) plus 10 folio folders, 5 folio+ folders, 3 oversize folders, 1 supersize folder, 136 photograph folders, 2 folio photograph folders, slides, 9 reels microfilm (M-152), and electronic records)

Creator

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

Contact:
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