Subseries B. Communications
Scope and Contents
Subseries B, Communications, 1970-1978 (#51.20-53.14), contains telephone and mail logs, chronological files of outgoing mail and correspondence, memos, correspondence of NOW staff and officers (Elizabeth Cox, Casey Hughes, Geri Kenyon, Elaine Latourell, Judith Lonnquist, Mary Barber Van Buskirk, and Mary Vogel), mailing lists, correspondence with job and internship applicants, and mailings to State Legislative Coordinators and Chapter Legislative Coordinators. The incoming and outgoing telephone logs (#51.20-51.25, 51.30) includes identification of the caller (either by name, place, or sex); the call's date, time, and subject; and the Legislative Office staff or other NOW office to whom the caller was referred. The length of long distance outgoing calls was also logged. Similarly, incoming and outgoing mail logs (#51.31-51.39) include information on the nature, subject, and referral of correspondence.
Correspondence and memos (#51.40-52.36) primarily include letters to and from other NOW officers; occasionally, there is correspondence between Legislative Office staff and government officials and officers of other organizations. NOW maintained two separate chronological files of 1975 outgoing letters (#51.40-51.50 and #51.51-51.62); both contain letters and memos written by various Legislative Office staff to local chapter officers, state legislative coordinators, and others. Legislative Alerts (#53.14) notified NOW leadership of pending legislation that would impact the minimum wage, ERA, and rape and abortion laws. Beginning in 1976, Legislative Updates (#53.14) reported on pending and future legislation and provided listings of resources available to NOW members, such as workshops, pamphlets, and reports. Legislative Office mailings relating to the ERA were moved to Series XXIX. Nearly 100 form letters from the Legislative Office to potential internship applicants were removed from the collection. In addition, approximately 1600 routine answers (routing slips and form letters) were removed from the chronological correspondence file.
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
- From the Collection: National Organization for Women (Organization)
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.