This module is comprised of records of three important women's rights organizations: the National Woman's Party, the League of Women Voters, and the Women's Action Alliance. Originally a committee of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), the National Woman's Party (NWP) was founded in 1913 when Alice Paul and her colleagues broke away from NAWSA in dissent over strategy and tactics. The Women's Action Alliance, established in 1971 as a grass-roots organization, concerned itself with issues such as employment and employment discrimination, childcare, health care, and education. The League of Women Voters collection documents almost every facet of women's involvement in U.S. politics from 1920 to 1974.
Content Types: administrative and organizational records, artwork, books, bulletins, conference materials, correspondence, legal records, legislation, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, periodicals, photographs, professional correspondence, reports, speeches, state laws, and more.
Subjects: activism, children, discrimination, divorce rights, education, Equal Rights Amendment, fundraising, health, lobbying, marriage, property rights, sex discrimination, women's organizations, women's rights, Women's Suffrage Movement, and more.
Federal Agencies and Organizations: Congress, Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, Department of Education, Department of Labor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, House of Representatives, League of Women Voters, National Woman's Party, Senate, Supreme Court, United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations Economic and Social Council, Women's Action Alliance, Women's Bureau, and more.
Keyword Search Examples: anti-suffrage, Alva Belmont, divorce, Equal Rights Amendment, picketing, prohibition, Rump Convention, The Suffragist
History Vault's National Woman's Party Papers, Part I: 1913-1974, Series 1: Correspondence Section A: 1877-1933 comprises three collections documenting the National Woman's Party (NWP) role in the struggle for women's rights; from the effort to pass the Nineteenth Amendment that guaranteed the right of women to vote, to later campaigns for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and other initiatives combating gender discrimination, both in the United States and around the world. The National Woman's Party was founded by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns in 1913 under the name Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, and became the activist face of the suffrage movement in the United States.
History Vault's National Woman's Party Papers, Part I: 1913-1974, Series 1: Correspondence Section B: 1933-1945 comprises three collections documenting the National Woman's Party (NWP) role in the struggle for women's rights; from the effort to pass the Nineteenth Amendment that guaranteed the right of women to vote, to later campaigns for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and other initiatives combating gender discrimination, both in the United States and around the world. The National Woman's Party was founded by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns in 1913 under the name Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, and became the activist face of the suffrage movement in the United States.
History Vault's National Woman's Party Papers, Part I: 1913-1974, Series 1: Correspondence Section C: 1945-1974 comprises three collections documenting the National Woman's Party (NWP) role in the struggle for women's rights; from the effort to pass the Nineteenth Amendment that guaranteed the right of women to vote, to later campaigns for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and other initiatives combating gender discrimination, both in the United States and around the world. The National Woman's Party was founded by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns in 1913 under the name Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, and became the activist face of the suffrage movement in the United States.
National Woman's Party Papers, Part I: 1913-1974, Series 2: Minutes, Legal Papers, and Financial Records, 1912-1972 contains a large set of organizational records providing glimpses into the National Woman's Party role in the struggle for women's rights, from the effort to pass the Nineteenth Amendment that guaranteed the right of women to vote, to later campaigns for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and other initiatives combating gender discrimination, both in the United States and around the world. The National Woman's Party was founded by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns in 1913 under the name Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, and became the activist face of the suffrage movement in the United States.
National Woman's Party Papers, Part I: 1913-1974, Series 3: Printed Materials, 1850-1972 brings together a large body of publications by or about the National Woman's Party (NWP) role in the struggle for women's rights, from early pro-suffrage advocacy in the nineteenth century, to the effort to pass the Nineteenth Amendment that guaranteed the right of women to vote, to later campaigns for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and other initiatives combating gender discrimination, both in the United States and around the world. The National Woman's Party was founded by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns in 1913 under the name Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, and became the activist face of the suffrage movement in the United States.
National Woman's Party Papers, Part I: 1913-1974, Series 4: World Woman's Party Papers, 1938-1958. At the 1938 National Woman's Party (NWP) biennial convention, founder Alice Paul presented her ideas on a new women's organization. Paul contended that there was an urgent need for an international equal rights group that would serve as a counterforce to the growing totalitarian regimes in Europe, which were eliminating many of the recent gains made by women in the areas of civil, political, and economic rights. Paul asserted that a world feminist organization, formed primarily by democratically spirited Americans, would serve as a beacon of hope for women bereft of the opportunities for greater freedom. The NWP delegates were so convinced by Paul's remarks that they urged the National Council to establish the new organization. On August 18, 1938, the World Woman's Party (WWP) was officially established, with the NWP becoming the American branch of the body.
History Vault's National Woman's Party Papers: The Suffrage Years, 1913-1920, Series 1: Correspondence, 1891-1940: Section A, 1891-1915 comprises four collections that document the militant aspect of the suffrage campaign in the United States. The papers, concerned almost exclusively with the federal suffrage amendment campaign, examine the final phase of the struggle to pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, recognizing the right of women to vote. The papers also reflect the creation, growth, and development of the National Woman's Party (NWP), which became an active organization in the women's rights movement. The papers date primarily from 1913 to 1920--the period when the National Woman's Party was active in the suffrage campaign. A small amount of material dates from both before and after this period.
History Vault's National Woman's Party Papers: The Suffrage Years, 1913-1920, Series 1: Correspondence, 1891-1940: Section B, 1916-1917comprises four collections that document the militant aspect of the suffrage campaign in the United States. The papers, concerned almost exclusively with the federal suffrage amendment campaign, examine the final phase of the struggle to pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, recognizing the right of women to vote. The papers also reflect the creation, growth, and development of the National Woman's Party (NWP), which became an active organization in the women's rights movement. The papers date primarily from 1913 to 1920--the period when the National Woman's Party was active in the suffrage campaign. A small amount of material dates from both before and after this period.
History Vault's National Woman's Party Papers: The Suffrage Years, 1913-1920, Series 1: Correspondence, 1891-1940: Section C, 1917-1940 comprises four collections that document the militant aspect of the suffrage campaign in the United States. The papers, concerned almost exclusively with the federal suffrage amendment campaign, examine the final phase of the struggle to pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, recognizing the right of women to vote. The papers also reflect the creation, growth, and development of the National Woman's Party (NWP), which became an active organization in the women's rights movement. The papers date primarily from 1913 to 1920--the period when the National Woman's Party was active in the suffrage campaign. A small amount of material dates from both before and after this period.
History Vault's National Woman's Party Papers: The Suffrage Years, 1913-1920, Series 2: Administrative Files, Printed Matter, and Photographs, 1889-1936 comprises four collections that document the militant aspect of the suffrage campaign in the United States. The papers, concerned almost exclusively with the federal suffrage amendment campaign, examine the final phase of the struggle to pass the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, recognizing the right of women to vote. The papers also reflect the creation, growth, and development of the National Woman's Party (NWP), which became an active organization in the women's rights movement. The papers date primarily from 1913 to 1920--the period when the National Woman's Party was active in the suffrage campaign. A small amount of material dates from both before and after this period.
Papers of the League of Women Voters, 1918-1974, Part I: Meetings of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committees, Minutes and Related Documents, 1918-1974. This collection presents the complete minutes of the League of Women Voters Board of Directors and Executive Committee. Occupying a central position in the organizational hierarchy of the League, the Board of Directors was more concentrated in its impact than the larger Council, whose membership included the presidents of state leagues. The Executive Committee, which was discontinued in the 1930s, was a subcommittee of the board. Its membership usually included the President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the League, as well as several other board members.
Papers of the League of Women Voters, 1918-1974, Part II, Series A: Transcripts and Records of National Conventions, 1919-1944, and of General Councils, 1927-1943. This collection presents the records of the national conventions and General Councils of the League of Women Voters for the period 1919 through 1944. Founded on February 14, 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt, the League directed its first efforts toward enabling newly enfranchised women to exercise their responsibilities as voters. The 1920s was the "start-up" decade, although the League hardly started from scratch, since it inherited the unfinished agenda of the women's suffrage movement.
Papers of the League of Women Voters, 1918-1974, Part II, Series B: Transcripts and Records of National Conventions, 1946-1974, and of General Councils, 1945-1973. This collection includes complete copies of transcripts and minutes of proceedings, along with program schedules, attendance and delegate lists, speeches, press releases, committee meeting reports, financial reports, and miscellaneous materials regarding convention planning, publicity, league membership, and state Leagues of Women Voters. The transcripts are quite voluminous, with most ranging from 400 to over 1100 pages.
Papers of the League of Women Voters, 1918-1974, Part III, Series A: National Office Subject Files, 1920-1932. This collection provides a large compendium of primary source material on the development of the League of Women Voters, a progressive and influential women's organization, in the twelve years after the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, roughly 1920-1932.
Women's Action Alliance, Part 1: Administration--General, Board of Directors, and Executive Director, 1971-1996. This collection contains documents about the Women's Action Alliance (WAA) from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, focusing on the administration of the Alliance at their New York City headquarters. The majority of the documents are memos and business correspondence relating to the many different programs supported by or affiliated with WAA. A large number involve the regular activities of the Board of Directors, while others deal with fundraising and government financing for women's programs around the country, the tumultuous atmosphere at WAA headquarters, and the constant shortage of money and support staff.
Women's Action Alliance, Part 2: Administration--Publicity and Public Education, WAA Staff, Financial Records, and Development and Fundraising, 1971-1996. This collection presents a large set of predominantly administrative records of the Women's Action Alliance (WAA) for the period 1971 through 1996. The WAA records contain important information about the organization's projects in areas such as coalition-building among women's groups, women's economic development, teenage pregnancy prevention, and non-sexist child development. The WAA records document the administration of the organization, its projects, and its role as a women's information clearinghouse.
Women's Action Alliance, Part 3: Economics Projects, 1977-1986. This collection contains documents about the Women's Action Alliance economic development projects from 1977 to 1982, focusing on the many local organizations supported by the Alliance and new projects created to foster coordination between women's organizations. These projects included surveys and conferences that generated various types of documents, including business correspondence and publicity pamphlets. The largest part of the collection deals with the 1978 and 1979 Women at Work Expositions. There is also a large collection of correspondence and administrative paperwork on fundraising and planning for the Women's Action Alliance. Another large group of documents come from a survey on vocational education for women with responses organized by state.
Women's Action Alliance, Part 4: Education Projects, 1972-1991. Women's Action Alliance: Background. The Women's Action Alliance (WAA) education-related projects are the focus of this collection. As a New York City-based grassroots organization of national scope, the WAA helped foster and facilitate women's social and economic position and their independence. Founded in 1971 by a group of Women's Movement veterans that included Gloria Steinem, Brenda Feigen, and Catherine Samuels, the WAA acted as an information clearinghouse and incubator for a broad range of projects in economics, education, health, and coalition-building. The WAA was dissolved in 1997.
Women's Action Alliance, Part 5: Health Projects, 1985-1996. This collection contains documents about several of the health projects of the Women's Action Alliance between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s. Many of the documents are brochures and pamphlets advertising the services of teenage pregnancy prevention programs and other projects related to the work of the Women's Action Alliance. Also included are proposals for the Alliance's various health projects and minutes of meetings at which the progress of the projects was discussed. The collection also contains correspondence between the Alliance and other health-related programs with which they collaborated.
Women's Action Alliance, Part 6: Coalitions, 1975-1991. This collection contains a large number of documents on the coalitions with other women's groups that the Women's Action Alliance (WAA) led or participated in, from 1975 through 1991. The WAA records contain substantial information about the organization's projects in areas such as coalition-building among women's groups, women's economic development, teenage pregnancy prevention, non-sexist child development, and the nonsexist portrayal of women in media. The WAA Records document the administration of the organization, its projects, and its role as a women's information clearinghouse. Materials include correspondence, publications, resource files, books, reports, and administrative records; and are separated into two main series--National Women's Agenda Coalition and Women's Centers Project--each described in detail below.
Women's Action Alliance, Part 7: Information Services, 1973-1980. Founded in 1971, the Women's Action Alliance (WAA) aimed to coordinate resources for organizations and individuals involved in the women's movement on the grassroots level. Founders included Gloria Steinem, Brenda Feigen, and Catherine Samuels. The organization's original mission was "to stimulate and assist women at the local level to organize around specific action projects aimed at eliminating concrete manifestations of economic and social discrimination." Conceived of as an advisory service that could provide back-up support, "the choice and objectives and basic strategy" of such initiatives would be "made by the group in every case."
Women's Action Alliance, Part 8: Library, Publications, and Photographs, 1972-1995. Founded in 1971, the Women's Action Alliance (WAA) aimed to coordinate resources for organizations and individuals involved in the women's movement on the grassroots level. Founders included Gloria Steinem, Brenda Feigen, and Catherine Samuels. The organization's original mission was "to stimulate and assist women at the local level to organize around specific action projects aimed at eliminating concrete manifestations of economic and social discrimination." Conceived of as an advisory service that could provide back-up support, "the choice and objectives and basic strategy" of such initiatives would be "made by the group in every case."
