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League of Women Voters of Philadelphia records
The League of Women Voters (LWV) was established in 1919, to help educate women on the civic responsibilities of voting. In addition to its primary focus of educating the public during elections, the LWV quickly extended its program, taking positions on several national issues, especially the legal...
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| Collection: | League of Women Voters of Philadelphia Records |
| Collection Number: | 1940 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects and Genres: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
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| Item Description: |
Processing Information: The processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' "Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives" Project.
This collection was minimally processed in 2009-2011, as part of an experimental project conducted under the auspices of the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries to help eliminate processing backlog in Philadelphia repositories. A minimally processed collection is one processed at a less intensive rate than traditionally thought necessary to make a collection ready for use by researchers. When citing sources from this collection, researchers are advised to defer to folder titles provided in the finding aid rather than those provided on the physical folder.
Employing processing strategies outlined in Mark Greene's and Dennis Meissner's 2005 article, More Product, Less Process: Revamping Traditional Processing Approaches to Deal With Late 20th-Century Collections, the project team tested the limits of minimal processing on collections of all types and ages, in 23 Philadelphia area repositories. A primary goal of the project, the team processed at an average rate of 2-3 hours per linear foot of records, a fraction of the time ordinarily reserved for the arrangement and description of collections. Among other time saving strategies, the project team did not extensively review the content of the collections, replace acidic folders or complete any preservation work. |
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| Physical Description: |
39.8 Linear feet 89 boxes |
| Access: |
This collection is open for research use. |
| Summary: |
The League of Women Voters (LWV) was established in 1919, to help educate women on the civic responsibilities of voting. In addition to its primary focus of educating the public during elections, the LWV quickly extended its program, taking positions on several national issues, especially the legal status of women; foreign policy, like the institution of the United Nations and the Marshall Plan; as well as the on-going debate over the taxation of margarine. Locally, chapters were involved in public issues such as child care, city management, housing, public education and public health. The Philadelphia chapter communicated with the national and state League organizations, politicians, civic leaders, and organizations. The League of Women Voters of Philadelphia records include administrative documents and organizational papers for the Philadelphia branch of the League of Women Voters. The collection, which dates from 1920 to 1984, consists of materials from the national, state, and local branches of LWV. In particular, there are financial records, membership lists, publications, program materials, meeting minutes, correspondence and memoranda, newspaper clipping scrapbooks, and audiovisual materials. These records document the organization's administration as well as its outreach activities, and document the development of an important women's rights organization with a strong commitment to educating women on political issues and the importance of voting. The League of Women Voters of Philadelphia records houses administrative documents and organizational papers for the Philadelphia branch of the League of Women Voters (LWV), dating from 1920 to 1984. Researchers will find financial records, membership lists, publications, program materials, meeting minutes, correspondence and memoranda, newspaper clippings scrapbooks, and audiovisual materials. The records document the organization's administration as well as its outreach activities, and document the development of an important women's rights organization with a strong commitment to educating women on political issues and the importance of voting. In the course of their work, the Philadelphia chapter communicated with national and state LWV branches, politicians and civic leaders, and other organizations, and the contents of this collection reflect those relationships. The collection is arranged into four series: "I. Records (early accession), 1920-1982;" " II. Records (later accession), 1927-1984;" "III. Scrapbooks, 1933-1960;" and "IV. Audiovisual materials, 1963-1969." The first two "Records" series constitute two separate accessions, and are organized according to the LWV office filing systems already in place. Files are arranged into subseries according to League branch (local, state or national) and subject, then arranged alphabetically. Note that the filing system changed slightly between the two series. For example, Board meeting minutes are filed under "Minutes, Board meeting" in the first series and under "Board minutes" in the second series. Note also that, while the bulk of the first series predates 1966 and the bulk of the second series dates after 1966, there is significant overlap in documentation. For example, the first series contains Board meeting minutes from 1923 to 1957, and the second series contains Board meeting minutes from 1955 to 1983. Researchers should examine the folder listings for both series. The first series, "I. Records (early accession), 1920-1982," is arranged into three subseries: "a. Administrative records, 1921-1982," "b. Subject files, 1922-1981" and "c. Publications, 1941-1969." The "a. Administrative records" subseries is further divided into three sub-subseries, each representing a branch of the LWV: "1. Local League, 1921-1982," "2. State League, 1924-1961" and "3. National League, 1940-1961." The "1. Local League" materials consist of a wide variety of administrative documents, including meeting minutes, financial records, correspondence, memoranda, and committee reports pertaining specifically to the work of the Philadelphia chapter. Documentation found amongst the "2. State League" and "3. National League" sub-subseries is not as extensive, and is centered mostly on LWV conferences and conventions. The "b. Subject files, 1922-1981" subseries within "I. Records (early accession)" contains clippings, memoranda, correspondence, and research materials gathered by LWV on a variety of political subjects; as well as relating to activities carried out by the LWV, such as finance drives and voter services programs. The "c. Publications, 1941-1969" subseries within "I. Records (early accession)" contains publications produced by the local Philadelphia chapter, as well as the state and national branches of the LWV. Additional publications exist throughout the “Records (later accession)” series. The second series, "II. Records (later accession), 1927-1984" is arranged into three subseries: "a. Local League, 1937-1984," "b. State League, 1927-1984" and "c. National League, 1941-1983." The first subseries, "a. Local League, 1937-1984" within the second series, is further divided into four sub-subseries: "1. Administrative records, 1937-1984," "2. Education fund -- Inner-City Citizenship Education Project (ICCEP), 1965-1981," "3. Program files, 1947-1983" and "4. Voter services, 1946-1984." The first sub-subseries, "1. Administrative records," contains annual reports, meeting minutes, correspondence, event information, financial records, membership information, public relations materials and publications. The second sub-subseries contains administrative records and documentation of the "2. Education Fund -- Inner-City Citizenship Education Project (ICCEP)." The LWV Education Fund was a tax-deductible organization, technically separate from LWV, and focused on increasing citizen awareness of political, social and environmental issues. Among its programs was the Inner-City Citizenship Education Project, which aimed to increase civic participation and local public involvement in political leadership within inner-city neighborhoods. The third sub-subseries, "3. Program files," includes materials associated with programs of the LWV of Philadelphia. The majority of the programs relate to education, local government and women's rights issues. The bulk of the fourth sub-subseries, "4. Voter services," pertains to the publication of voters' guides. The second subseries, "b. State League, 1927-1984," within the second series, is divided into three sub-subseries. The first sub-subseries, "1. Administrative records, 1955-1984" contains convention information, financial records and publications. The second sub-subseries, "2. Program files, 1927-1981," houses programs relating to government structure, election law and education. The third sub-subseries, "3. Southeastern Pennsylvania League, 1958-1975," houses records related to collaborative projects between LWV chapters in the tri-state area. The third subseries, "c. National League, 1941-1983," is divided into five sub-subseries. The first sub-subseries, "1. Administrative records, 1947-1983," consists mostly of publications. It also contains materials related to annual LWV conventions and the LWV Education Fund. The second sub-subseries, "2. Government subject files, 1941-1975," contains materials on LWV issues surrounding government structure. The third sub-subseries, "3. Human resources, 1964-1975," does not pertain to a personnel department; rather, it relates to human rights concerns such as the Equal Rights Amendment. The fourth sub-subseries, "4. International relations, 1947-1978," contains materials on LWV foreign policy issues, especially the founding of the United Nations, which LWV strongly supported. The fifth sub-subseries, "5. Natural resources, 1956-1976," contains materials on LWV's positions on environmental issues. The third series, "III. Scrapbooks, 1933-1960," contains newspaper clipping scrapbooks on LWV publicity, likely compiled by League members. The fifteen scrapbooks in this series focus on events of the 1930s and 1950s, with little coverage of the 1950s. The fourth series, "IV. Audiovisual materials, 1963-1969," consists mainly of reel-to-reel audio recordings of LWV radio spots. This collection will be of interest to anyone studying the history of the League of Women Voters, especially as they functioned in an inner-city environment. Researchers interested in the history of women voters in the United States will also find this collection to be valuable. Education, Philadelphia governmental reform, and other political and social issues of special concern to the League of Women Voters are also well documented here. |