National Organization for Women, Chicago Chapter Records

This series includes the papers collected and created by NOW leadership officers during their time holding leadership positions. This series includes the papers of the following women: Mary Jean Collins-Robson, Bette Vidina, Wilma “Willie” Stevens, and Susan Straus. Material includes correspondence between other NOW leadership personnel, memorandum on national, regional and local issues; as well as national and local board of directors and task force correspondence. These records also include prepared and draft speeches, meeting minutes, subject files, handwritten notes, position papers, reports regarding “women’s issues” and corresponding Organizational issues, financial records, organizational reports to and from the Board of Directors, and NOW or related publications.

This series includes documents that reflect the workings of Chicago NOW as an organization, it also reflects its relationship under the National NOW umbrella. The series includes several groupings of documents that document the daily activities of the chapter and are described below:

Correspondence: Primarily administrative correspondence between officers, national headquarters, local organizations. Correspondence also includes both hate and support mail.

Board of Directors: Consists of reports and correspondence, documentation on the internal elections of both National and Chicago Presidents and other leadership; includes the papers of NOW Officer and Board member Ann Ladky.

Elections: Documents NOW efforts to provide canvasing and election support for United States presidential elections, political propaganda related to campaigns and candidates and includes correspondence, primary and election day results for Cook County. This material also includes some documentation related to National and Chicago branch leadership elections such as correspondence, press releases, memorandum, and campaign literature.

Meetings and Minutes: Includes agendas, memorandum, and minutes from staff, task force, committee, and event planning meetings.

Public Relations: Includes the files of the Speakers Bureau and Public Relations department, news clippings that mention NOW, women’s related issues in Chicago, as well as interviews and biographical information on NOW members and leadership.

History: Includes material of historical significance such as original memoranda from Betty Friedan, founding charters, bi-laws, and correspondence regarding the start of the Chicago Chapter in 1968. It also includes early meeting minutes, by-laws, handwritten notes, and notes and essays related to a project related to documenting the history of the Chicago NOW Chapter.

Financial: Includes documentation on fundraising events, annual budgets, and special projects budgets.

Personnel files: Includes resumes and files on the staff and leadership of Chicago NOW.

Membership: Documents created and collected by Bette Vidina, Chicago NOW Membership Coordinator. Records pertain to membership recruitment, retention, mailings, and event attendance.

Political Action: Reflects the political role NOW Chicago held in Chicago by documenting participation in local political events and demonstrations.

Publications: ACT NOW was the Chicago branch’s monthly newsletter. These records reflect the activities of the local and national level organization, campaigns, and women’s issues. The newsletters include original layouts, drafts, galley proofs, and published copies.

Events/Fundraisers: Includes documentation about special events, programs, and fundraisers. Includes announcements, attendance lists, programs, and correspondence.

Photographs: Includes photographs of events and programs.

Audio/Visual: Includes cassette tapes, LP recordings, reel-to-reel sound and audio, and VHS video of the Chicago chapter’s participation in events, programs, parades, and demonstrations.

Topical Files: Includes articles and news clippings about topics related to women’s equal rights, social, welfare, and health issues.

This series includes documentation on the State level organization of NOW. A significant portion of these documents reflects NOW involvement in the attempt to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA Central files include documentation regarding the Equal Rights Amendment lobbying and voter registration outreach for the State of Illinois. The Central files include documentation on various programs related to state and local branches of NOW working to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in 1976, as well as subsequent attempts, at the State Legislature in Springfield Illinois. ERA Central was responsible for overseeing the enforcement and support of ERA in the Midwest and was used as a model in other NOW regions. This series also includes administrative correspondence, other political action events and initiatives, as well as reports from the other NOW branches in Illinois.

The National NOW records reflect correspondence and documentation regarding the workings of the organization at the national level. It is clear that some files were created and used by Chicago NOW presidents and other leadership. A significant amount of material is related to NOW national level task forces, which focused on women’s political, health, and equality issues. The documents include correspondence, reports memos, and Task Force files related to specific campaigns. Of note in this series is Mary Jean Collins-Robson’s role as Coordinator of the National Task Forces.

This series contains documentation regarding the yearly NOW national convention as well as other conferences and workshops attended by Chicago NOW officers and staff. Some files include documentation regarding the planning and implementation of events and include correspondence with speakers, venue receipts and contracts, brochures and/or published programs, expense reports, and receipts.

Campaigns include press releases, clippings, memorandum, correspondence, meeting minutes and memos, and publications related to women’s issues. In some cases, the files are extremely detailed and may outline specific legal discrimination cases, complaints, business profiles, and corresponding rallies or demonstrations. Files may also include some Task Force and NOW leadership material when related to a specific cause or event. Of particular interest are the Chicago NOW activities related to equal public accommodation following the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Organizational Partnerships consists of documentation about the organization Women Employed. Ann Ladky, Chicago NOW Board Member, was a founding member of Women Employed and was named Director in 1985. The records here reflect her early involvement with Women Employed and the working partnership between Chicago NOW and Women Employed. This series also includes documentation about partnerships with other local organizations such as Illinois Commission on the State of Women, and Illinois Women’s Agenda.

The publications found in this series were collected by NOW officers and staff members that related to women’s welfare and social issues. Some of the publications found here are rare with short print runs. Documents include magazines, zines, news clippings, and individual articles. Of note are documents related to Spokeswoman Magazine, which includes research files, drafts, some correspondence regarding publications.

Ephemera include objects collected or produced by Chicago NOW during campaign demonstrations, parades, marches, and political campaigns. Material in this series includes banners, buttons, stickers, posters, t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.