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Guide to the League of Women Voters of Durham (N.C.) Papers, 1947-1991

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Descriptive Summary

Title
League of Women Voters of Durham (N.C.) Papers, 1947-1991
Creator
League of Women Voters of Durham (LWVD)
Extent
7.9 Linear Feet
4,300 Items
Repository
Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Language
English.
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Administrative Information

Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
copyright interests in the papers of the League of Women Voters of Durham (N.C.) have not been transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], League of Women Voters of Durham (N.C.) Papers, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The bulk of the papers of the League of Women Voters of Durham (N.C.) was acquired by the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library of Duke University as a gift from the League after ceasing operations in 1991. This donation followed the gift of a small collection of League papers from Dr. I.B. Holley of the Duke University History Department in 1975.
Processing Information
Processed by: Ian K. Lekus
Completed February 2, 1997
Encoded by Stephen D. Miller
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
The League papers included several scrapbooks, primarily consisting of newspaper clippings. Those clippings have been photocopied and are housed in the Scrapbook section of the Clippings Series. For that section, care should be taken by researchers to maintain the order of the clippings in those folders, which maintain the original order of scrapbook pages.
Board minutes, bulletins, financial records (particularly monthly treasurer's reports in the 1970s and 1980s), issue briefings and other papers were sometimes stapled together and sometimes kept unstapled in looseleaf binders before coming to the Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library. Researchers unable to find financial records, political materials, or other papers for a given date are advised to check the Board minutes and bulletins for that date, where they may be housed.
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Collection Overview

The papers of the League of Women Voters of Durham (LWVD) span the dates 1947-1991, with three main clusters of records: the mid-to-late 1950s, the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the late 1970s through the middle of the 1980s. The papers consist chiefly of newsletters, minutes of the Board and other meetings, administrative and financial records, publicity materials, newspaper clippings, and information related to the political work of the League. Most of the papers address the work of the Durham League, which was founded in 1946 and ceased operations in 1991. Scattered records document the activities of the League of Women Voters of North Carolina (LWVNC).
The League is best known as a non-partisan organization sponsoring voter registration and candidates' forums, and those activities are well-documented here. In addition, League members held meetings to discuss a broad range of other social and political issues, and from those debates formulated positions which the chapter lobbied for in the media and through various political channels. The issues discussed in depth and documented in the collection include school desegregation; the merger of the Durham city and county school systems; local bond issues; the Equal Rights Amendment; foreign trade; diplomatic relations between the United States and China; water and air quality; solid and toxic waste; and reproductive rights. The papers include some correspondence with local, state, and federal officials regarding these and other issues; however, correspondence in general comprises a small portion of the collection.
The papers document the League activities of various Durham women who became prominent in local and state politics. The papers also provide a window into racial politics in Durham, in particular through debates over school desegregation and the proposed merger of the city and county school systems. Voter registration materials and correspondence also shed light on this subject, including a few letters the League received condemning its attempts to register supposedly uneducated African Americans.
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Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
List of Series in Collection
Bulletins and Newsletters Series, 1951-1991
Office Series, 1952-1991
Political Series, 1947-1991
Clippings Series, 1953-1991
Oversize Material
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Detailed Description of Collection

Bulletins and Newsletters Series, 1951-1991

Chiefly the bulletins of the LWVD. Also includes scattered newsletters published by the LWVNC and materials relating to publishing the Durham bulletin.
Box 1

Durham, 1953-1991
  (15 folders)

North Carolina:
The Tarheel Voter, 1951-1974   (3 folders)
The North Carolina Voter, 1984
Assembly Assignment, 1969-1973

General, 1975-1982

Office Series, 1952-1991

General records pertaining to the operations of the League of Women Voters.
The administrative subseries includes annual reports, minutes of annual meetings, minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors and the general membership, a list of presidents of the League, membership and officer records, bylaws and procedures, general League information, and other non-financial business records. The subseries also includes a scrapbook League members made to commemorate its victory in a local "Ugly Office" contest, as well as scattered papers of the League of Women Voters of North Carolina.
The financial subseries includes monthly treasurer's reports of League income and expenditures, annual financial reports and audits, notes and reports of the Finance and Budget Committees, records of League finance drives, ledgers, and scattered other paperwork documenting the financial affairs of the League.
The personal subseries consists of clippings, speeches, correspondence, press releases, and other materials spotlighting the activities of individual League members.
The photographs subseries consists of reprints of photographs of League members and events. Some photographs were taken by League members, while others are reprints of photographs originally appearing in Durham newspapers.
The publicity subseries includes meeting notes, pamphlets, speeches, and other materials publicizing the LWVD. For materials documenting work publicizing voter registration and other League activities, see the Political Series: Publicity Subseries.
Box 1

Administrative: Board minutes, 1954-1969
  (7 folders)
Box 2

Administrative:
Board minutes, 1970-1990   (10 folders)
Annual meetings and reports, 1954-1990   (3 folders)
Annual meetings: Photographs, 1986
Annual reports filed with LWVUS, 1968-1987
Board policies and guidelines, 1966-1981
Bylaws, 1952-1987
Calendars, 1973-1982
Copyrights, 1976-1977
Correspondence, 1964-1974
Evaluation,1977
General meeting minutes, 1954-1971   (2 folders)
History: Presidents' list, 1982
LWVD:
General information,1940s-1980s
Policies, 1980-1981
League of Women Voters of North Carolina, 1965-1991
Meetings: Miscellaneous, 1963-1991
Membership:
Officers, 1954-1991
Board program and calendar information, 1967-1978
Lists, 1953-1991   (2 folders)
Information forms, 1985-1988
General, undated
Miscellaneous,1954
State convention speeches,1973, 1985
Ugly Office Contest scrapbook, 1980-1981
Box 3

Financial: (See processing note)
Annual report, 1956-1957
Audits, 1967-1976   (2 folders)
Budget Committee notes, 1978-1982
Correspondence, 1958-1959
Education Fund, 1972-1989
Finance Committee report,1957, 1977   (2 folders)
Finance Committee notes and reports, 1987-1988
Finance Drive, 1968-1991, undated   (11 folders)
Ledger, 1979-1983(See also Oversize Material)   (2 folders)
LWV visa card: Memos and reports, 1989-1990
Box 3
LWVNC memoranda, 1980-1982
Per-member payment policies and records, 1979-1991
Task forces on toxic waste, 1979-1981
Treasurer's reports:
Budgets, 1954-1991(17)
Memoranda, 1981-1989

Personal:
Bell, Marilyn Bryant, 1984
Bradley, Gail, 1972-1982
Grant, Elizabeth, 1983
Meyer, Ruth Mary, 1979
McCreary, Margaret Jane, 1984
Ohlson, Grace, 1983

Photographs:
Durham Street Arts Celebration: Voter registration booth, 1982-1983
Eno River Festival registration, undated
Luncheon, undated
Meeting of old and new board members: 1620 University Dr., 1983, Apr. 21
Newspaper photographs, 1954-1984, undated

Publicity:
50th Anniversary LWVD profile,1969
Membership recruitment, 1977-1990
Pamphlets, 1967-1990, undated
Planning and reports, 1957-1983
Press releases, 1967-1968
Speeches about LWVD, 1975-1982, undated

Political Series, 1947-1991

The series consists of briefings and reports, correspondence, clippings, memoranda, position statements, planning notes, publicity materials advertising community forums sponsored by the League, and other papers documenting local, state, national, and international issues which the League took up for debate. The League maintained a strict policy of non-partisanship in local elections, and regularly sponsored candidates' forums and solicited candidates' answers to questions of local importance, answers reprinted in the Durham newspapers. However, the League's non-partisanship did not prevent it from taking stands on various issues (as distinct from backing candidates). Once League members reached consensus on an issue through extended study and debate, they frequently took vocal stands in support of their positions, including support for school desegregation in compliance with Brown v. Board of Education,free speech rights, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and legislation protecting the environment.
The series is organized into subseries according to the LWVNC program: Human Resources (education, the ERA, housing, social services), Natural Resources (planning and protection of air, land, and water resources), Government (procedural matters in government), Voters Services (registration, candidate questionnaires and forums, precint reporting), and General (primarily local and international issues not fitting into the state program).

The correspondence subseries consists of scattered letters documenting issues not covered in the above subseries.
The publicity subseries includes press releases and other materials pertaining to radio, television, and newspaper coverage of League activities.
Box 4

Human Resources:
Education:
Competency test, 1978-1979
Drop-out Prevention programs, 1977
Durham School System merger,1950s-1990   (4 folders)
Financing, bond issues, budgets, 1964-1982, undated
General, 1953-1987, undated   (4 folders)
North Carolina education system reports, 1967-1968
Publications, 1967-1978
Reading, 1975-1978
Textbooks,1974
Equal Rights Amendment, 1973-1982
General, 1966-1975
Health Care, 1967
Housing: Durham study,1971
International Women's Year, 1975-1977
Title XX (Social Services), 1975-1976

Natural Resources:
Acid Rain Foundation, 1981-1982
Clean Air legislation, 1976-1984
Durham Quality of Life Survey, 1974
Energy, 1977-1979
General,1981
Land Use: Policy and planning, 1971-1985, undated
Solid Waste: Bottle Bill, 1973-1977
Box 4
Solid Waste Management, 1983
Toxic Waste: Task Forces on Toxic Waste, 1979-1982
Utility companies, 1979-1985, undated
Water and Sewer Facilities, 1963-1974
Water Quality: Region 208 Project, 1976-1978
Water quality, waste and sewage, 1981-1984
Water resources, 1959
Watershed protection, 1984-1990

Government:
Gubernatorial veto, 1990
Gubernatorial succession, 1977
Reproductive Rights: Concurrence, 1982
Box 5

Voters Services:
Candidates forums, 1964-1990   (3 folders)
Candidate questionnaires, 1952-1989   (3 folders)
Legislative breakfasts, 1975-1989, undated   (3 folders)
Library registration, 1975-1976
News releases, 1981-1983
Photographs: Parade, 1956
Precinct reporting, 1980s
President's coffee, 1981-1989
Publications, 1966-1980s
Registration, 1972-1984, undated
Reports, 1957-1982
Women's Vote Project, 1984-1985(See also Oversize Material)

General:
Action Committee: Reports and correspondence, 1980-1985
Campaign Finance Reform, 1974
Court watchers, undated
Durham Bond Campaign, 1990
Durham committers, 1960s
Durham Library, 1963-1980, undated
Durham property values, 1956
Durham roads, 1953
Foreign trade, 1950s
The Government story, 1969-1970
"Here is Durham" brochure, 1954-1979
League of Women Voters of North Carolina, 1953-1996
Meeting announcements: Miscellaneous, 1957-1988, undated
Box 5
Miscellaneous,1950s
Monitor programs,1977, 1983
Panama Canal Treaty, 1978-1979
Position statements, 1981-1990
Program:
1947-1983
Newsletter inserts, 1961-1969
Speakers bureau, 1956
State tax study, 1968-1985, undated
Talent bank, 1979
UNICEF program, 1963-1983
Valentine, Tim: Interviews, 1983-1985
Women's Equality Day, 1990

Correspondence, 1955-1984

Publicity:
Television,1957, undated
Radio, 1956-1968, undated
Newspaper and press releases, 1953-1962, undated
Press releases, 1967-1968
Press releases and related information, 1970-1972
Voter information, 1977-1979
Voter registration, 1971-1972

Clippings Series, 1953-1991

The series consists of photocopies made from League scrapbooks and from loose newspaper clippings collected by League members. Most of the clippings are of articles appearing in the Durham Morning Herald and the Durham Sun.
Box 6

Scrapbook, 1954-1973
  (7 folders)

1953-1991
  (7 folders)
Ovsz. Box 132

Oversize Material


Office Series: Financial: Ledger: Cash: misc.,1977-78 - 1981-82

Office Series: Financial: Ledger: Cash Disbursements,1982-83 - 1986-87

Office Series: Financial: Ledger: Cash Receipts,1982-83 - 1986-87

Political Series: Women's Vote Project,1984