ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA

NORTH DAKOTA CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN RECORDS

COLLECTION: OGL #1005

DATES: 1971-1983

SIZE: 4 linear feet

INTRODUCTION

ACQUISITION: The North Dakota Chapter of the National Organization of Women Records was deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection by Carol Jean Larson, Bismarck, North Dakota, on January 4, 1985 (Acc.#85-1348). Additions were deposited by Carol Jean Larson, Bismarck, North Dakota, in June 1987 (Acc.#87-1522), and Diana Mauer, President of the Grand Forks NOW chapter, in January, 1991 (Acc.#91-1737).

ACCESS: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

OGL#289, North Dakota Coordinating Council for the Equal Rights Amendment Records
OGL#1308, National Abortion Rights Action League–ND Chapter Records

HISTORICAL SKETCH

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was established in 1966 in Washington, D.C., by women attending the Third National Conference of the Commission on the Status of Women. Among NOW's 28 founders was its first president, Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique (1963). The purpose of NOW, as stated at its organizing conference on October 29, 1966, was “to take action to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society now, exercising all the privileges and responsibilities thereof in truly equal partnership with men.” NOW has over 500,000 contributing members in all 50 states.

Efforts to establish a NOW chapter in North Dakota began in the early 1970s. Chapters in Grand Forks and Fargo were created by 1973, while Bismarck-Mandan was added in 1975. Other locations in North Dakota which have hosted chapters include: Bottineau, Dickinson, Devils Lake, Jamestown and Minot.

The North Dakota Chapter has been active concerning several issues, including: poverty, reproductive rights, affirmative action and Title IX, battered women, rape, and human rights. The North Dakota Chapter was also heavily involved with the successful passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in North Dakota in 1975.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The North Dakota Chapter of the National Organization for Women Records consist of correspondence, membership lists, by-laws, newspaper clippings, conference proceedings, financial information, and issues statements. The collection is divided into four series:

Series I: North Dakota NOW Council
Series II:Local NOW Chapters
Series III:NOW Regional Conferences
Series IV:National level–National Organization for Women

The material dates from 1972-1983.

The first addition to the North Dakota Chapter of the National Organization for Women Records contains correspondence, meeting minutes and informational material about various issues that the organization was concerned with, such as abortion, labor issues and others. The second addition consists of records for NOW at both the state and national level, including the constitution and by-laws, meeting minutes and the ND NOW Newsletter.

BOX AND FOLDER INVENTORY

Box 1

Series I: North Dakota NOW Council

Sub-series A: Records of the State Coordinator

Folder

1. Correspondence and minutes: 1973-1976
   
2. Correspondence and minutes: January 1977-October 1, 1977
   
3. Correspondence and minutes: October 10, 1977-February 16, 1978
   
4. Correspondence and minutes: February 17, 1978-May 1, 1978
   
5. Correspondence and minutes: May 5, 1978-May 31, 1978
   
6. Correspondence and minutes: August 1, 1978-October 29, 1978
   
7. Correspondence and minutes: November 9, 1978-January 26, 1979
   
8. Correspondence and minutes: February 2, 1979-April 20, 1979
   
9. Correspondence and minutes: April 21, 1979-December 31, 1979
   
10. Correspondence and minutes: January 22, 1980-September 4, 1980
    
11. Correspondence and minutes: September 5, 1980-August 28, 1981
    
12. Correspondence and minutes: August 29, 1981-November 13, 1981
    
13. Correspondence and miscellaneous: Fall 1982; January-March 1983
    
14. Membership lists: 1977-1980
    
15. Personal expense reimbursement forms: 1978-1981

Sub-series B: State Newsletter

16. State newsletter: 1975-1981

Sub-series C: NOW Issues

17. Displaced homemakers: 1970-1981
    
18. Women and poverty: 1975-1979
    
19. Human Rights Bill: 1977-June 10, 1978
    
20. Human Rights Bill: June 12, 1978-August 1978
    
21. Human Rights Bill: December 1978-1980
    
22. ERA and Rescission: 1972-1980
    
23. ERA extension: 1977-August 30, 1978
    
24. ERA literature: 1974-1981
    

1. Reproductive rights and the Human Life Amendment: 1977-1981
   
2. Reproductive rights and the Human Life Amendment: 1981
   
3. Compulsory pregnancy: 1979-1981

Sub-series D: Legislative Action

4. Bills, hearings and testimony: 1973-1979
   
5. Bills, hearings and testimony: January-March 1979
   
6. Surveys: 1979
   
7. Bills, hearings and testimony: 1980
   
8. Bills, hearings and testimony: 1980
   
9. Surveys, bills, hearings and testimony: 1981
   
10. Bills, hearings and testimony: 1981
    
11. Bills, hearings and testimony: 1981
    
12. Surveys and correspondence: 1982
    
13. Phone bank material: 1979-1983

Sub-series E: Media

14. Press releases: 1975-1979
    
15. Newspaper clippings: 1974-1981

Sub-series F: Other Organizations

16. North Dakota Commission on the Status of Women: 1976-1981
    
17. National Abortion Rights Action League: 1976, 1978-1979
    
18. North Dakota Centennial Advisory Council: 1978-1979
    
19. General miscellaneous: 1974-1979
    
20. General miscellaneous: 1979-1980

Sub-series G: Miscellaneous

21. Prairie poetry

Series II: Local NOW Chapters

22. Bismarck: 1974-1981
    
23. Bottineau: 1975-1978
    
24. Devils Lake: 1977-1980
    
25. Devils Lake: newspaper clippings, 1978
    
26. Devils Lake: newspaper clippings, 1979
    
27. Dickinson: 1972-1972, 1978
    
28. Fargo: 1971-1981
    
29. Grand Forks: 1972-1981

1. Jamestown: 1977-1981
   
2. Minot: 1975-1981
   
3. Valley City: 1978-1981

Series III: NOW Regional Conferences

4. Correspondence, minutes and agendas: 1973-1979
   
5. Correspondence, minutes and agendas: 1980-1981

Series IV: National Organization for Women

Sub-series A: Correspondence, conferences, literature and press releases

6. Correspondence, conferences, literature, and press releases: 1969-1975
   
7. Correspondence, conferences, literature, and press releases: 1975-1978
   
8. Correspondence, conferences, literature, and press releases: 1978-1979

1. Correspondence, conferences, literature, and press releases: 1979- October 1980
   
2. Correspondence, conferences, literature, and press releases: October 1980-July 1982

Sub-series B: NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund

3. Correspondence, literature and lawsuits: 1975-1978
   
4. Correspondence, literature and lawsuits: 1978-1979
   
5. Judge Callister case: 1979
   
6. Material from other states: Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, New York, Massachusetts

Box 5
Folder

1. ERA Correspondence and materials: 1975, 1981
   
2. Correspondence: 1972-1977
   
3. Correspondence: 1978
   
4. Correspondence: 1979
   
5. Correspondence: 1980
   
6. Correspondence: 1981
   
7. Midwest Regional correspondence: 1974-1981
   
8. Message Brigade: 1981
   
9. Chapter convening: 1981
   
10. Abortion: 1973-1981
    
11. Task Force on Reproductive Freedom: 1975-1980
    
12. Labor Task Force: 1980
    
13. State House Conference: 1980
    
14. Organizational information
    
15. Child custody and divorce: 1981
    
16. Feminism and religion
    
17. ERA and abortion legislative information: 1971-78
    
18. ERA
    
19. By-laws and platforms: 1978-1980
    
20. Court cases: 1978
    
21. National and Regional Board Meetings: 1974-1979
    
22. National and Regional Board Meetings: 1980-1981
    
23. State NOW budgets: 1976-1980
    
24. Abortion newspaper clippings: 1976-1978
    
25. ERA Utah Project: 1980-1981
    
26. Issues surrounding the 1981 National Conference
    
27. Fund-raising products: 1980
    
28. Legislative council: 1976

Box 6
Folder

1. NOW economic boycott campaign: 1978
   
2. NOW walkathon kit: June 1979
   
3. Miscellaneous NOW mailings
   
4. North Dakota NOW constitution and by-laws: 1978
   
5. Correspondence: 1978-1979
   
6. Meetings, agendas and reports: 1976-1980
   
7. ND NOW Newsletter: 1978-1979

Return to: Women's Organizational Records