Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia© 2013 By The Library of Virginia. All Rights Reserved.
Processed by: Jessica Tyree
Accessing audiovisual materials may require special accomodations. Please contact Archives staff in advance to make arrangements to view or listen to these recordings.
There are no restrictions.
Virginia Chapter of the National Organization for Women Records, 1971-2004, 2011. Accession 43458. Organization records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.
Gift of Virginia NOW, 18 September 2007 (43458).
Gift of Virginia NOW, 15 December 2008 (44064).
Gift of Virginia NOW, 20 September 2011 (50175).
(Preceding three gifts care of Lee Perkins, Alexandria.)
Gift of Georgia Fuller, 20 March 2014 (51266).
All four accessions are filed jointly under Acc. 43458.
According to its website, the mission of the Virginia Chapter of the National Organization for Women (Virginia NOW) is to bring women economic, legal, social, and personal equality in all areas of life across Virginia, through programs and activities that promote the vision of a feminist future. The Virginia NOW Political Action Committee expands women's participation in Virginia politics and civil life through direct political work with feminist candidates, both male and female, for office.
Records, 1971-2004, 2011, of the Virginia Chapter of the National Organization for Women (Virginia NOW) include subject files on abortion and the Equal Rights Amendment, various administrative and general files, papers collected on numerous issues of interest to the organization, Virginia NOW Political Action Committee files, newsletters, local chapter files, and audiovisual materials. Many records of the national organization are found amongst these papers. Also included are records from the Texas Chapter, donated by Frances M. Hicks, who continued her involvement with NOW by joining the Virginia Chapter after moving to the state from Texas.
This collection is arranged into the following series:
Series I. Virginia NOW records Series II. Newsletters and local chapter files Series III. Frances Hicks papers Series IV. Audiovisual materials and ephemeraThis series illuminates the focus and activities of the Virginia National Organization for Women (Virginia NOW) through a range of files. Administrative and general files show the operation of the organization through documents including handbooks, correspondence, tax documents, State Council and Executive Committee records, committee files, fundraising files, and membership poll results. Subject files cover topics such as abortion, the Equal Rights Amendment, miscellaneous issues of interest to the organization (divided by year), and state conferences. Also included are clippings and Virginia NOW Political Action Committee files.
Includes an introductory handbook to the National Organization for Women (apparently produced by the Capitol Hill Chapter), listing its national board, task forces, by-laws, and accomplishments of the group from 1966-1973.
In part consists of various letters and other documents pertaining to controversy over a vote, taken at the National Board meeting on 5-6 June 1976, to invalidate the Southern Regional Conference, held that April 24-25.
Includes a copy of "The First Women's State of the Union Address, " delivered by Karen DeCrow, president of the National Organization for Women.
Includes documents pertaining to the formal incorporation of Virginia NOW under 501(c)(4) tax exempt status.
Includes manual entitled "NOW Guidelines for Feminist Consciousness-Raising. "
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business.
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business, and Virginia NOW's 3 March 1985 "Women In Aviation" brunch.
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business, and Virginia NOW's 2 March 1986 "Women in the Arts" brunch.
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business, and Virginia NOW's 1 March 1987 "Women in the Law" brunch.
A series of files pertaining to the work of the Virginia NOW Employment Committee (also referred to as the Personnel Committee), chiefly focused on rules and guidelines for hiring, supervising, and terminating employment of the Virginia NOW Staff Person, along with documentation of the performance of the person who held that position during this time period.
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business, Virginia NOW's 24 April 1988 "Women in Politics" brunch, fundraising, and membership recruitment. Includes copies of the Virginia NOW Canvassing Manual.
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business.
Fundraising files.
Membership polls.
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business, Virginia NOW's 31 March 1990 "Women in the Arts" dinner, and leadership and chapter development.
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business.
Files documenting problems with the Virginia NOW co-Legislative Coordinator, and attempts to bring about her removal from office.
Files documenting Virginia NOW's work with an outside consultant on the topic of organizational development.
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business, including financial reports. Also includes a copy of the August 1991 "Virginia NOW Administrative Manual " and the September 1991 "Virginia NOW Policy Manual. "
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business, financial reports, and other matters. Also includes two drafts of a 1992 update to the "Virginia NOW Policy Manual. "
Consists in large part of papers related to State Council and Executive Committee business.
Includes a copy of the 1994-1995 edition of the "Virginia NOW Policy Manual. "
Files for this time period are minimal, and miscellaneous in nature.
Scattered files related to Take Back the Night events around Virginia.
Files for this time period are minimal, and miscellaneous in nature. Includes a small sample of State Council documentation from 2003, and a copy of the "Student Action Committee Organizing Handbook, " produced by the Pennsylvania NOW Education Fund in 1998.
Program and fliers for the NOW Mid-Atlantic Feminist Festival and Conference, held in Norfolk.
Program, fliers, and other papers related to the Second Annual Mid-Atlantic Feminist Festival (held in Virginia Beach), which also served as that year's Virginia NOW Annual Conference.
A handful of miscellaneous papers, undated but likely created in the 1970's and 1980's. Includes a flier entitled "Why Feminists Want Child Care, " another entitled "Help De-Sexigrate the Jaycees, " and a sexuality survey produced by the New York City Chapter of NOW.
Topics include women's health, aging, the availability of credit to women, and sex-role stereotypes in textbooks used in the Lincoln, Nebraska, public school system (a study produced by the Lincoln chapter of NOW). Also includes a transcript of Betty Friedan's "Feminist Community Press Conference, " given in New York City on 7 March 1973, and a copy of a bill (H.R. 4034) presented to the U.S. House of Representatives to carry out the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Women's Rights and Responsibilities.
Topics include the work of the NOW Women and Arts Task Force, and efforts to have Susan B. Anthony's birthday made a national holiday.
Topics include rape and sexual assault, violent pornography, the legal rights of women in marriage and divorce, and the United Nations Conference on Women, held in Mexico City.
Topics include homosexual rights, marital rape, venereal disease, the availability of credit to women, the status of the women's movement, and the International Women's Year Conference in Virginia. Includes newsletters from the Women's Division of the State of New York and the Washington (D.C.) Area Feminist Federal Credit Union,
Topics include the implications of "flexitime " for working women. Also includes a copy of "De-Mystifying 'The Lavender Menace ': A NOW Primer on Lesbian-Baiting, " published by the NOW National Task Force on Sexuality and Lesbianism, and a booklet entitled "Women In Politics, " produced by the Women's Program, Office of Equal Opportunity, Smithsonian Institution.
Topics include sex role stereotypes in the television industry, and minority participation in government.
Topics include the treatment of women under the social security system. Also includes a file on a woman who filed a complaint of sex discrimination against the Staunton Correctional Center, with whom she was employed as a correctional officer, and another on a woman seeking legal aid in a divorce case.
Topics include a class action suit dealing with sex discrimination in hiring by federal highway construction contractors, opposition to reinstatement of the draft, and the White House Conference on Families.
Topics include lesbianism and lesbian rights, equal pay, and labor unionization.
Topics include female prisoners of conscience in foreign countries,
Topics include a woman's rights in a divorce case, an all-male political "roast" in Virginia Beach featuring female exotic dancers, and reform of sexual assault law.
Topics include a female employee's claims of offenses including sex and age discrimination, wrongful termination, and violation of the Equal Pay Act against Air France.
Topics include spousal support, and the case of a woman jailed for contempt of court when she refused the reveal her daughter's whereabouts, in an effort to protect her from the father accused of raping her.
Topics include a sex discrimination suit filed by employees of the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, sex discrimination litigation against the Virginia Military Institute, the Supreme Court nomination of Judge David Souter, fair housing, the Virginia Test Bias Advisory Committee, child sexual assault, domestic violence, and interest by some in NOW to start a third political party.
Topics include the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Clarence Thomas, and domestic violence.
Topics include workforce diversity, attempts by another group to ban a gay newspaper from the Fairfax County Library system, Virginia women in history,
Topics include nuclear weapons and public housing for senior citizens. Also includes literature from the Draft and Military Project.
Topics include domestic violence, education, and mentally disabled citizens.
Topics include abuse against women by military personnel and body image. Also includes packets from a National Association of Commissions for Women legislative briefing on "Women and the 106th Congress" and a briefing of the same group by the White House's Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach on "Supporting Women and Families: President Clinton's Accomplishments and Agenda."
Topics include domestic violence and sexual assault, discrimination against female employees of Wal-Mart, human rights issues, and poverty.
Includes alerts and lobbying strategies regarding abortion rights, and copies of statements made by NOW representatives on the topics of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the nomination of Judge John Paul Stevens to the Supreme Court.
The Virginia NOW PAC was established in 1979.
Includes two drafts of the "Virginia NOW Political Action Committee (PAC) Guide for Activists ".
Includes copy of the "Official PAC Manual, " revised February 1990.
Includes copy of the "Virginia NOW Political Action Committee (PAC) Guide for Activists, " September 1993 update/revision.
Includes copy of the "Virginia NOW Legislative Action Guide to the Virginia General Assembly, " June 1994 update.
Program, fliers, and other papers related to the Second Annual Mid-Atlantic Feminist Festival (held in Virginia Beach), which also served as that year's Virginia NOW State Conference.
Six CD-ROMs containing scans of miscellaneous NOW records, including but not limited to photographs, fliers, newsletters, correspondence, canvassing and lobbying materials, and newspaper clippings. Scans provided by Virginia NOW member Lee Perkins of Alexandria.
Newsletters and local chapter files represent the work of the many Virginia NOW chapters throughout Virginia, established in various cities, regions, and colleges and universities. Several national-level NOW publications are also included in this series.
Issues of the "Alexandria NOW Newsletter " (1991-1994) and later the "Chapter News " newsletter (1996-2001, which covered the Alexandria, Arlington, Northern Virginia, and Prince William County chapters (but only the Alexandria, Arlington, and Northern Virginia chapters from the September/October 1999 issue forward).
Binder (deconstructed) containing newspaper clippings, photographs, correspondence, and other material related to the chapter.
A second binder (deconstructed) containing various records of the chapter along with literature from Virginia and National NOW.
Includes copies of the chapter's "Arlington NOW Newsbreaks " newsletter. See also Alexandria chapter newsletter file, as Arlington was included in the joint newsletter "Chapter News ".
Mock-up and final, printed booklet entitled "What Do You Say, Sister? " produced by the Charlotesville NOW Task Force on the Image of Women in response to a guest editorial in the Washington Post in which the writer wished for a book giving responses for sexist remarks.
Issues of the chapter's "Charlottesville NOW " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "Charlottesville NOW " newsletter.
Includes issues of the chapter's "Dulles Area NOW News " newsletter.
Includes issues of the chapter's "Fredericksburg Area NOW " (1980-1983) and "NOW in the Fredericksburg Area " (1989) newsletters.
Includes copies of the chapter's "Harrisonburg-Rockingham NOW " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOWadays " newsletter.
Includes issues of the chapter's "Viewpoints " newsletter.
Includes issues of the chapter's "Viewpoints " newsletter.
Includes issues of the chapter's "Viewpoints " newsletter.
Issues of the Northern Virginia chapter newsletter in its early, unnamed form, and later under the title "Equal Times. "
Issues of the chapter's "Equal Times " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "Equal Times " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "Equal Times " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOVA NOW " and "Northern Virginia NOW " newsletters.
Includes issues of Prince William County and Western Prince William County NOW newsletters, 1975-1976 (folder 9).
Issues of the chapter's "NOW & Then Times " newsletter.
Includes issues of the unnamed Richmond NOW newsletter.
Includes issues of the chapter's "Moving, " newsletter.
Includes issues of the chapter's "Equal Times " newsletter.
Includes issues of the chapter's "Valley Voice " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOW or Never " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOW or Never " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOW or Never " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOW or Never " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOW or Never " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOW or Never " newsletter.
Issues of the chapter's "NOW or Never, ""Here and NOW ", and "NOW and Again " newsletters.
Issues of the chapter's "Here and NOW, ""NOW is the Time, " and "The Time is NOW " newsletters.
Includes issues of the chapter's untitled newsletter, 1983-1984.
Papers contributed by Virginia NOW member Frances M. Hicks, mostly reflecting her earlier participation in NOW while living in Texas. Hicks is a retired professor of Sociology and Public Policy.
Poster advertising "A Fact-Finding Discussion Concerning the Texas Equal Rights Amendment, " given by Frances Hicks on July 21 of an unnamed year. (Barcode 0007431780)
NOTE: Accessing audiovisual materials may require special accomodations. Please contact Archives staff in advance to make arrangements to view or listen to these recordings.
VHS tape.
VHS tape.
VHS tape. Run time: 45 minutes, 28 seconds.
Four audio cassette tapes, with the sides labeled 1-8.
Chain and lock, one of about twenty used in "actions" at the Republican National Committee headquarters on 26 August 1980, the White House on 26 August 1981, and the Mormon Temple in Kensington, Maryland, on 9 January 1982.
T-shirts from the E.R.A. March on Washington, 9 July 1978, and a 1982 Take Back the Night event in Tidewater, Virginia, where Georgia Fuller was the main speaker; a "legal observer" arm band worn at various "actions," 1981-1982; clothes worn by Georgia Fuller when she was arrested on 26 August 1981; and a tri-color banner with no words.
Audio cassette tape.
VHS tape. Run time: 60 minutes.
VHS tape.
VHS tape.
VHS tape.
VHS tape. Run time: 17 minutes, 27 seconds.
VHS tape. Run time: 12 minutes, plus 2 minute trailer.
VHS tape, recorded from television.
VHS tape. Run time: 14 minutes, 40 seconds.
VHS tape. Run time: 13 minutes, 49 seconds.
VHS tape. Run time: 24 minutes.
VHS tape.
Audio cassette tape.
VHS tape. Two copies.
Five pinback buttons with the following messages: "Re-Elect Arlie Scott Vice President-Action," "Sharon Parker for Secretary NOW," "NOW is the time for St. Paul (see you in '81)," and "Crater for Lt. Governor" (2 copies).
Twenty-one pinback buttons from the personal collection of Georgia Fuller featuring pro-E.R.A., pro-choice, and pro-woman messages, among others, and marking various events (March for Women's Lives, 9 March 1986; Women's Fast for Justice, Springfield, 1982; March Again for Equal Rights, 26 August 1977; etc.).
Audio cassette tape.
VHS tape. Run time: 10 minutes. Two copies.
VHS tape. Run time: 30 seconds for each PSA (one entitled "Affirmative Action, " the other "Violence Against Women "). Two copies.
VHS tape.
VHS tape.
VHS tape. Two copies.
Audio cassette tape. Run time: 30 seconds.
Two audio cassette tapes, labeled Tape 1 and Tape 2.
Audio cassette tape.