Guide to the National Organization for Women (NOW) Newsletters, 1968-2003 AIS.2015.10
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
National Organization for Women (NOW) Newsletters
Creator
National Organization for Women
Collection Number
AIS.2015.10
Extent
2.5 Linear Feet(2 record center boxes)
Date
1968-2003
Abstract
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is a grassroots activist women's organization that operates on national, state, regional, and local levels. This collection is comprised mainly of newsletters and flyers from various Pittsburgh Area NOW chapters, primarily from the 1970s. It also includes sporadic newsletter issues from Texas, California, Ohio, Washington D.C., Illinois, and other locations.
Language
English
.
Author
Brianna Facciani
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Preferred Citation
National Organization for Women (NOW) Newsletters, 1968-2003, AIS.2015.10, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Scope and Content Notes
The National Organization for Women (NOW) Newsletters Collection consists of pamphlets, flyers, and newsletters from national, state, regional, and local chapters. The collection's materials detail and provide the organization's mission statements, meeting minutes, electoral processes, legal proceedings, and mass actions regarding women's rights and the Equal Rights Act (ERA), predominately from the Western Pennsylvania area. At regional levels, the following areas of note are included: Southwestern Pennsylvania, Joint Pittsburgh Area, Greater Pittsburgh Area. At neighborhood levels, the following areas of note are included: South Hills, North Hills, Squirrel Hill, McKeesport, East End, Lawrenceville, Oakland. More newsletters, programs, and publications from Texas, California, Ohio, Washington D.C., Illinois, and other locations are also included in the collection.
The Archives of Industrial Society (AIS) had an existing group of Pittsburgh area NOW newsletters that had been collected by various sources, including from Dr. Carolyn Schumacher. In 2015, with growing interest in the newsletter, it was decided to remove the sporadic issues of Pittsburgh area NOW newsletters from JoAnn Evansgardner and Gerald H. F. Gardner Papers (AIS.2001.09), Jean Witter Papers (AIS.2008.06), and Gerald Blum Papers, (AIS.2005.14), to combine them with the existing AIS collection and process them as a single group.
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
History
Founded on June 30, 1966 by a group of women attending the Third National Conference of the Commission on the Status of Women in Washington, D.C., the National Organization for Women's (NOW) main premise was to eliminate discrimination based on sex in all institutions, including schools, the justice system, and the workplace. Within three years, the organization began to change the workforce as we now know it; the organization moved to "de-sexigrate" the Help Wanted sections of New York City newspapers, including the New York Times, in 1967. In 1968, Shirley Chisholm, a member of NOW, became the first Black woman elected to the House of Representatives. And by 1969, Sylvia Roberts, an attorney for NOW, successfully argued the first sex discrimination case appealed under Title VII, which changed the weight limitation rule for women in the workforce.
The organization quickly grew in the 1970s and broadened its ideology to include other women's issues, such as violence against women, reproductive rights, childcare, and representation of women in positions of power. It has also adopted an intersectional approach to equality and justice by working to eradicate racism, sexism, homophobia, and to protect immigrant rights. NOW has numerous chapters and supporters in all 50 states and uses marches, peaceful protests, and lawsuits to enact their stances on social change and reforms for women.
Pittsburgh was a hub of NOW activity, with many chapters established in individual neighborhoods. The first Pittsburgh NOW, founded in 1967 by Wilma Scott Heide, was the third chapter of NOW founded in the United States. JoAnn Evansgardner, who grew up in Hazelwood, and her husband Gerald Gardner were active members of NOW starting in 1968. Gardner served as Director and Treasurer of the First Pittsburgh Chapter, while Evansgardner worked on the National Board of NOW as an Eastern Regional Co-Director. Jean Witter, a lawyer raised in the South Hills, also influenced the NOW movement in Pittsburgh by becoming one of the first presidents of the Pittsburgh Chapter and dedicating her time to the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Gerald Blum, who joined NOW because of his interest in the role of male feminists, was an active participant in the South Hills Chapter.
Arrangement
This collection is divided into two series:
Series I. Pittsburgh Regional Chapters
Series II. NOW Publications from outside Western Pennsylvania
Acquisition Information
Collection was consolidated from other archival collections containing NOW publications. The following collections had NOW publications removed and organized into AIS 2015.10:
Jean Witter Papers, 1953-2007, AIS.2008.06, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Gerald Blum Papers, 1971-2003, AIS.2005.14, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
JoAnn Evansgardner and Gerald H.F. Gardner Papers, 1965-1991, AIS.2001.09, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Related Collections
Gerald Blum Papers, 1971-2003, AIS.2005.14, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Susanna Downie Papers, 1972-1990, AIS.1991.23, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
JoAnn Evansgardner and Gerald H.F. Gardner Papers, 1965-1991, AIS.2001.09, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Carolyn S. Schumacher Papers, 1883-2008, AIS.2011.09, Archives Service Center, University of Pittsburgh
Rosemary Trump Papers, 1950-2005, AIS.2005.04, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Jean Witter Papers, 1953-2007, AIS.2008.06, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Brianna Facciani in March 2021.
Subjects
Corporate Names
National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women. Pittsburgh Chapter
