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Picus (Joy) Collection
URB.JPC
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Joy Picus Collection
Creator:
Picus, Joy, 1973-1993
Identifier/Call Number: URB.JPC
Extent:
15.30 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1972-2001
Date (bulk): 1973-1993
Abstract: A native of Chicago, Joy Picus was the
first female member of the Los Angeles City Council from the San Fernando Valley. Elected to
the seat in 1977, during her four terms in office she worked on pay equity, childcare and
family leave, and environmental and educational issues. The collection documents these
efforts and also preserves: administrative records; materials from her election campaigns;
publicity, speeches, and news clippings; and publications and notes related to the
committees on which she served.
Language of Material: English
Joy Picus (née Newberger) was born on November 18, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. Her father
died shortly after she was born, and her mother, Daisy, supported the family by managing an
apartment complex. Picus graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1951 with a degree in
political science. Following completion of her degree, she returned to Chicago where she met
Gerald Picus, and the couple were married on March 9, 1952. In 1959, the Picus family moved
to California, where Gerald worked as a physicist for Hughes Aircraft. They raised three
children in Woodland Hills, where she served as community organizer and volunteer for
several organizations, among them the Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, the League of Women Voters,
the Association of University Women, the Jewish Federation Council, and the PTA.
Joy Picus was inspired to political activism after reading second wave feminist Betty
Friedan's
The Feminine Mystique, and carries the distinction of
being the first woman Los Angeles City council member from the San Fernando Valley. She ran
for the 3rd district seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1973, losing by 500 votes to
the incumbent, Don Lorenzen, but won with 57% of the vote in 1977. Her campaign had a strong
grassroots character, depending on volunteers to make calls and walk precincts in her
support, and relying on personal donors rather than corporate sponsors, particularly in the
early stages of her career. One of her major achievements was her successful effort to raise
wages for jobs with the city that were traditionally held by women. Picus accomplished this
goal without a strike or litigation, by working with the City of Los Angeles and the
American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. For this accomplishment,
Ms. Magazine honored her as one of twelve Women of the Year
in 1985.
Among Picus' most important achievements is her work with local police to sponsor
legislation aimed at making Lanark Park, which had been used as a base for drug dealers,
safe for the general public again. She also wrote child care policy for the city and
supported family leave for city employees. Environmental issues which she addressed during
her four terms included hazardous waste site clean up, household toxic waste disposal, city
recycling for apartments and condominiums, and the lack of sufficient park space in her
district. She considered education, especially for young women, to be an important issue;
she sponsored several related programs, including the Susan B. Anthony essay contest, which
supported high school girls' efforts to expand and reach their educational goals.
Picus' time in office was not without controversy. In 1979, she faced a recall sponsored
by Valley apartment owners, in response to her support for a temporary rent control
ordinance, but the recall failed due to a lack of petition signatures. Police and
firefighters' unions supported her opponent in the 1981 election due to her successful
efforts to eliminate city employees' pay for attending functions such as veteran's
conventions. Encino residents criticized her in 1987 for permitting the development of a
business park in the Sepulveda Basin, and in 1991, Warner Ridge Associates sued Picus and
two other council members and the city for the council's rezoning of property to block the
development of an office complex in Woodland Hills. Despite these challenges, Picus won
re-election three times. In 1993, she lost her seat on the council to her former employee
Laura Chick. Now retired, she and her husband currently live in Reseda, California, where
she continues to work as a community activist.
The
Joy Picus Collection documents Picus' five election
campaigns and her work as member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1977 to 1993. Contents
document her efforts to eliminate wage discrepancy between men and women working for the
City of Los Angeles, to provide childcare and family leave time for working parents, to help
students, especially young women, reach their educational goals, to control hazardous waste
and encourage recycling, and to increase park space in her district. Materials include
records of public appearances, promotional materials, maps, pamphlets, and audiovisual
materials. The collection has been divided into four major series:
Administrative Records (1978-1995),
Campaign Materials and
Election Results
(1973-1993),
Publicity and Memorabilia
(1972-1993) and
Issues, Committees, and Public Appearances
(1973-2001).
Series I,
Administrative Records, documents the financial and
administrative functions of Picus' office. Materials include budgets and check requisition
forms, expenses for and correspondence related to audits of Picus' campaigns, as well as the
audits themselves, tax returns, proposals and plans for city council redistricting,
registration forms and letters of support for her congressional candidacy, manuals for her
staff, newsletters to her constituents, notes for ethics commission meetings, and statements
of economic interest.
Series II,
Campaign Materials and Election Results, documents
Picus' five campaigns for election to the city council. Materials include research on her
opponents, polls conducted on her behalf, precinct maps, and election results. Also included
are invitations to fundraising parties and post-campaign celebrations, letters of
endorsement from individuals and interest groups, instructions to precinct walkers and phone
survey staff, door hangers, photographs of campaign appearances, letters of congratulation
and copies of her responses, and video of her 1989 inaugural ceremony. The files are
arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically within.
Series III,
Publicity and Memorabilia, consists mostly of
publicity during Picus' five campaigns and her time in office. Materials include newspaper
clippings, most of them from
The Los Angeles Times,
The Herald Examiner (Los Angeles), and
The Daily News (Van Nuys), transcripts of radio editorials, publicity photographs
and videotapes of appearances on local and national news shows. Memorabilia includes
promotional materials for citywide events which took place during her time on the city
council, as well as keepsakes and souvenirs from her offices. The files are arranged
alphabetically by subject and chronologically within.
Series IV,
Issues, Committees, and Public Appearances, includes
information gathered by Picus and her staff on issues important to her constituency, and
materials pertaining to committees dealing with those issues. Issues represented in this
series include childcare and leave policy for working parents, increasing park space in the
3
rd District, reclaiming public space from drug dealers,
public transportation, recycling and hazardous waste cleanup, pay equity, term limits, and
women in government. Materials related to these issues include drafts for and copies of
speeches, meeting notes by Picus and her staff, pamphlets, correspondence, newspaper
clippings, and video recordings and photographs of interviews. The files are arranged
alphabetically by subject and chronologically within.
Series I: Administrative Records, 1978-1995
Series II: Campaign Materials and Election Results, 1973-1993
Series III: Publicity, Promotional Materials, and Memorabilia, 1972-1993
Series IV: Issues, Committees, and Public Appearances, 1973-2001
Digital reproductions of selected items in this collection are available electronically as
a part of the
San Fernando Valley History Digital Library
.
This collection is open for research use.
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright
status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected
by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the
written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Joy Picus, 02/2010
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style
manual, or see the
Citing Archival
Materials
guide.
Philip Walsh, 2016
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents
Photographs