Contributing Institution: Sacramento Public Library

Title: Guide to the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County Collection

Identifier/Call Number: MC 107

Physical Description: 5.5 Linear Feet 6 archival boxes

Date (inclusive): 1939-2017

Abstract: Contained are scrapbooks, meeting minutes, rosters, policy and position documents, published materials, newsletters, and photographs that reflect the functions and goals – from 1939 to 2019 – of the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County.

Language of Material: English .

From its origins in the early twentieth-century, the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County (LVWSC) has dedicated itself to promoting and defending the democratic process. In doing so, voter literacy/education, voter participation, and non-partisanship have all been foundational elements of the group's mission. Although the Sacramento LWVSC claims foundation in 1939, the group's first recorded meeting – facilitated by the Sacramento Women's Council – took place at the offices of the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce on April 5, 1924. Gladys B. Howe was the organization's first official president, holding that post from 1939 to 1940. The group incorporated in April 1965, expanded its representation to all of the Sacramento County in 2005, and gained 501(c)(3) status in July 2015. From its inception, notable positions of LWVSC focus, study, and education have been broadly divided into realms of 1) government; 2) human/resources and social policy; and 3) natural resources, which have been distilled historically into action on, for example, relief during the Great Depression, tax policy during World War II, the emergence of the United Nations, the merger of Sacramento city and county governments, fair housing in the Sacramento area, the advent of atomic power at Rancho Seco, campaign finance, the juvenile justice system, mass transit, charter revision, air quality and water use throughout the state of California.

[Identification of item], League of Women Voters of Sacramento County Collection, MC 107, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, California.

The collection has been arranged into eight primary series. Series I: Scrapbooks; Series II: Sacramento Voter newsletter; Series III: Photographs and Newspaper Clippings; Series IV: Meeting Documents; Series V: Administrative Documents; Series VI: Published Documents Regarding Voter Education; Series VII: Position Documents; and Series VIII: Recognition. Not all serial items - newsletters, annual rosters, annual reports - are held in complete runs.

All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Sacramento Public Library must be submitted in writing to sacroom@saclibrary.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Sacramento Public Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.