Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Guide to the League of Women Voters of Orange County Records
MS.R.088
MS.R.088
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: League of Women Voters of Orange County records
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.088
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
22.9 Linear feet
(17 boxes and 2 oversized folders) and 5.4 unprocessed linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1957-2005
Abstract: The League of Women Voters of Orange County (LWVOC), California is a nonpartisan organization committed to educating the public
about elections, the voting process, and political and social issues. This collection comprises the records of the LWVOC beginning
with 1957. It contains the records of the LWVOC Inter-League Organization and its four chapters, Capistrano Bay, North Orange
County, Central Orange County Area, and Orange Coast. It documents league activities and reflects the concerns of the league
and the Orange County community, including environmental issues, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and Orange County's
bankruptcy in the 1990s.
Creator:
League of Women Voters of Orange County (Orange County, Calif.).
The collection is open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Copy rights are retained by the creators of the records and their
heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
League of Women Voters of Orange County Records. MS-R088. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine,
California.
Gift of Joan Cohen, Patricia Harrigan, Carol Kirkwood, and Beverly Toy, 2001, 2005, 2007.
Accruals are expected.
Processed by Karen Rosen, 2002. Finding aid completed by Andre Ambrus, 2005. Revisions by Cyndi Shein, 2008.
The League of Women Voters of Orange County (LWVOC), California is a grassroots organization that encourages citizens to actively
participate in government. It is open to both men and women and is committed to educating the public about elections, the
voting process, and social and political issues. The LWVOC conducts studies on issues of public concern, develops a position
on each issue, and then takes action on the issue or advocates for a cause.
The LWVOC traces its roots to the formation of the California Civic League in 1911, following the success of the campaign
to allow women the right to vote. The League of Women Voters (LWV) was first proposed by Suffragist movement leader Carrie
Chapman Catt at a convention of the National Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1917. It was conceived of as a nonpartisan,
nonsectarian organization with representation from every state. Its chief aims were to provide international support for woman
suffrage, to watch over state legislatures to prevent legal discrimination on the basis of sex, and to strive to make American
democratic institutions fair for all those governed by them. Following the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, Catt
suggested the reorganization of the two million-strong NAWSA into the LWV, an organization that would work for progressive
legislation on a national and local level.
In 1921 Catt convinced the California Civic League to merge with the LWV when they adopted the name California Civic League
of Women Voters. In 1946 the name was changed to the League of Women Voters of California. In the beginning the LWV California
was comprised of local leagues that belonged to either the northern or southern section. By 1963 the LWV California was comprised
of many area and county leagues. The LWVOC is an Inter-League Organization (ILO) comprised of four local chapters: Capistrano
Bay, Central Orange County, North Orange County, and Orange Coast.
League of Women Voters of Orange County. "About the League." League of Women Voters of Orange County, an Inter-League Organization,
California.
http://ocilo.ca.lwvnet.org/about.html (accessed April 24, 2007).
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises the records of the League of Women Voters of Orange County (LWVOC), California beginning with 1957.
It contains records of the LWVOC Inter-League Organization (ILO) and its four chapters, Capistrano Bay, North Orange County,
Central Orange County Area, and Orange Coast. Materials include articles of incorporation and by-laws, league publications,
meeting minutes, directories, correspondence, notes, personal papers, fliers, news clippings, photographs, and audio and video
recordings. The materials reflect the concerns of the LWVOC and the Orange County community, including environmental issues,
childcare, healthcare, transportation, and Orange County's bankruptcy in the 1990s.
This collection is arranged in two series. Series 2 is divided into four subseries.
- Series 1. Inter-League Organization records, 1957-2001. 6.5 linear feet
- Series 2. Chapter records, 1957-2005. 11 linear feet
- Subseries 2.1 Capistrano Bay chapter records, 1969-2002. 2 linear feet
- Subseries 2.2 North Orange County chapter records, 1959-2002. 3 linear feet
- Subseries 2.3 Central Orange County Area chapter records, 1957-1997. 5 linear feet
- Subseries 2.4 Orange Coast chapter records, 1977-2005. 1 linear foot
Several Orange County publications were removed from this collection, shelved separately in Special Collections and Archives,
and cataloged in the online catalog,
ANTPAC .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Child care -- California
Environmental management -- California
Orange County (Calif.) -- History -- Sources
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 21st century.
Regional planning -- California -- History -- Sources.
Sound recordings -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Video recordings -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Women -- Suffrage -- California -- Orange County -- History -- Sources
Women in politics -- California -- History -- Sources