Dorothy Green Papers, 1963-2000, bulk (bulk 1971-1993)

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Summary

Creators:
Green, Dorothy
Abstract:
The collection covers the papers and campaign documents of the various policy areas on which Mrs. Green worked, from national campaign finance reform to water policy in Southern California, including the California League of Conservation Voters, Common Cause, Heal the Bay, Women For:, the Working Alliance to Equalize Rates, and others.
Extent:
87 boxes (43.5 linear feet)
Language:
Finding aid is written in English.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection covers the papers and campaign documents of the various policy areas on which Mrs. Green worked, from national campaign finance reform to water policy in Southern California. Much of the collection consists of internal correspondence and policy papers from the various nonprofits Dorothy founded and worked for, including the California League of Conservation Voters, Common Cause, Heal the Bay, Women For:, the Working Alliance to Equalize Rates, and others. These materials provide valuable insight into the structure and organization of nonprofit organizations.

The bulk of the collection chronicles water policy in California from the 1970s to the 1990s. Mrs. Green was an active opponent of the Peripheral Canal and the collection includes exhaustive documentation of the Peripheral Canal ballot initiative (Proposition Nine of 1982). There is also documentation of the dispute between Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Inyo County over the fate of Mono Lake and Los Angeles' water supply in the 1980s and early 1990s. A good deal of correspondence with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California rounds out these issues.

Mrs. Green's interest in energy policy is reflected in the many boxes devoted to energy, especially the dangers of nuclear energy, and energy alternatives. The Common Cause materials and Californians for Californians for Campaign Reform form part of a larger series on governmental accountability and money in politics.

Biographical / historical:

Southern California-based environmental activist Dorothy Green (born March 16, 1929) has been a leader in California water policy for over thirty years. Mrs. Green has been a Board Member of the California Planning and Conservation League since 1978. In 1979 Mrs. Green served as a founding member of W.A.T.E.R.: The Working Alliance To Equalize Rates, a nonprofit devoted to water efficiency in Southern California that functioned as a watchdog for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. In 1985 she founded Heal the Bay, an environmental nonprofit devoted to restoring the water quality of Santa Monica Bay. In 2007, Green published a book with the UC Press titled, Managing Water: Avoiding Crisis in California.

Mrs. Green serves as President Emeritus of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council and helped establish the Public Officials for Water and Environmental Reform, which sponsors the annual California Water Policy Conference that she has chaired for 17 years. She is also an active Board Member of the California Water Impact Network.

Mrs. Green has also been involved in the movement for campaign finance reform. She co-founded Californians for Campaign Reform in 1972, and served on the National Governing Board of Common Cause from 1978-1984. Her interest in energy policy led her to serve on the Energy Committee of the Democratic Party Commission on National Platform and Policy in 1976.

Mrs. Green is widowed, mother of three and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Dorothy Green, 2006.
Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  • Series 1: Planning/Conservation
    • 1A. Planning and Conservation League
    • 1B. California League of Conservation Voters
    • 1C. Planning
    • 1D. Transportation
    • 1E. Conservation
  • Series 2: Government Accountability
    • 2A. Campaign Finance Reform
    • 2B. California Campaign Finance Reform
    • 2C. Transparency in Government
    • 2D. Public Finance of Elections
    • 2E. Women For:
    • 2F. Local Government
    • 2G. Common Cause
    • 2H. California Common Cause
  • Series 3: Environmental Quality
    • 3A. Air Quality
    • 3B. Environmental Quality
    • 3C. Proposition 9 of 1972: The Clean Environment Initiative
  • Series 4: Water
    • 4A. General Water Policy
    • 4B. Federal Water Policy
    • 4C. CA Water
    • 4D. CA Department of Water Resources
    • 4E. CA Water Topics
    • 4F. CA Water Policy
    • 4G. CA State Water Resources Control Board
    • 4H. Delta
    • 4I. Salt Drain
    • 4J. Regional Water Policy I
    • 4K. Owens Valley
    • 4L. Kern County
    • 4M. Regional Water Policy II
    • 4N. Groundwater
    • 4O. Water Conservation
    • 4P. Water Utilities
    • 4Q. W.A.T.E.R.
    • 4R. Water Quality
    • 4S. Peripheral Canal
    • 4T. Coastal Waters
    • 4U. Heal the Bay
  • Series 5: Energy
    • 5A.Nuclear Power
    • 5B.Energy Policy
  • Series 6: Agriculture
  • Series 7: Miscellaneous Topics
    • 7A. Arms Control
    • 7B. Organizing
    • 7C. Media
    • 7D. Agriculture
    • 7E. Audio Visual Materials
  • Series 8: Dorothy Green Personal Papers

Physical / technical requirements:

COLLECTION CONTAINS DIGITAL MATERIALS: Special equipment or further processing may be required for viewing. To access digital materials you must notify the reference desk in advance of your visit.

Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website