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Inventory of the Barbara Lee Papers
MS 086
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Table of contents
Title: Barbara Lee papers
Dates: 1977-1998
Bulk Dates: 1991-1998
Collection number: MS 086
Creator:
Lee, Barbara, 1946-
Collection Size:
80 linear feet
(80 boxes)
Repository:
African American Museum & Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Oakland, CA 94612
Abstract: The Barbara Lee Papers consist of legislative bills and working files, correspondence, speeches, constituent case files, audiovisual
material, subject and administrative files documenting Barbara Lee’s six years as state assemblywoman for California’s 16th
District, two years as a state senator for California’s 9th District, and records created by the California Commission on
the Status of Black Males (CCSBM).
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Constituent case files closed to the public. Rest of collection is open to the public.
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Permission to publish from the Barbara Lee Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.
Barbara Lee papers, MS 086, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
The Barbara Lee Papers were donated by Barbara Lee to the African American Museum & Library at Oakland on March 3, 1998.
Processed by Sean Heyliger, Archivist, February 21, 2018.
Biography / Administrative History
Barbara Jean Lee (née Tutt) was born on July 16, 1946 in El Paso, Texas the daughter of Mildred Adaire and Garvin Alexander
Tutt, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. In El Paso, the family lived with her maternal grandparents, William
Calhoun and Willie Parish, and she attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School taught by the Sisters of Loretto, a religious order
that taught the virtues of peace and justice. The family moved from Texas to the Pacoima neighborhood of Los Angeles, California
in 1960. While attending school at San Fernando High School, she sued the school district with help from the local chapter
of the N.A.A.C.P. change the school’s procedures for selecting cheerleaders which would allow the entire student body to vote
for cheerleaders rather than a small clique. In 1963, she was selected as the school’s first black cheerleader. She graduated
from San Fernando High School in 1964 and shortly thereafter followed her husband Carl Lee to England where he was stationed
in Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire.
In the late 1960s, she moved to Oakland, California and enrolled in college at Mills College. There she became politically
active joining the Black Students’ Association eventually serving as the group’s president. As a student, she invited Shirley
Chisholm to speak on campus during her historic 1972 campaign for president and she campaigned to have Chisolm on the ballot
in Alameda County and served as a campaign delegate for Northern California at the Democratic National Convention. During
this time, she also volunteered at the Black Panther Party’s Community Learning Center and worked as a volunteer for Bobby
Seale’s 1973 campaign for the mayor of Oakland, California. She graduated from Mills College in 1973 with a Bachelor of Art
degree in psychology and continued her education at the University of California Berkeley earning her Master of Arts degree
in social work in 1975. As part of her graduate work, she founded the Community Health Alliance for Neighborhood Growth and
Education (CHANGE, Inc.), a non-profit community health organization providing mental health service to low-income individuals
in Berkeley, California.
In 1974, she applied for the Cal in the Capitol Program upon the advice of Shirley Chisholm and was assigned to the office
of Congressman Ronald Dellums representing California’s 7th District. Following her graduation from the University of California
Berkeley, she was hired by Dellums to join his staff as an assistant. She served as Dellums’ advisor eventually serving as
his chief of staff for eleven years until she left in 1987 to start a facilities management company.
Lee was first elected to public office in 1990 when she ran for California State Assembly representing the 13th District.
She won re-election to the seat twice in 1992 and 1994 before serving in the California State Senate in 1996-1998. During
her time in the California State Assembly, Lee authored 67 bills and resolutions that were signed into law. Her legislation
touched on a number of issues including education, healthcare, LGBT and women’s rights, and public safety. She also established
the California Commission on the Status of African American Males (CCSAAM) and worked to defeat California’s “Three Strikes
Law” that unfairly targeted and impacted African Americans. As advocate for women’s health, she authored the California Violence
Against Women Act and served on the California Commission on the Status of Women.
In 1998, Lee was elected to the United State Congress representing California’s 9th District (now District 13) following the
retirement of her longtime mentor Ronald V. Dellums. During her tenure in Congress, she has served as chair and co-chair of
the Congressional Black Caucus (111th Congress, 2009-2011) and the Congressional Progressive Caucus (109th and 110th Congress,
2005-2009). She has received national attention as the only member of Congress to vote against the Authorization for Use of
Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF) following the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 and as an outspoken critic
of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Congress, she has advocated for legislation alleviating poverty, universal healthcare,
HIV/AIDS, and she is the author of the Shirley A. Chisholm United States-Caribbean Educational Exchange Act. Since 2011, she
has served on the House Appropriations Committee and Budget Committee and previously served on the Subcommittee on Financial
Services and General Government; Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; and Subcommittee
on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors including an
honorary doctorate from Mills College, the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Award, and the Willie L. Brown Leadership Award.
She is also the author of
Renegade for Peace & Justice: Congresswoman Barbara Lee Speaks for Me (2008).
Scope and Content of Collection
The Barbara Lee Papers consist of legislative bills and working files, correspondence, speeches, constituent case files, audiovisual
material, subject and administrative files documenting Barbara Lee’s six years as state assemblywoman for California’s 16th
District, two years as a state senator for California’s 9th District, and records created by the California Commission on
the Status of Black Males (CCSBM). The papers are organized into ten series: I. Legislative files, II. Administrative files,
III. Correspondence, IV. Speeches, V. California Commission on the Status of Black Males (CCSBM), VI. Constituent case files
[RESTRICTED], VII. Subject files, VIII. Audiovisual material, IX. Maxine Waters files, X. Assorted reports and newspaper clippings.
Series I. Legislative files
Series II. Administrative files
Series III. Correspondence
Series IV. Speeches
Series V. California Commission on the Status of Black Males (CCSBM)
Series VI. Constituent case files [RESTRICTED]
Series VII. Subject files
Series VIII. Audiovisual material
Series IX. Maxine Waters files
Series X. Assorted reports and newspaper clippings
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Lee, Barbara, 1946-
Waters, Maxine
African Americans--California--Oakland--Politics and government--20th century
African American politicians--California.
Oakland (Calif.)--History.
Oakland (Calif.)--Politics and government--20th century.