Collection Summary
Information for Researchers
Administrative Information
Organizational History
Scope and Content Note
Collection Summary
Collection Title: League of Women Voters of the Bay Area records,
Date (inclusive): 1939-[ongoing]
Collection Number: BANC MSS 2004/162 c
Creator:
League of Women Voters of the Bay Area
Extent:
Number of containers: 9 cartons, 1 oversize box, 2 oversize folders
Linear feet: 11.25
Repository: The
Bancroft Library.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Abstract: The League of Women Voters of the Bay Area Records (LWVBA), 1939-[ongoing], consist of administrative files, program records,
and material relating to the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the League of Women Voters of the United States and the
Women's Suffrage Movement in 1995. Program material includes records of league action, education, and studies relating to
regional government, regional planning, air and water quality, environmental mitigation, land use, solid waste, hazardous
materials management, economics, housing, and transportation. The records include agreements, Board of Directors records,
bylaws, committee records, correspondence, meeting and event material, financial records, policies and procedures, program
and project records, and reports. Material in the collection dates from 1939 to 2001, with the bulk dating from 1960 to 1996.
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages Represented:
English
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must
be submitted in writing to the appropriate curator or the Head of Public Services for forwarding. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and the copyright.
Preferred Citation
League of Women Voters of the Bay Area records. BANC MSS 2004/162 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Related Collections
Title: League of Women Voters of the Bay Area 75th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage Oral History Project recordings,
Identifier/Call Number: Phonotape 3704 C, BANC CD 526
Title: Motion pictures from the League of Women Voters of the Bay Area records,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC Motion Picture 978 C
Title: Photos of the League of Women Voters of the Bay Area,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 2004.150
Title: League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, and Emeryville records,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 73/107 C
Title: Photos of the League of Women Voters of Berkeley,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 1973.045
Title: League of Women Voters annual meeting,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC Phonotape 1386 A
Title: Evelyn M. Clar papers,
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 90/149 C
Materials Cataloged Separately
- Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Photographs have been transferred to Pictorial Collections of The Bancroft Library.
- Videotapes/sound recordings have been transferred to the Microforms Collection of The Bancroft Library.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Clubs--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Political activists--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Regional planning--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Women--California--San Francisco Bay Area--Societies and clubs.
Women in politics--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
Women political activists--California--San Francisco Bay Area.
California--Politics and government.
Genres and Forms of Material
Minutes.
Index Terms Related to this Collection
Online Archive of California.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
The League of Women Voters of the Bay Area Records were given to The Bancroft Library by Tamra C. Hege, President, League
of Women Voters of the Bay Area, on December 15, 2001. Additions were made on June 11, 2003. Future additions are expected.
Funding
Funding for the processing of the records provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Organizational History
The League of Women Voters of the Bay Area (LWVBA) was formally established in California's San Francisco Bay Area in 1961.
Organization of the LWVBA began in 1957 when the League of Women Voters Alameda County Council received permission from the
League of Women Voters of California to call a meeting of several local Bay Area leagues to consider regional problems and
possibly a regional organization. Four years later, the LWVBA was formally established to address regional concerns in the
Bay Area.
The LWVBA is a non-partisan political organization and its mission is to encourage citizen participation in government and
influence public policy through education and advocacy. The LWVBA neither supports nor opposes political candidates and parties,
but does take action on select issues in the public interest.
The League of Women Voters works at the local, state, and national levels, paralleling the levels of United States government.
The parent organization, the League of Women Voters of the United States, was formed out of the Women's Suffrage Movement
in 1920 after the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. The League of Women Voters of the United
States recognizes the LWVBA as an inter-league organization composed of local Bay Area leagues.
The LWVBA comprises more than 20 local leagues, located in the nine counties that adjoin the San Francisco Bay. The local
leagues are unified by one Bay Area governing council that is made up of representatives from each local league. This structure
makes it possible for study and action on region-wide problems and aids in inter-league communication throughout the Bay Area.
The LWVBA reports directly to the statewide League of Women Voters of California.
As one of the oldest organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area concerned with regional solutions to area wide problems,
the LWVBA has adopted programs on regional government, regional planning, and many other programs of public interest. Local
league members determine the issues to be studied. After research, study, and a process of member agreement called consensus,
LWVBA positions are reached. Without a statement of position, action may not be taken on an issue. Action and education activities
in LWVBA program areas include testifying at the state level and before regional boards, sponsoring conferences, and producing
videos, publications, and workshops.
The first program of study during 1959-1960 was an analysis of Bay Area problems and possible solutions. The consensus resulting
from this study was support for a regional approach to government in the Bay Area. While action and support for regional government
and planning has remained the underlying theme of LWVBA programs, the LWVBA has also targeted other areas of study in subsequent
years. The 1966-1968 program included the league's first environmental study. On the 1970-1972 program the league's first
transportation study appeared, followed by the first land use study in 1972-1974. In the 1974-1976 program, the LWVBA added
housing to its agenda of relevant public issues. Elements of later programs included California Environmental Quality Act
mitigation and economics in the Bay Area. All of the areas of study mentioned above continue to be vital elements of the LWVBA
program.
Scope and Content Note
The League of Women Voters of the Bay Area Records (LWVBA), 1939-[ongoing], consist of administrative files, program records,
and material relating to the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the League of Women Voters of the United States and the
Women's Suffrage Movement in 1995. Program material includes records of league action, education, and studies relating to
regional government, regional planning, air and water quality, environmental mitigation, land use, solid waste, hazardous
materials management, economics, housing, and transportation. The records include agreements, Board of Directors records,
bylaws, committee records, correspondence, meeting and event material, financial records, policies and procedures, program
and project records, and reports. Material in the collection dates from 1939 to 2001, with the bulk dating from 1960 to 1996.
A small amount of material generated at the local, state, and national levels of the League of Women Voters organization is
present in this collection due to the interaction among the various leagues and the League of Women Voters hierarchical organizational
structure.
Early material pertains primarily to the initial organization and establishment of the LWVBA and may be found in the first
three series of the collection. For example, Agreements, Bay Area Steering Committee records, Executive Committee records,
and early Memoranda in Series 1 all document the early decision-making processes of the LWVBA. The earliest Governance Action
Files and Study Files in Series 2 document the league's focus on regional issues at the earliest stages of its programmatic
development. The Oral History Interview Files in Series 3 contain interview transcripts that provide early member perspectives
on the beginnings of the league.
While the collection holds a substantial amount of early records, some early material is notably missing. For example, annual
reports and program planning records from the early 1960s are not in the collection. Later annual reports from the 1980s and
1990s are also missing from the collection. With the exception of action files, there is little documentation regarding LWVBA
programs during the 1980s.
The collection includes records from various LWVBA publications that are located primarily in Subseries 1.8, Publications.
Records of two other publications,
Do You Know Your Bay Area? and
Bay Area Monitor are located in Series 2. The collection contains only the records of the publications and heavily annotated publications,
as the bulk of the publications were catalogued separately.