Finding Aid to the Harriet Judd Eliel Oral History MS 954

Finding aid prepared by California Historical Society staff; revised by Marie Dunlap in 2010.
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
© 2000, revised 2010


Title: Harriet Judd Eliel oral history
Date: 1973
Collection Number: MS 954
Creator: Eliel, Harriet Judd, 1890-
Physical Description: 1 folder (0.1 Linear feet)
Repository: California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Abstract: Contains a transcript of Carol Farley's 1973 interview with Harriet Judd Eliel documenting her activities as an officer of the San Francisco, California, and national chapters of the League of Women Voters in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.
Language of Materials: Collection material is in English.

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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Harriet Judd Eliel Oral History, MS 954, California Historical Society.

National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections Number

NUCMC 82-438

Related Collections

Beatrice Ludlow Flick Oral History, MS 957

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
League of Women Voters (U.S.).
League of Women Voters of California.
League of Women Voters of San Francisco.
Women civic leaders--California--San Francisco.
Oral histories.

Donor

This oral history was transcribed from an interview with Harriet Judd Eliel conducted by Oberlin College student Carol Farley in 1973.

Biographical Information

Harriet Judd Eliel was born in 1890 in Evanston, Illinois. She attended the University of California, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Health and Social Welfare in 1913. After the birth of her second son in 1916, she completed her Master of Arts degree in Education, also at the University of California. Between 1921 and 1924, she established and directed the experimental John Dewey School in Berkeley, California, which her sons attended.
In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Eliel held a number of positions with the League of Women Voters at the local, state, and national levels. In the 1920s and 1930s, she served on the legislative committee of the California League of Women Voters, successfully opposing state legislation to cut education funding. Eliel also served as president of the California League of Women Voters between 1933 and 1937; secretary of the national League of Women Voters between 1936 and 1941; and president of the San Francisco League of Women Voters between 1942 and 1944. Between 1944 and 1946, she held official positions with the City Government Committee and Mayor's Post-War Planning Commission, both in San Francisco.
Eliel had two sons and two daughters, born in 1914, 1916, 1928, and 1930.

Scope and Contents

This oral history collection contains a transcript of Carol Farley's brief 1973 interview with Harriet Judd Eliel; a chronology of Eliel's career with the League of Women Voters; and an index to the transcript.
The interview primarily concerns Eliel's activities as an officer of the San Francisco, California, and national chapters of the League of Women Voters in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. In particular, it sheds light on the membership, administration, and legislative activities of the League, including its role in support of public education, New Deal relief programs, civil service reform, and the establishment of a women's prison in California.