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COLLECTION Identifier: MC 490

Papers of NOW officer Faith Seidenberg, 1969-1977

Overview

Papers of National Organization for Women officer Faith Seidenberg, NOW's Legal Vice President.

Dates

  • Creation: 1969-1977

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

TERMS OF USE

Access. Unrestricted.

As of December 2015, written permission of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is no longer required for access to folders #1.2-3.9.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in papers created by Faith Seidenberg while an officer of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is held by NOW. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

1.25 linear feet ((3 file boxes) plus 1 photograph folder)

This collection contains mostly correspondence, along with writings by Seidenberg, legal brieSeidenberg, clippings, and printed material. The collection is divided into four series.

Series I, Personal (#1.1-1.3), contains correspondence, writings by Seidenberg, and clippings about Seidenberg.

Series II, National Organization for Women Correspondence #1.4-2.8), contains administrative correspondence, such as requests for information, as well as correspondence relating to various cases Seidenberg defended or brought on NOW's behalf, and requests for Seidenberg's legal advice. Readers must sign a special permission form.

Series III, Seidenberg Legal Cases (#2.9-3.9), contains correspondence, legal documents, clippings, and printed materials relating to the case NOW v. Syracuse University, in which NOW accused Syracuse University of sex discrimination. There is also one folder concerning a New York Civil Liberties Union case, Naprstek et al. v. The City of Norwich et al., in which Seidenberg challenged the city's youth curfew.

Series IV, Photographs (#3.10), contains four photographs of Seidenberg: one portrait, one of Seidenberg with Karen DeCrow, and two of a Syracuse NOW meeting attended by Seidenberg and Betty Friedan.

Folder headings are those of Seidenberg unless otherwise noted; archivist's headings and notes are in square brackets. All printed material by or about Seidenberg, as well as all printed material with annotations, has been kept in the collection. Other NOW publications and reports, except those created by Seidenberg, were transferred to the NOW records in the Schlesinger Library. Non-NOW printed material produced by mainstream organizations and publications was discarded; leaflets and other ephemera of small, transient organizations were retained.

BIOGRAPHY

Faith A. Seidenberg, lawyer and former Legal Vice President of the National Organization for Women (NOW), was born ca.1924. She is married to Robert Seidenberg; they have three children. Seidenberg graduated from the Syracuse University College of Law in 1954. She was legal counsel for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) from 1965-1966, director of the National Board of the American Civil Liberties Union, and served as NOW's legal counsel.

In addition to being partner in the Syracuse law firm of Seidenberg and Strunk, Seidenberg has provided legal counsel in numerous civil liberties cases. In 1970, she successfully defended women's right to enter bars in New York in Seidenberg v. McSorley's. She was one of three lawyers who brought suit requiring the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to outlaw male and female job listings in newspapers.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in four series:

  1. Series I. Personal (#1.1-1.3)
  2. Series II. National Organization for Women Correspondence #1.4-2.8)
  3. Series III. Seidenberg Legal Cases (#2.9-3.9)
  4. Series IV. Photographs (#3.10)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 81-M167, 81-M225, 82-M211

These papers were given to the Schlesinger Library by Faith Seidenberg between June 1981 and October 1982.

Addenda Note:

There is additional Faith Seidenberg material at the Schlesinger Library. It is currently unprocessed and unavailable for research.

Processing Information

Processed: October 2002

By: Johanna Carll

Title
Seidenberg, Faith. Papers of NOW officer Faith Seidenberg, 1969-1977: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
Sponsor
These papers were processed under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
EAD ID
sch00264

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

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