National Organization for Women chapter newsletter collection, 1967-2008

Collection consists of NOW chapter newsletters (and a small number of other chapter-produced documents as noted) from the United States and affiliates in France, Germany, and the Philippines. The newsletters, which vary greatly in length and substance, provide a window into social and political issues relevant to local groups of women across the country. Many of the earliest newsletters, those from the late 1960s and early 1970s, evidence women's excitement about meeting with others for the first time; some chapters originally sought to function partly as consciousness-raising groups. Newsletter topics include information and positions on national, state, and local legislation (e.g., Equal Rights Amendment, reproductive rights, employment issues, etc.); upcoming events (demonstrations, rallies, fundraising activities, etc.); summaries of meetings and task force activities; lists of officers (and occasionally, numbers and names of members); coalitions with other groups; etc. These newsletters were sent to the Schlesinger Library by individual chapters, or were removed from the collections of NOW members and leaders, and from the NOW records held at the Library; very few titles are represented here in their entirety.

Newsletters are arranged alphabetically by state or country, with statewide chapters appearing first, followed by local chapters, listed alphabetically. Each title produced by a chapter is listed, along with the specific holdings for that title. Some chapter newsletters had multiple titles but kept one Volume and Issue numbering system; most others are more scattered, and reflect the volunteer nature of the chapter organizations. Issues are listed in the container list by whatever issue or date information was available; information provided by the archivist is in brackets. Most of these newsletters have breaks or mistakes in their numbering schema, and some have no numbering schema at all. Consecutive issues are listed with a dash ( - ) in between the beginning and ending issues. Any other chapter documents are foldered separately, and may contain by-laws, non-newsletter mailings, etc.

Some chapter newsletters are cataloged separately in HOLLIS: Washington Equal Times, The NOW York Woman, various titles from Boston NOW and Massachusetts NOW, Eastern Massachusetts NOW, and Acton (Massachusetts) area NOW.

The Schlesinger Library holds the records of the National Organization for Women (MC 496 and MC 666), as well as those of Massachusetts NOW (MC 580), Boston NOW (77-M13--96-M48 and MC 632), and Acton area NOW.