Iowa Women's Archives
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa

IOWA ERA COALITION

RECORDS, 1916, 1972-1980
(bulk 1978-1980)

5.5 linear feet

Collection Overview

History

The Iowa ERA Coalition was formed in November 1978 to seek voter approval of the state ERA. The Iowa ERA Coalition was comprised of approximately fifty member organizations. It disbanded in November 1980 when Iowa voters defeated the ERA initiative by a 56 to 44 percent margin.

The Iowa General Assembly ratified the national Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) within twenty-four hours of its passage by the United States Congress in 1972. In 1977, Iowa legislators considered the first state ERA initiative. Iowa's ERA bill was a bipartisan effort and passed both the 1978 and 1979 general assemblies. To amend the state constitution, this measure had to go through a two-step process. First, state law required bicameral passage in two consecutive legislatures. Second, state law required approval by a majority of Iowa voters. The ERA became a ballot initiative in the 1980 Iowa general elections. Iowa was the only state in the nation to vote on an equal rights amendment in the 1980 elections. Just three states short of the thirty-eight required by Congress to ratify the national ERA amendment, the vote in Iowa was pivotal. A victory in Iowa, ERA proponents hoped, would precipitate the same outcome in bordering states Illinois and Missouri. All possible influence by Iowa became moot, however, when Iowa voters rejected the state equal rights amendment. The election results shocked many ERA faithful, for poll results had consistently shown that a majority of Iowa voters favored the ERA. Ultimately, Illinois and Missouri ERA initiatives met the same fate. Iowa ERA supporters attributed their defeat to an effective, last minute and 'last-ditch' negative campaign blitz orchestrated by ERA opponents. From beginning to end, the ERA Coalition was castigated as supporters of homosexual marriages and the passage of Iowa's ERA amendment was portrayed as tantamount to legalizing homosexual marriages in Iowa. Despite continuous denials by ERA proponents, they were unable to erase the fear and doubts in the minds of Iowa voters that their vote for the ERA would be a vote for "alternative" life styles.

Margaret "Peg" Anderson was the state chairperson and main spokesperson of the Iowa ERA Coalition. Her efforts were perhaps best summed up in a March 27, 1980 news article. The headline simply read: "This Woman Works." Anderson was a long-time Iowa resident who had had a varied political career.

Scope and Content Note

The Iowa ERA Coalition records measure 5.5 linear feet and date from 1916 and 1972 to 1980. They are arranged into seven series: Administrative, Campaign Files, Fundraising, Publicity, Strategies and Planning, Topical Files, and Audio Tapes. The bulk of this collection concerns Iowa's first ERA campaign in the years 1978 to 1980; however, there is some background material dating as far back as 1972. While this collection primarily chronicles one state's efforts to pass an equal rights amendment, it does provide some clues as to how an initiative, albeit controversial, that is generally favored by a majority of the populace can be undermined by opponents who are allowed to frame the debate concerning the initiative.

The Administrative series includes budget, minutes, and general correspondence. It also contains biographical information on Peg Anderson. The governing board minutes provide a good sense of the day-to-day logistics.

The bulk of material in the Campaign Files series concerns the caravan for era. Mainly use as a promotional tour, this motorcade was envisaged as a means to garner support for the state ERA and create a "band wagon" effect. The caravan traversed across Iowa, and made stops in all of its counties. It began on October 2, 1980 and ended on November 2, 1980. The caravan had four objectives: to disseminate information about the Iowa ERA, to gain local news coverage, and to bring out supportive local community leaders. The county folders contain correspondence and other material relating to caravan visits and speakers scheduling.

The Fundraising series includes information about some of the events used to raise money and voter awareness. One highlight event was the two-day, three-city visit that Erma Bombeck and Liz Carpenter made in June 1980 as an ERA campaign fundraiser. They appeared in Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and Waterloo. There is additional information about their visit in the news clippings folder (box 11), and the press release folder (box 7).

The Publicity series is divided into four subseries: General, Speakers, Media, and Printed Material. The Speakers subseries includes resource packets intended to help speakers with speech preparation. The Media subseries contains Iowa Coalition press releases from 1979-1980. Newsletters and other printed material produced by the coalition and other groups can be found in the Printed Material subseries.

The Strategies and Planning series is divided into four subseries: General, Candidates, Political parties, Polling information. The Candidates subseries includes completed endorsement forms by Iowa state representatives and senators, many of which contain statements by the legislators in support of the ERA. Peg Anderson's testimony before the Democratic State Platform on May 10, 1980. The Polling information subseries contain results of Iowa state polls from 1975-1980 as well as national poll results and sample questions used during ERA telephone surveys. The Topical files series is composed of sixty-four folders arranged alphabetically by folder title. The folder contents cover a variety of topics that related to the work of the Iowa ERA Coalition. There are two Anti-ERA folders which contains printed literature used by a number of organizations opposed to the ERA. Included also are organizational folders such as the Iowa Association of Libertarian Feminists and the Iowa Home Economics Association.

The Audio Tapes series consists of three audiocassettes and two reel-to-reel recordings, including a speech given by Peg Anderson on February 14, 1980 (AC117), pro-ERA spots by Erma Bombeck and by the Iowa ERA Coalition (AC116), and four anti-ERA radio spots produced by the Right to Be a Woman Committee (AC115).

Related Collections

Margaret “Peg” Anderson
ERA Iowa 1992
Iowa Women Against the ERA

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Box List

Box 1

Adminstrative

Administrative Committee

Agendas, minutes, and notices, 1979-1980

Budget, 1979-1980 Employees and volunteers

General

Job description, organizational structure Staff applications, 1980 Volunteer work: roster and correspondence, 1980

Anderson, Peg McFadden, Monica

Governing Board

Correspondence, 1979-1980 Administrative committee, 1980 Articles: general information, 1979 Legal status of Iowa ERA Coalition Bylaws Board Members

Completed membership applications, 1979-1980 Information sheets, 1979 Meeting minutes and agenda, 1978-1980 Membership lists, 1979-1980

Member organizations not represented on governing board, 1979 Political Action Committee, 1979-1980

Campaign files

Caravan for ERA, 1980

General ERA Caravan: uncoordinated counties, 1980

Campaign handbooks

May 1979-June 1980

Box 2

July-November 1980 Undated Counties

Adair Adams Allamakee Appanoose Audubon Benton Black Hawk Boone Bremer Buchanan Buena Vista Butler Calhoun Carroll Cass Cherokee Chickasaw Cedar Cerro Gordo Clarke Clay Clayton Clinton Crawford Dallas Davis Decatur Delaware Dickinson Des Moines Dubuque Emmet Fayette Floyd Franklin Greene Grundy Guthrie Hamilton Hancock Hardin

Box 3

Harrison Henry Howard Humboldt Ida Iowa Jackson Jasper Jefferson Johnson Jones Keokuk Kossuth Lee Linn Louisa Lucas Lyon Madison Mahaska Marion Marshall Mills Mitchell Monona Monroe Montgomery Muscatine O'Brien Osceola Page Palo Alto Plymouth Pocahontas Polk Pottawattamie Poweshiek Ringgold Sac Scott Shelby Sioux Story Tama Taylor Union Van Buren Wapello Warren Washington Wayne Webster Winnebago Winneshiek Woodbury

Box 4

Worth Wright

County Organizations

County Conventions

General, 1980 Survey of county convention platforms, 1980

County coordinators

Coordinators, correspondence, notes, 1979-1980 County organizations, 1979 Financial policy, 1979-1980 Maps Roster, 1979-1980 Workshops, 1979

Counties, 1978-1980

Ada Adams Allamakee Appanoose Audubon Benton Black Hawk Boone Bremer Buchanan Buena Vista Calhoun Carroll Cass Cedar Cerro Gordo Cherokee Chickasaw Clarke Clayton Clinton Council Bluffs Crawford Dallas Decatur Delaware Des Moines Dickinson Dubuque Emmet Fayette Fifth District Iowa ERA plans Floyd Fremont Greene Grundy Hamilton Hardin Henry Humboldt Iowa Jackson Jefferson Johnson

General, 1978-1980 and undated Agendas and minutes, 1978-1980

Box 5

Meeting notes 1978-1980 Miscellaneous, 1978-1980 and undated (2 folders)

Kossuth Lee, 1979-1980 Linn, 1979-1980 Lucas Mahaska Marion Marshall, 1979-1980 Mills Mitchell Montgomery Muscatine O'Brien, 1979-1980 Osceola Page Plymouth, 1979-1980 PocahontasPolk, 1979-1980

General Speakers Bureau

Pottawattamie, 1979-1980 Poweshiek, 1979-1980 Sac, 1979-1980 Scott, 1979-1980 Shelby , 1979-1980 Sioux, 1979-1980 Story, 1979 Tama, 1979 Taylor Union, 1979-1980 Wapello Warren , 1979-1980 Washington Webster, 1979-1980 Winneshiek, 1979-1980 Woodbury, 1979-1980 Wright, 1979

District Organizations

Conventions, 1980 Iowa ERA Coalition district meeting, 1980

Box 6

Fundraising

General

Backroom Graphics fundraising proposal, 1979-1980 Correspondence, 1980 Johnson, Sonia: Mormons for ERA, 1980 Jones, Edward H.: Roast, 1979 Local events committee, 1979-1980 Mailing list, 1980 Mothers Day project, 1980 Salisbury House fund-raiser, 1980

Events

General Entertainers, 1980 Bombeck, Erma and Liz Carpenter Tour, 1980 McGovern, Maureen, concert, 1980 Rowe, Barbara: "Susan B. Anthony, A Dramatic Presentation," 1979-1980 Susan B. Anthony Parties [photos] Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin concert, 1980

Publicity

General

Ad Services, 1979-1980 Advertising proposals, 1980 M.R. Enterprises-advertising and public relations, 1980 (2 folders) Banner [shelved in oversize, Box 13] Bumper stickers & buttons ERA original materials: "What it is, What it is Not" Equal rights amendment literature, 1974-1980 Posters [shelved in oversize, Box 13]

C.L.A.S.S. (Citizens For Lighting And Safe Streets) Women's Consciousness Raising

Box 7

Sample ballot, 1978-1980

Speakers

Fiedler, Maureen, 1980 Iowa ERA resource packet I, 1979 Iowa ERA resource packet II, 1979-1980 Quotations, 1980 Resource packet, 1980 Speakers bureau information, 1979 Speaker requests, 1979-1980

Media

Radio

Public service announcements, 1980 Radio spots, 1980

Newspapers

Letters to the editor campaign, 1980 Media relations information: Including a letter from Frank Nye, 1980 Press Relations, 1980 Press Releases, 1979-1980

Printed Material

Iowa ERAdvocate, November 1979-March 1980 Newsletters: Iowa ERA Today, 1979 Equal rights amendment literature: undated Material produced by supporting groups, 1980 Material produced by the Iowa ERA Coalition, 1979-1980

Strategies and Planning

General

Campaign Strategy, 1980

Box 8

Correspondence ERA ballot wording Legislative history of the ERA Official pronouncements by Iowa ERA Coalition

Candidates

Iowa State Candidate Endorsements, 1980 Iowa Candidate Endorsements Completed, 1980

Forms, A-Z (2 folders)

Iowa Candidate Endorsements Correspondence, 1980

Political Parties, 1980

Democratic Party: county and state [includes Peg Anderson's testimony] Iowa Democratic convention Iowa Republican convention Proposed platform plank (party unidentified), 1980? Republican party [includes letters from Mary Louise Smith and Reid Crawford], 1979-1980 Republican position on Iowa ERA, 1979-1980

Polling Information

Iowa Equal Rights Amendment Coalition Iowa poll, 1980

Box 9

National and states other than Iowa, 1975-1978 Correspondence, resumes, 1979-1980 Polls, 1979 Questions, answers, & surveys, 1980 Survey of voter attitudes & opinions concerning ERA, 1975-1980

Topical files

Abortion, 1979-1981 and undated American Association of University Women, 1979-1980 Anti-ERA, 1972-1980 and undated Business and Professional Women's Clubs, 1979-1980 Catholics Against the Iowa ERA, 1980 Church support for the Iowa ERA, 1975-1977 & undated Churches, 1980 Common Cause of Iowa, 1979 ERA selected court cases, 1978, 1980 Ecumenical service, 1979-1980 Effects of ERA on education Friends of Iowa ERA, 1979 Homosexuals and the ERA Inheritance tax, 1978, 1980 Iowa Association of Libertarian Feminists, 1979-1980

Box 10

Iowa Attorney General's Opinion on the Iowa ERA, 1980 Iowa Children's and Family Services, 1980 Iowa Civil Liberties Union, 1979 Iowa Conference of Teamsters, 1980 Iowa Federation of Labor-AFL/CIO, 1979-1980 Iowa Home Economics Association, 1979-1980 Iowa Library Association, 1979 Iowa Nurses Association, 1980 Iowa Socialist Party, 1979 Iowa State Education Association, 1979-1980 Iowa State Education Association (ISEA), 1979-1980 Iowa State Fair, 1980 (2 folders) Iowa Women's Political Caucus, 1979-1980 Junior League, 1980 Labor union positions on the ERA, 1979-1980 League of Women Voters, 1979-1980 "Legal Status of Homemakers in Iowa," by Roxanne Conlin Libertarian party, 1979-1980 Massachusetts abortion case ( Moe v. King), 1980 Massachusetts ERA, 1976, 1980 & undated Men and the ERA, 1980 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 1979 National Association of Bank Women, 1979 National Association of Social Workers, 1979-1980 National Organization for Women (NOW), 1979-1981

Correspondence, 1980 Newsletters, 1978-1985 (scattered)

Box 11

Newspaper clippings, 1978-1980 (2 folders) Political candidates

Presidential election:[includes a letter from Edward M. Kennedy], 1979 State elections, 1980

Presbytery of Des Moines, Iowa, 1980 Research papers re: ERA, 1976,1980 Retirement systems, 1980 Rural women and Iowa ERA, 1980 Sports and the Iowa ERA, 1980 State ERA's, 1976, 1980 State ERA court cases Students for ERA, 1979 U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau, 1980 United Methodist Church, 1979-1980 University Committee on Women, 1979 Washington State ERA, 1980 White House Conference on Families, 1980 Women Against the Draft, 1980 Women in Communications, Inc., 1979 Women's Equality Day, 1979 Young Women's Christian Association, 1979

Box 12

Audio Tapes

Erma Bombeck: paid radio announcement, October 1980 [one reel-to-reel tape] Right to Be a Woman Committee (four 30-second anti-ERA announcements) [shelved in audiocassette collection AC115] "The Voice of Business"[two reel-to-reel tapes; content and date unknown] Iowa ERA Coalition " America": Pledge of Allegiance radio announcement [shelved in audiocassette collection AC116] Speech by Peg Anderson, February 14, 1980 [shelved in aaudiocassette collection AC117]

Box 13

Oversize:

Banner

Posters C.L.A.S.S. (Citizens For Lighting And Safe Streets) Women's Consciousness Raising

 

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