IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
WOMEN’S EQUITY ACTION LEAGUE, IOWA DIVISION
RECORDS, 1972-1977
5 linear inches
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ACQUISITION: |
The records (donor no. 236) were
donated by N. Peggy Burke in 1988. |
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ACCESS: |
The records
are open for research. |
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COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been transferred in part to the University of Iowa. |
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PROCESSED BY: |
Bridgett Williams-Searle, 2000. [WORD 7, WEAL.doc] |
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History
The Women’s Equity Action League (WEAL) was founded in Cleveland, Ohio
in 1968. Originally formed as a “middle-of-the-road” organization, WEAL sought
to attract “more conservative” women who disliked the then-radical,
confrontational politics of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Instead of focusing on such issues as
reproductive rights, equity in divorce and rape laws, and civil protections for
lesbians (topics deemed “controversial”), WEAL members devoted their efforts to
winning economic advancement for women and eliminating sexism in educational
institutions. They had notable success in establishing equity in estate
taxation, eliminating gender-specific job listings, and removing sex-based bias
in vocational education training programs. WEAL is perhaps best known, however,
for its initiatives to reduce sexism in American colleges and universities. Its
members filed hundreds of lawsuits against schools that received federal
operating aid, successfully arguing that any recipient of federal contracts had
to conform to already existing affirmative action guidelines contained in the
Federal Civil Rights Act of 1965. Although its membership numbers were always
fairly small nationally (no more than 2000), its members included many
high-ranking government officials, university professors, and influential
business people. WEAL leaders believed that the high visibility of its members
in public life gave the organization more clout than the numbers suggested.
WEAL members, like their more radical counterparts in the feminist movement,
strongly endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment. (See Iowa: State president’s
manual, 1975-1976 and National: Membership lists, 1976, for more historical
information on WEAL as a national organization.)
The Iowa regional affiliate, from which most of these records have been
collected, was formed in late 1972. In 1973, Iowa WEAL had forty-five members,
most of whom taught at the state’s universities or worked in state government.
Membership was concentrated in Des Moines, Cedar Falls-Waterloo, and Iowa City;
few western Iowa women joined. Members agreed to concentrate state resources on
the problem of discrimination in educational institutions, leaving local
chapters to develop their own special projects. (They appear to have borrowed their
institutional structure directly from the League of Women Voters, an
organization familiar to many members.) Annual conferences hosted by Iowa WEAL
gave professional women a chance to network and exchange information with those
of like interests. A concerted membership drive in 1974 raised membership
numbers to over seventy, but by 1976, only twenty-two members remained in the
organization. Too small to be a viable political force, Iowa WEAL dwindled away
while larger feminist organizations, notably the Iowa Women’s Political Caucus
and Iowa NOW, picked up its former members.
Scope and Content Note
The Women’s Equity Action League records (1972-1977) measure 5 linear
inches and are organized in five series: Iowa; Law; National; Sister chapters;
and Women’s media.
The Iowa series (1972-1976) contains annual meeting minutes,
correspondence to and from the state president’s office, a membership list for
1975, one copy of The WEAL Scoop (the
newsletter of WEAL’s Iowa Division), and state treasurer’s papers from
1973-1976. This series also contains the manual for state presidents
(1975-1976), which provides a comprehensive overview of the organization and
its history.
The Law series (1973-1975) offers a layperson’s overview of the issues
considered critical by WEAL members. Topics include “How to File a Patent,”
principles of employment discrimination and sexual discrimination law, and a
copy of the Iowa Civil Rights Act.
The National series (1972-1977) contains national board meeting agendas
and minutes for select meetings. It also includes advice from the national
organization to its state and local affiliates about how to increase
membership, develop chapters, and raise funds. Finally, the series contains the
testimony of Arvonne Skelton Fraser, a WEAL activist and the daughter of
farmers, who spoke on the subject of estate taxation before the national House
Ways and Means Committee in 1976.
The Sister Chapters series (1975, 1976) contains one document each from
Iowa WEAL’s sister chapters in North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The North
Carolina document is a program from a pro-ERA rally in 1976. The Pennsylvania
document is a state chapter newsletter from 1975.
Finally, the Women’s Media series (1972-1975) contains a miscellany of items
related to the coverage of women’s issues in contemporary media. Included are
small collections of feminist publications Women
Today and The Spokeswoman; also
included are the McGraw-Hill guidelines for non-sexist writing. A mid-1970s
flyer outlining a month of “women’s programming” on Iowa public television
establishes the arid intellectual context within which audacious feminist media
projects were launched.
Box no. Description
Box 1
Iowa
Annual meeting minutes, 1973
Correspondence from state president’s
office, 1973, 1975
Correspondence to state
president’s office, 1975-1977
Direct action training,
Midwest Academy, 1974
State board meeting minutes,
1973-1975
State chapter membership
list, 1975
State presidents’ manual,
1975-1976
State treasurer’s papers,
1973-1976
Title VII, Iowa Civil Rights
Commission, notes, ca. 1975
The WEAL Scoop, 1974
Waterloo chapter activities,
1975?
Law
Anti-discrimination
resources, 1975
Correspondence with General Accounting
Office re: affirmative action lawsuits, 1974
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) guidelines regarding employment discrimination in the case of
pregnancy, maternity, and childbirth, 1972
How to file a patent, 1974
Iowa Civil Rights Act of
1965, as amended, ca. 1975
Jacky Adams lawsuit,
1975-1976
Principles of employment
discrimination law, ca. 1975
Sex discrimination in
vocational education, 1977
National
Annual conference program,
1975
Annual meeting,
Philadelphia, 1976
Board meeting agenda and
related materials, October 1975
Board meeting minutes,
February 1977
Expanding WEAL membership,
1974
Fundraising letter, 1975
Membership tallies by state,
1976
Policy regulations
concerning relationships between local, state, and national WEAL, February 1973
Resolutions from WEAL
convention, 1974
Suggestions for state
chapter development, ca.1970
Testimony of Arvonne Skelton
Fraser (on farming women and estate taxation), House Ways and Means Committee,
March 18, 1976
Title IX action alert and
information sheet, 1975
WEAL education and legal
defense fund, 1976
Sister chapters
Rally for ERA/WEAL dinner,
November 1976 (North Carolina)
Pennsylvania Report, February 1975 (Pennsylvania)
Women’s Media
McGraw-Hill guidelines for
non-sexist writing, ca. 1974
Sex-role attitudes survey, Impact (Winter 1972)
The Spokeswoman (Chicago), scattered, 1974
Women’s programming on
IEBN/KRIN (Iowa), ca. 1974
Women Today (Washington, D.C.), scattered, 1973-1975