Guide to the Congressional Union Records
RG 15.1

Summary Information

Repository

Sarah Lawrence College Archives

Title

Congressional Union Records

ID

RG 15.1

Date [bulk]

Bulk, 1981-1982

Date [inclusive]

1980-1987

Extent

3.5 linear feet 3 record cartons, 1 artifact box

Language

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Sarah Lawrence College Archives June 2003

Revision Description

 Processed June 2003 by Dawn Walsh. Materials added and finding aid updated in June 2012 by Sarah Pinard. Finding aid entered in Archivists' Toolkit in June 2012 by Sarah Pinard. June 2012

Conditions Governing Access note

Copyright resides with donor, Pamela Elam. The materials are unrestricted and reproduction is allowed by Sarah Lawrence College and by researchers who satisfy its general requirements for use of unpublished materials.

Acquisition note

Donated by Pamela Elam, M.A. Women's History '80, in December 2001

Existence and Location of Originals note

Original microfilm of History of Women, reel 963, is located at the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America.

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Historical note

Formed in the Fall of 1980 by graduates of the Women’s History Program at Sarah Lawrence College, and incorporated as a non-profit organization in June of 1981, the Congressional Union (CU) was an organization of feminist historians and activists named in honor of the militant woman suffrage group created by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns in 1914 and which later became the National Woman’s Party. The Congressional Union sought to recapture the non-violent, but militant, spirit of the suffragists in order to advance feminist issues, namely the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. The founders advocated a “woman-first” political strategy. For their platform, they used the 1977 National Women’s Conference Plan of Action.

The leadership of the CU was comprised of an Executive and an Advisory Committee. All decisions about structure and strategy were to be made by the Executive Committee. The Advisory Committee’s role was to suggest strategy and tactics for the Executive Committee’s consideration and to help to create and sustain the growth of the CU.

Founded in Bronxville, NY, the CU soon developed a D.C. Chapter and a Northwest Chapter. However, membership consisted of women from across the nation. The CU sponsored sixteen actions in all, the first being a silent, banner-carrying procession on the eve of President Reagan’s inauguration (January 19, 1981) and the last being the participation in the National Day of Mourning (June 30, 1982) when the ERA failed to win passage.

Founding member Pam Elam, and others, then tried unsuccessfully to produce a film about militant suffrage and its connections with the ERA. The CU also became an active member of the New York Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights. However, with the failure to ratify the ERA and the inability to obtain foundation funding to support the film and other projects of interest, the CU dissolved its non-profit corporation status on April 1, 1984.

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Scope and Contents note

The collection contains a wide and extensive range of documents covering the full time span of the organization including its philosophy, structure and tactics, actions, press releases, finances, internal conflicts, membership, correspondence, newsletters, media coverage, and tape recordings.

The collection also contains personal papers of two key figures of the CU: co-founder Pam Elam and, to a lesser extent, D.C. Chapter leader Sonia Johnson.

Also included are documents linking the CU to the broader activist and scholarly realms, including newsletters from other feminist organizations and program material for women’s history conferences.

The two oversized folders contain political campaign broadsides for Miriam Friedlander, Sonia Johnson, the Mondale/Ferraro ticket, and the Collins/Beshear ticket. The folders also contain oversized materials removed from the record carton as well as Congressional Union flags.

Files arranged alphabetically by subject heading.

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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

• Coalition for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
• Congressional Union.
• National Women's Party.
• Sarah Lawrence College. Women's History.

Genre(s)

• Buttons (information artifacts)
• Correspondence
• Flags
• Megaphones
• Microfilms
• Newsletters
• Rubber Stamps

Personal Name(s)

• Elam, Pamela
• Johnson, Sonia

Subject(s)

• Equal Rights Amendments

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Collection Inventory