Finding Aid of the North Carolina International Women's Year Coordinating Committee, General Records, 1975-1978, ORG.109

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Finding Aid of the North Carolina International Women's Year Coordinating Committee, General Records, 1975-1978, ORG.109

Abstract

The United Nations designated 1975 as International Women's Year (IWY). The North Carolina International Women's Year (NC-IWY) Coordinating Committee was charged with the planning of the state conference in Winston-Salem, June 16-18, 1977. Chairman of this committee was Dr. Elizabeth Koontz, assistant state superintendent of education for teacher education and member of the National Council of Negro Women. Program chairman was Grace Rohrer, former Secretary of the NC Department of Cultural Resources; and executive director of the NC-IWY Coordinating Committee was Jean LeFrancois. During the three-day session in Winston-Salem, participants attended a series of 24 workshops ranging from health and child care to financial backing and employment.

Descriptive Summary

Title
North Carolina International Women's Year Coordinating Committee Records
Call Number
ORG.109
Creator
North Carolina International Womens Year Coordinating Committee.
Date
1975 - 1978
Extent
15.00 boxes
Language
English
Repository
State Archives of North Carolina

Series Quick Links

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Org.109, North Carolina International Women's Year Coordinating Committee, General Records, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC, USA.

Collection Overview

This collection includes committee minutes, lists, correspondence, forms, applications, brochures, pamphlets, profile sheets, text of speeches, script for slide show, testimony, reports, etc. concerning the North Carolina International Women's Year and its Coordinating Committee.

Arrangement Note

Arranged by type of material.

Finding Aid prepared by: Kenneth W. Andrews and Ellen Z. McGrew on 20 June 1981.
Revised by Gwen Thomas Mays in February 2010.

bioghist

The United Nations designated 1975 as International Women's Year (IWY). American participation in IWY began with President Richard Nixon's proclamation January, 1974, calling for practical and constructive measures to be considered for the advancement of women. Previously, in January 1969, President Nixon had appointed Salisbury, N.C. native, Elizabeth Koontz, director of the United States Department of Labor Women's Bureau (the first African-American director) and subsequently she became deputy assistant secretary for Labor Employment Standards. While in that position, Dr. Koontz became the United States's delegate to the United Nations' Commission on the Status of Women, which was responsible for the resolution on the International Women's Year Observance in 1975.In January, 1975, President Ford initiated IWY observances by creating the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year to promote equality between men and women. Each state was to have its own coordinating committee to raise funds and serve as an outreach point to the community. With Jill Ruckelshaus as presiding officer of the national group, 35 men and women conducted a year-long series of events in connection with IWY and established 13 committees to investigate particular aspects of discrimination against women. The commission's formal report to the president was a 392 page study of the status of women, , 1976, which is a companion document to the report issued later after the national conference in Houston, .In June, 1975, the United Nations sponsored an IWY conference in Mexico City which approved a world plan of action to improve the condition of women and proclaimed 1975-1985 as the United National Decade of Women. This first worldwide gathering of governments in the interest of women met from June 19 to July 2. The secretary-general of the conference was Helvi Sipilia of Finland, the highest ranking woman in the secretariat. The conference was attended by 1,000 official delegates from 133 countries with 13 women from North Carolina registered as participants at the nongovernmental IWY tribune in Mexico City. For the United Nations, International Women's Day (observed on 8 March since 1975). The Day is traditionally marked with a message from the secretary-general of the United Nations.[Note: Dr. Helvi Sipilia also spoke at the N.C. IWY conference in Winston-Salem. See text of her address in Box 8.]On December 24, 1975, Representative Bella Abzug of New York introduced the bill in Congress, which passed into Public Law 94-167, directing the National Commission to convene a National Women's Conference [in Houston] to be preceded by state or regional meetings. Fifty million dollars was appropriated and provisions made for a diversity of delegates (groups working to advance rights of women, low-income, members of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious groups, and women of all ages).More than half the appropriation was allotted to state coordinating committees to hold state or regional meetings with appropriate workshops for formulation of resolutions and selection of delegates to the Houston conference. The North Carolina International Women's Year (NC-IWY) Coordinating Committee was charged with the planning of the state conference in Winston-Salem, June 16-18, 1977. Chairman of this committee was Dr. Elizabeth Koontz, assistant state superintendent of education for teacher education and member of the National Council of Negro Women. Program chairman was Grace Rohrer, former Secretary of the NC Department of Cultural Resources; and executive director of the NC-IWY Coordinating Committee was Jean LeFrancois. During the three-day session in Winston-Salem, participants attended a series of 24 workshops ranging from health and child care to financial backing and employment. Out of each workshop meeting came resolutions that were voted on by the entire meeting. All these sessions were open to the public; anyone over the age of 16 could participate; men were eligible to attend. Financial aid for the cost of attending the meeting and for daycare was available.The work of the NC-IWY Coordinating Committee culminated in a trip to the National Women's Conference in Houston in November, 1977, with Grace Rohrer as the chairman of the 37-member North Carolina delegation. The participants in the state conference in June had elected this delegation, composed of 32 representatives and 5 alternates. Also, the resolutions voted on at the June conference became part of the national report, (). The report was published as a summary of the national conference.In December of 1977 the General Assembly adopted the resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women's Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by member states, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.

Contents of the Collection

1. Coordinating Committee Minutes,1976-1977

scopecontent:

The chairman of the coordinating committee was Dr. Elizabeth Koontz. The minutes document the committee's commitment to prepare for the state conference in Winston-Salem, June 16-18, 1977.

<unitdate type="inclusive" calendar="gregorian" era="ce">November, 1976-July, 1977</unitdate>, November, 1976-July, 1977
Box 1

2. State Meeting Organization Material,December, 1976-June, 1977

scopecontent:

The executive director of the NC-IWY Coordinating Committee was Jean LeFrancois, and the program chair was Grace Rohrer, former Secretary of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. The committee prepared for a three-day session offering a series of 24 workshops. Topics ranged from health and child care to financial backing and employment.

Requests for Brochures, Information, Registrations
Box 2
Scholarship Requests
N.C. IWY Personnel
Meeting Organization for NC IWY
Nominating Committee
Local Arrangements Committee
Elections
Other Committees
State Meetings, National Commission on Observance of IWY,1977
Box 3
Agenda Letters
Budget Flow Sheets
Financial Correspondence
Press Releases
Mailing Lists

3. Profile Sheets/Summaries,December, 1976-June, 1977

scopecontent:

Counties
Alamance-Johnston
Box 4
Lenoir-Yancey
Box 5

4. Speak Outs,December, 1976-April, 1977

scopecontent:

This series includes correspondence; summaries; various forms, including those for volunteers and reports. Reporting forms are alphabetized by county. Speak Outs have been a method commonly used in national and state chapters of IWY, and a variety of other women's organizations that includes raising awareness, educating the community, and speaking out about concerns or against injustices, whether in small study groups or larger gatherings.

Correspondence

Summaries

Volunteer Forms

Reporting Forms

5. Newspaper Articles,1976-1977

scopecontent:

The work of the Coordinating Committee included making the community aware of its activities and goals through various press releases and news articles.

<unitdate type="inclusive" calendar="gregorian" era="ce">December, 1976 - December, 1977</unitdate>, December, 1976 - December, 1977
Box 7

6. N.C. State Meeting for International Women's Year Material, Winston-Salem,June 17-19, 1977

scopecontent:

This series reflects some details of planning for the meeting and items representative of the event. The Miscellaneous Items subseries includes literature, procedures, program; list of nominees for national conference in Houston, text of addresses of Helvie Sipilia, UN assistant secretary-general for social development and humanitarian affairs and of Dorothy Williams, director of policy and research Planning, HUD. Additionally, it includes a slide show scipt, reports, Senate hearings, contents of Public Law 94-167; a Jesse Helms' form letter and opening statement; testimonies; and participant lists.

Correspondence (publication and film)

Planning (solicitation license, display tables, souvenir program)

Miscellaneous Items

Script for slide show, <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">To Be Rather than to Seem: Women in North Carolina,</title> by Jessie Mercay and Nancy Wrenn.
List of registered participants.
Final report of NC IWY meeting to National Commission on the Observance of IWY, ., August 17, 1977
Ad Hoc Hearings of U. S. Senator Jesse Helms, September 14-17, 1977, Public Law 94-167, 94th Congress, H.R.-9924, December 23, 1975, <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">To direct the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, 1975, to organize and convene a National Women's Conference, and for other purposes.</title>
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Congressional Record</title> (Senate), <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Who Really Represents the Views of the Majority of American Women?</title>., July 21,1977
Letter [form], Jesse Helms to <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Dear Colleague</title>, ., September 7,1977
Opening Statement of Senator Helms at Ad Hoc hearings on IWY, ., September 14, 1977
Testimony of Women opposing the IWY Conference funding, procedures for selection of delegates, etc. Text from New Jersey, Illinois, Vermont, Hawaii; list of women from other states.
Testimony of Mary Pegg of North Carolina in opposition to IWY. ., [September 14-15, 1977]
Testimony of Elizabeth Koontz of North Carolina as chair of the NC Coordinating Committee, presented after the hearings as a statement for the record, ., September 23, 1977

7. State Meeting Registrations,1977

scopecontent:

These registrations are alphabetized by participants' last names.

<unitdate type="inclusive" calendar="gregorian" era="ce">June 17-19, 1977</unitdate>, June 17-19, 1977
Box 9

8. Publications and Unpublished Reports and Papers,December, 1976 - June, 1977

scopecontent:

This series includes primarily materials published or printed by the national organization that oversaw the year's activities among the various states, the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year.

Workshop Publications, National Commission on the Observance of IWY.

No. 1, <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Chronology of the Women's Movement in the U. S.,1961-1975.</title>
No. 2, Workshop Guide: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Child Care</title>
No. 4, Workshop Guide: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Education</title>
No. 5, Workshop Guide: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Employment</title>
No. 6, Workshop Guide: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Equal Rights Amendment</title>
No. 7, Workshop Guide: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Female Offenders</title>
No. 8, Workshop Guide: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Health</title>
No. 12, Workshop Guide: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Media</title>
No. 15, Workshop Guide: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Rape</title>
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">The Legal Status of Homemakers in North Carolina</title> by Elizabeth S. Peterson and Craig R. Mariger. Report prepared under contract with the <corpname>Center for Women Policy Studies</corpname> for the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year., April, 1977

Unpublished Reports and Papers.

<title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Women and Housing</title>, prepared by the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, HUD, ., May, 1977
Workshop Guideline, <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Women and Insurance,</title> National Commission on the Observance of IWY.
Workshop Outline, <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">International Component: State Women's Meetings,</title>[National Commission, IWY].
Workshop Planning and Execution, State Meeting at Winston-Salem
Personnel
Applications
Resolutions sent to Federal Officials
Resolutions sent to State Agencies

Publications for Workshops: <title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Catalyst</title> (Career Options Series for Undergraduate Women), ., December, 1976 - June, 1977

Pamphlets on career options, launching a career, engineering, industrial management, banking, restaurant management, accounting, retail management, sales, finance, insurance, government, and politics.
Box 11
Pamphlets on career opportunities (Series C) in advertising, art, communications, counseling, data processing, environmental affairs, fund raising, personnel, public relations, publishing, social work, travel agent.
Pamphlets on self-guidance (Series G) on planning for work and job campaign.
Manual on resume preparation, a step-by-step guide.

9. Other Meetings and Conferences, State and National,1977

scopecontent:

Materials regarding meetings held by other states during 1977 are alphabetized by state. This series also includes the national conference of 1977 and its follow-up activities. This subseries also includes a list of African American delegates from all states. There is also a brochure from an earlier meeting held in Mexico City in 1975, with a list of thirteen women who attended from North Carolina. Miscellaneous programs and literature date from related programs and conventions of 1977.

Other State Meetings for International Women's Year,April, 1977 -June, 1977

Women's Conferences, including the National Women's Conference, Houston,November 18-21, 1977.

International Women's Year Conference, Mexico City, ., 1975
Box 13
Brochure, List of North Carolina participants
North Carolina Arrangements for National Women's Conference.
Brochure
Correspondence; Press Conference on Torch Run,October 20, 1977
Delegate nomination Forms
National Women's Conference, Houston.
List of Black Delegates from all States.
National Plan of Action, adopted at National Women's Conference.
Resolutions Adopted by Delegates to the National Women's Conference.
Newsletters:
Update 9: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">After Houston,</title>, February, 1978
Update 10: <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">Your Concluding Issue,</title>, March, 1978
Miscellaneous
Program, <title xlink:type="simple" render="doublequote">The Working Woman,</title> sponsored by the Salem College Lifespan Center and the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Council on the Status of Women,October 27-29, 1977.
Literature, National Women's Political Caucus Convention,1977

10. Publications on Women,1971-1977

scopecontent:

Publications from national organizations include material on education, family, housing, insurance discrimination, media, politics, public service, sports, and Title IX, including the titles listed below. Dates ranges from 1971 to 1977. Miscellaneous North Carolina publications pertaining to women including a statewide survey of child care services and a review of , by Albert Coates.

National Publications on Women,1971-1977

Correspondence and literature on education, family, housing, insurance discrimination, media, politics, public service, sports, and Title IX, including:
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Educational Needs of Rural Women and Girls</title>, Report of the National Advisory Council on Women's Educational Programs.
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Women and Housing</title>, a Report on Sex Discrimination in Five American Cities, [HUD]., June 1975
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Sex Discrimination in Insurance: A Guide for Women, </title>, Women's Equality Action League, ., 1977
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Report of the Task Force on Women in Public Broadcasting</title>, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, ., 1975
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Chart</title>, Federal Laws and Regulations Prohibiting Sex Discrimination, ., March, 1976
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Women in Public Service</title>, Women's Division Republican National Committee, ., 1971

North Carolina Publications on Women, ., 1974, 1977

<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">Who Cares for Children? A Survey of Child Care Services In North Carolina</title>, (Durham: Learning Institute of NC) ., 1974
<title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">MBA Executive Program</title>, Wake Forest University, n.d.
Review, <title xlink:type="simple" render="italic">By Her Own Bootstraps</title>, by Albert Coates, 1977.

Subject Headings

  • Helms, Jesse.
  • Koontz, Elizabeth D. (Elizabeth Duncan), 1919-
  • Rohrer, Grace Jemison.
  • Helms, Jesse
  • Koontz, Elizabeth D. (Elizabeth Duncan), 1919-
  • Grace Jemison Rohrer
  • United States. National Commission on the Observance of International Women
  • International Women's Decade, 1976-1985
  • International Women's Year, 1975
  • National Women's Conference
  • North Carolina International Women's Year Coordinating Committee
  • National Women's Conference.
  • African American women--Political activity.
  • International Women's Decade, 1976-1985.
  • International Women's Year, 1975
  • International Women's Year, 1975--United States.
  • Legislative hearings--United States.
  • Women--Employment
  • Women--Legal status, laws, etc.
  • Women political activists
  • Women's rights
  • Women's rights--United States--Congresses.
  • African American women
  • Legislative hearings
  • Women
  • Women political activists
  • Women's rights
  • Winston-Salem (N.C.)
  • Winston-Salem (N.C.)

    • Acquisitions Information

    Ten manuscript boxes received from Dr. Elizabeth Koontz, Raleigh, September 19, 1979. Five manuscript boxes received from Grace Rohrer, Chapel Hill, November 5, 1980. One folder of records placed in Box 15 of previously accessioned papers. Received from Mrs. Grace J. Rohrer, November 25, 1985.

    Processing Information

  • Processed by Kenneth W. Andrews and Ellen Z. McGrew, June, 1981
  • Encoded by Fran Tracy-Walls, September, 2002