League of Women Voters of the Lower Cape Fear Records

Collection

Identifier: SC-MS-351

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collections contains the records of the League of Women Voters of Lower Cape Fear from the early 1960s through present day, including meeting minutes, member rosters, informative guides, voter information, budget statements, publicity materials, and other business relevant to the every day operation of the organization. Based in Southeast North Carolina, of particular interest may be correspondence with government officials both in support of and in opposition to various existing and proposed legislation, as well as files specific to former League President, Jana Albritton. Copies of the League's newsletter from 1972 to the present provide insight into the organizations events and initiatives across five decades, while photos from the 1990s depict the work of officers and members as they register voters, attend conventions and town events, and visit local recreational areas.

Dates

Creation: 1962-2021

Creator

League of Women Voters of the Lower Cape Fear (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use.

Copyright Statement

Copyright 2018 University of North Carolina at Wilmington, all rights reserved (subject to exceptions). Certain items in this collections were conveyed to UNCW without the accompanying copyright. Where the donor did not convey copyright to UNCW, copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Historical Note

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, using education and advocacy to influence public policy. The parent organization was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1920 in response to the women's suffrage movement, and it was a leader in establishing the United Nations with U.S. participation. Though the name remains the same, it has allowed male membership since 1972.

The Lower Cape Fear local league in Southeast North Carolina was initially founded in 1962 and afforded offical status in 1964. It would go on to close, however, in 1967, due to both internal factors--such as leadership burn-out and limited member time available for community projects--and external factors--involving the closure of the railroad headquarters in Wilmington and tensions from the Civil Rights movement.

The local league reorganized in 1972 and was again afforded official status in 1974. Formerly known as the New Hanover County League of Women Voters, the league eventually expanded to encompass Brunswick County, New Hanover County, and Pender County. It officially changed its name to the League of Women Voters of Lower Cape Fear in 2004. In the Lower Cape Fear region, issues advocated for by the league have included community development, coastal and environmental concerns, rape victim advocacy, drinking water testing, election rights, and green-space planning.

Extent

7 Containers (Contains 5 document boxes, 1 oversize folder, and 1 bankers box of unprocessed material)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged at the top-level by type of material. The Records series has been divided into sub-series by the content or ownership of the records. All items within each have been maintained in their original order, which was largely chronologically. Additional, specific arrangement notes can be found within each sub-series and the photos folder.

Acquisition Information

These records were donated by Carol Roberts, president of the League of Women Voters of Lower Cape Fear, on October 24, 2018. Additions are ongoing.

Digital Access

Portions of this collection have been digitized and/or are born-digital. These items are identified by a black icon beside the item title when browsing via the collection organization hierarchy (to the right in desktop view; on the bottom in mobile view).

To view or access all of the digitized and/or born-digital materials in the collection directly, please select "View Digital Material" in the blue header above, just below the collection title.

All of the newsletters in Box 4, Folders 1-4 have been digitized and are available in the League of Women Voters of the Lower Cape Fear Digital Newsletter Collection.