Women's Political Caucus Donates Its Archives to Schlesinger Library

A national organization that aims to increase political opportunities for women donated its archives to the Schlesinger Library Tuesday.

Members of the National Women's Political Caucus spoke at a panel discussion in Agassiz Theater before presenting the group's archives, which include transcripts of its meetings and newspaper articles about its activities.

Patricia M. King, director of the Schlesinger Library, said she was pleased to receive the archives, and noted that the library had been given a number of similar collections documenting the progress of the women's rights movement. "I hope this trend will continue," she said.

Speaking to an audience of more than 120 spectators, Caucus founder Bella Abzug said she started the group because there were too few women involved in politics. "We wanted to open political channels and structures to women and minorities," she said.

Abzug said she believes that American political leaders are not currently addressing problems such as homelessness and crime adequately, and that the government needs an "infusion" of people who have not been consulted about such issues in the past.

"A change won't happen until women's collective opinions are weighed equally," she said. "We demand a seat at the table where life and death decisions are made."

Abzug said that the fight for women's political equality is still in its early stages. "We still need to get women elected to places where they can make a difference," she said.

Jane Wells, former chair of the Texas Women's Political Caucus, said that the organization was a product of the increase in interest in both women's rights and politics that took place in the early '70s.

Wells said that the organization originally sought to obtain an equal role in the political process for women. "There was a lot of activity trying to get 50 percent representation in politics. That vision of the '70s is still here," she said.

"Women are usually omitted from history, unless we submit our version of history," said Mildred Jeffrey, a former chair of the national organization.

Jeffrey called the archives "a thread to the past that gives us a vision, a belief."