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National Order of Women Legislators Records, 1933-1988Finding AidEncoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.© 2005
Historical NoteThe National Order of Women Legislators was founded in 1938 when woman legislators from more than a dozen states assembled in Washington to establish a national group. The first meeting of the organization was a social one, a tea given by the organizing Connecticut group. This affair, attended by over thirty legislators, was followed by a business meeting at which participants formulated and approved by-laws and a constitution for a national organization. The group also chose an insignia of a small gold owl (prompting the nicknaming of "Owls" to the Order) to be worn only by those elected to state legislatures. The group had a private audience with the president followed by tea at the White House. The National Order of Women Legislators is a non-partisan organization. As outlined in its constitution, the group's members are interested in promoting "a spirit of helpfulness" among women members of state legislatures, acting as a "clearing house for information," and promoting the election of competent women to public office. All women who have ever served in either house of a state legislature are eligible to join. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the CollectionThe National Order of Women Legislators Records is a somewhat fragmented collection of minutes, reports, publications, and other administrative records. The bulk of the collection consists of scrapbooks of clippings, photographs, correspondence, and printed material, about individual legislators and NOWL meetings, mostly dated 1970s and 1980s. NOTE: The container list for this collection is available in the Sophia Smith Collection. Please contact us to request a copy. Return to the Table of Contents Search TermsReturn to the Table of Contents |
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