NARAL PRO-CHOICE MINNESOTA:
An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota, creator. | |
| Title: | NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota records. | |
| Dates: | 1963-2004. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Minutes of meetings (1966-1998), correspondence (1967-1999), and subject files (1963-2004) documenting the activist efforts of a Minnesota organization that seeks to educate the public on abortion and to ensure a woman's right to choose via legislation. The minutes of meetings and some subject files (e.g., annual reports, board lists, financial yearly reports, press releases) span one or more iterations of the organization, which has gone through several name changes. | |
| Quantity: | 2.5 cubic feet (3 boxes). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
HISTORICAL NOTE
Originally organized as the Minnesota Council for the Legal Termination of Pregnancy (MCLTP) in 1966, a group of activists sought to educate the public on abortion and to reform legislation. The organization has gone through several name changes: the Minnesota Organization for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, or MORAL (1972); the Abortion Rights Council of Minnesota, or ARC (1974); and Minnesota NARAL, in affiliation with the National Abortion Rights Action League (1991). Its current name was adopted in 2003, a reflection of its national partner's name change.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Correspondence consists of letters from public officials and organization members and from erstwhile president Betty Benjamin to board members and others. They document the contemporary status of the issue and the board's work during the early years of the pro-choice movement. The subject files constitute the bulk of the collection and range from the media's coverage of the pro-choice movement, the organization's own records (action alerts, annual reports, financial records, newsletters, speeches), and documentation of other organizations sympathetic to NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota's agenda.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota Records. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 13,612; 16,016
Processing Information:
Processed by: Anne Levin, October 1991; Christopher G. Welter, April 2010
Catalog ID number: 990017372950104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| 141.F.17.4F | 1 | Minutes of meetings, September 21, 1966-July 31, 1998. 11 folders. | |||||||||
| Correspondence, 1967-1999. 32 folders. | |||||||||||
| Letters from public officials and members and from erstwhile president Betty Benjamin to board members and others. They document the contemporary status of the issue and the board's work during the early years of the pro-choice movement. | |||||||||||
| Subject Files: | |||||||||||
| 25th anniversary: Minnesota Abortion Rights Council, 1991. | |||||||||||
| 25th anniversary: Roe v. Wade, January 22, 1998. | |||||||||||
| Abortion and choice printed articles, undated. | |||||||||||
| Abortion history paper, January 1984. | |||||||||||
| Action alerts, 1973-1998. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 141.F.17.5B | 2 | Adopt a picketer, 1982. | |||||||||
| Advertisements, undated. | |||||||||||
| Affiliate developmental reports to national NARAL, 1978-1986. 3 folders. | |||||||||||
| Annual reports of Minnesota NARAL, 1978-2002. | |||||||||||
| Abortion Rights Council (ARC) case study, 1985. | |||||||||||
| ARC political action committee minutes, September 1985-January 1987. | |||||||||||
| Board lists, 1966-1997. | |||||||||||
| Board retreats: Planning, 1989-1997. | |||||||||||
| Book reviews, 1985-1992. | |||||||||||
| Budgets, 1982-1998. | |||||||||||
| [Governor] Carlson-[Lieutenant Governor] Dyrstad: Committee on Prevention of Unintended Pregnancy, 1990-1992. | |||||||||||
| Cartoons on abortion, 1985-2003. | |||||||||||
| Catholics for Choice: national publications, 1982-1992. | |||||||||||
| Choice Campaign Corps: Organizer reports, May 1956-March 1994. | |||||||||||
| Choice News flyers, July 1989-August 1990. | |||||||||||
| Clippings, newspaper, 1987-1989. | |||||||||||
| Includes monthly summaries for each year. | |||||||||||
| Coalition for Freedom of Choice, 1973-1981. 6 folders. | |||||||||||
| Constitutional amendments, 1981-2002. | |||||||||||
| Dialogue, rhetoric, pro/con, 1970-1993. | |||||||||||
| Elections and abortion, June 1988. | |||||||||||
| Fact sheets, 1977-2003. | |||||||||||
| Financial yearly reports, 1968-1997. | |||||||||||
| Freedom of Choice Act, 1992. | |||||||||||
| Fund raising, 1979-1998. 11 folders. | |||||||||||
| History of ARC, 1966-2001. | |||||||||||
| Hodgson, Dr. Jane Annual Award, 1989-2004. | |||||||||||
| Income taxes filed, 1975-1986. | |||||||||||
| International Women's Year, June 2-5, 1977. | |||||||||||
| Laws: Minnesota, 1963-1980. | |||||||||||
| Lawyers for Choice, 1983-1984. | |||||||||||
| Legal guidelines: Working with candidates, 1976-1984. | |||||||||||
| Letters to the editor (sampling), 1973-2002. | |||||||||||
| Membership files, 1967-1998. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Includes recruiting or renewal letters, data, and fundraisers. | |||||||||||
| Minnesota Equal Rights Alliance, February 1984-May 1988. | |||||||||||
| Minutes and reports. | |||||||||||
| Minnesota NARAL annual plans, 1993-1999. | |||||||||||
| Minnesota NARAL brochures, undated and 1967-1983. | |||||||||||
| Newsletters: Choice Newsline, 1993-1998, 2000-2002. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Oberstar (U.S. Representative) ARC political action committee and DFL politics, 1984. | |||||||||||
| Operation Rescue, 1991-1993. | |||||||||||
| Opinion polls (Minnesota and national), 1969-1996. | |||||||||||
| PERC (Public Education and Research Committee) minutes, January 1967-April 1980. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 141.F.17.6F | 3 | Physicians for Choice, 1981-1985. 5 folders. | |||||||||
| Physicians correspondence and articles, July 1970-August 1988. | |||||||||||
| Physicians, Anti-abortion correspondence to, 1977-1992. | |||||||||||
| Precinct caucus kits, undated. | |||||||||||
| Press releases, 1970-1986. | |||||||||||
| Pro-Choice Coalition: Save St. Paul Ramsey Hospital, 1988. | |||||||||||
| Referral sources for abortions, 1971. | |||||||||||
| Religion and abortion, 1967-1982. | |||||||||||
| Seniors for Choice, 1989-1996. | |||||||||||
| Silent Scream film screenings, 1985. | |||||||||||
| Speech copies: Betty Benjamin, 1968-1990. 2 folders. | |||||||||||
| Stationery, undated. | |||||||||||
| Students for Choice, 1993-1994. | |||||||||||
| Teenage pregnancy (parental notification), 1984-1998. | |||||||||||
| U.S. Supreme Court decisions, 1973-1992. | |||||||||||
| Women's Abortion Coalition, 1971-1974. | |||||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Abortion -- Law and legislation -- Minnesota.
- Pro-choice movement -- Minnesota.
- Persons:
- Benjamin, Betty M., 1924-2004.
- Organizations:
- Abortion Rights Council of Minnesota.
- Coalition for Freedom of Choice (Minneapolis, Minn.)
- Minnesota. Legislature.
- Minnesota Council for the Legal Termination of Pregnancy.
- Minnesota Equal Rights Alliance.
- Minnesota NARAL (Organization)
- Minnesota Organization for Repeal of Abortion Laws.
- Public Education and Research Committee (Minn.)
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