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Guide to the National Organization for Women, New York City Chapter (NOW-NYC) Records TAM.106

National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Records

Call Number

TAM.106

Dates

1965 - ongoing, inclusive
; 1966-2002, bulk

Creator

National Organization for Women. New York City
National Organization for Women. New York City (Role: Donor)

Extent

77.88 Linear Feet
in 132 manuscript boxes, 4 half manuscript boxes, 6 record cartons, 5 flat boxes, 17 oversized flat boxes, 9 flat-file-folders, a CD box, a card box, and a cassette box

Extent

2 websites
in 2 archived websites.

Extent

26 VHS

Extent

7 U-matic

Extent

12 audiocassette

Extent

3 Betamax

Extent

1 Betacam

Extent

4 1_Inch_Video_Reel

Extent

6.9 Gigabytes
in 1,467 computer files.

Language of Materials

Materials are predominately in English. Some materials are in Spanish and Chinese.

Abstract

The National Organization for Women (NOW) was established in Washington, D.C. in 1966 by Betty Friedan, with the New York City Chapter (NOW-NYC) following in 1967. The National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Records (dated 1965-ongoing) documents the operations, activism, events, and topical interests of NOW-NYC. The collection contains organizational documentation and administrative records; conference materials; membership information; communications and publicity materials; legal and policy documentation; correspondence; subject files; ephemera; photographs; audio and video recordings; and an archived version of the New York chapter website, http://nownyc.org/.

Historical Note

In 1966, Betty Friedan founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Washington, D.C., a group whose goal was to "bring women into the mainstream of American society." A year later in 1967, the New York Chapter (NOW-NYC) was founded. NOW-NYC's first four presidents were Jean Faust, Ti-Grace Atkinson, Ivy Bottini, and Jacqueline Ceballos. Early organizing efforts for NOW-NYC were largely related to employment discrimination in hiring practices; and wage discrepancies between men and women. One of NOW-NYC's early victories was the elimination of sex-segregated help-wanted advertisements in the New York Times. From its inception, the group was focused on several issues and functioned through a committee structure that included committees on the arts; child care and family relations; education and employment; the image of women in the media; legislation and politics; reproductive rights; and sexuality.

Over the years, NOW-NYC organized major demonstrations and strikes, most notably the "Women Strike for Equality March" held in New York City on August 26, 1970, which became an annual tradition for the organization for several years. In its early days, NOW-NYC often used attention-grabbing tactics to amplify its visibility despite its modest size—for example, staging a "flush-in" outside Colgate-Palmolive's offices to protest discriminatory hiring practices. Alongside these creative protests, NOW-NYC also employed more conventional democratic strategies such as lobbying legislators, gathering petitions, and sending mass mailings to the White House in an attempt to influence government policy. NOW-NYC later joined NOW-New York State (NOW-NYS) in hosting an annual state lobbying day; and during the 1980s, the organization established the WomanPower PAC, a political action committee dedicated to raising funds to help elect women and feminist candidates to public office.

During the 1970s, NOW-NYC's Education Committee examined course selections available to girls and boys in New York Public School and the committee's findings, "Report on Sex Bias in the Public Schools," prompted curriculum changes in schools nationwide. By the mid-1970s, NOW-NYC established one of the first Rape Prevention Committees that focused on issues related to sexual violence against women. This committee provided a range of services to survivors of rape and battery, while also helping to shift public attitudes toward these crimes and their victims. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, NOW-NYC expanded its employment initiatives to include career-training workshops and job referral programs for both employees and employers

In the early 1970s, as the campaign to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) began and gathered significant momentum throughout the decade, particularly in the years leading up to the ratification deadline, the ERA became a primary focus for NOW-NYC. NOW-NYC's ERA Task Force collaborated with activists in other states to support ratification efforts in state legislatures. In addition to its political advocacy, NOW-NYC's Image Committee worked to promote fair and respectful portrayals of women in the arts and media. This committee played a role in influencing changes to print advertising, while the Arts Committee highlighted gender discrimination within the art world.

As of 2025, NOW-NYC continues its mission to advance equality for women in New York City.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into 13 series, with one series being further arranged into subseries. Most series have been arranged alphabetically by topic and then further arranged chronologically, when applicable. General correspondence found in Series II is arranged in chronological order, while correspondence with specific subjects are arranged in alphabetical order after the general correspondence. Series VI: National and Regional NOW is first arranged by chapter or region, starting with the largest organizing group to smallest, and then topics are arranged alphabetically.

The collection is arranged as follows:

Series I: Administration

Series II: Correspondence

Series III: Officers' Files

Subseries III.A: Jean Faust

Subseries III.B: Elayne Snyder

Subseries III.C: Noreen Connell

Subseries III.D: Matthea Marquart

Series IV: Committees

Series V: Programs and Events

Series VI: National and Regional NOW

Series VII: NOW and other Organizations

Series VIII: Photographs, Negatives, and Slides

Series IX: Artifacts, Ephemera, and Graphic Materials

Series X: Our North American Foremothers Documentary

Series XI: Audiovisual Materials

Series XII: Legal Cases

Series XIII: Archived Website

Scope and Contents

The National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Records (inclusive dates 1965-ongoing; bulk dates 1966-2002) documents the administrative operations of NOW-NYC, the chapter's committees, the Service Fund of NOW-NYC, the Legal Defense and Education Fund, WomanPower PAC, and other regional branches of NOW; activism including Marches on Washington on behalf of women's rights, the Equality Riders Campaigns on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), and legal assistance offered through the Womanpower Project to women facing sexual discrimination in the workplace; and events including the Susan B. Anthony Awards, Women of Power and Influence Awards, National NOW conferences, the ERA Walk-A-Thon, and Opening New Doors: A Sales Career Conference for Women. This collection also documents the topical interests of the NOW-NYC including reproductive rights, sexual discrimination, media depictions of women, family relations, domestic violence, and the ERA. Materials in this collection are in paper, analog audiovisual, and electronic format.

The collection contains board, membership, and committee meeting minutes; administrative documents such as bylaws, agendas, calendars, memorandum, officers' files, treasurer's reports, committee reports, membership information, voting records, resumes, job descriptions, and budgets. The collection also includes correspondence between members of NOW-NYC, politicians, affiliated groups, legal organizations, and the media; conference materials such as agendas, programs, and information packets; communications and publicity materials including newsletters, press releases, pamphlets, event flyers, posters, and press clippings; legal and policy documentation including government publications, legislative bills, court decisions, legal briefs, and depositions; ephemera including pins, protest signs, banners, posters, and songbooks; photographs documenting NOW-NYC protests, special events, and award ceremonies; and audio and video recordings of NOW-NYC sponsored protests, conferences, symposiums, and other events. The collection also contains subject files, covering a variety of topics including, but not limited to: abortion, rape, domestic violence, marriage, divorce, child care, the 1984 Presidential election, non-traditional jobs for women, education access for women, how to manage finances, reproductive rights, problematic media portrayal of women, and the women's liberation movement.

An archived version of NOW-NYC's website, http://nownyc.org/, is also included in the collection. The website was first captured in 2007. The website includes information on the latest news and events regarding NOW-NYC, their priorities, and ways to get involved.

Researchers are advised that this collection contains two photographs that include nudity and depict death. These photographs are identified in the folder inventory of Series VIII: Photographs, Negatives, and Slides.

Legacy description, which may include outdated terminology, has been left in place.

Subjects

Organizations

Genres

People

Topics

Places

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Records; TAM 106; box number; folder number or electronic record identifier; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

To cite the archived website in this collection: Identification of item, date; National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Records; TAM 106; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Some materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by NOW-NYC in 1978, 1981-1993, 2008, 2012, 2018, 2023, and 2025. The accession numbers associated with these gifts are 1981.007, 1981.008, 1981.010, 2008.062, 2012.069, 2016.042, 2018.019, 2023.097 and 2025.082.

Materials found in the repository were added to the collection in 2014, 2015, and 2017. The accession number associated with these materials are 2014.054, NPA 2000.216, NPA 2000.232, NPA 2001.023, NPA 2000.208 and NPA 2000.209

https://nownyc.org/ was initially selected by curators and captured through the use of The California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in 2007 as part of the Other Left Activism Web Archive. In 2014, http://nownyc-notcool.tumblr.com/ was added. In November 2015, these websites were migrated to Archive-It, which uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy from the resulting WARC file of the website. In February 2022, seven Google Documents related to the 2021 Manhattan District Attorney candidates were added to Archive-it to better capture these materials directly. The accession numbers associated with these websites are 2022.043.

Custodial History

During the initial processing of the National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Records, photographs, ephemera, artifacts, and audio recordings were separated and cataloged as the National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Photographs (PHOTOS 081) and the National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Oral History Collection (OH 044). Posters were also removed and incorporated into the Tamiment Library Poster and Broadside Collection (GRAPHICS 002), under the subseries US56.2 - Women/National Organization for Women. Audiovisual materials were transferred to the library's film collection at this time.

In 2014, all of the separated materials were reintegrated into the National Organization for Women: New York City Chapter Records (TAM 106); NOW-NYC's archived website, preserved through the Internet Archive's Archive-It service, was added as Series XIII: Archived Website; and approximately 0.25 linear feet of additional materials found within the repository were incorporated into the collection, primarily within Series VI: National and Regional NOW.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Access to some audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room.

Audiovisual materials that have not been preserved may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact NYU Special Collections (special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596) with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Missing Materials

Some recordings from Series XI: Audiovisual Materials are missing as of October 2019 and are therefore not available to researchers.

Take Down Policy

Archived websites are made accessible for the purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.

If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to special.collections@nyu.edu.

Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.

Appraisal

During the course of processing in Fall 2025, the following materials were removed from the collection: duplicate materials; official employment complaints and legal materials protected under attorney-client privilege; materials containing social security numbers, resumes, and other personal identifying information; and off air recordings and commercially available films.

In November 2025, three 1" open reel videos with duplicative content were deaccessioned.

Separated Materials

Feminist newsletters and newspapers have been removed from the collection and rehoused as part of the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives Collection of Women's Rights Serials (TAM 751). They fall into the following categories: National NOW newsletters; NOW Regional newsletters (East, West, etc.); NOW--New York State newsletters; Local chapters of NOW (excluding NOW New York Chapter); NOW New York Chapter newsletters; and NOW New York Chapter committee newsletters.

Copies of Majority Report: The Women's Newspaper, Majority Report: The Women's Newspaper, New Directions for Women, and The NOW York Woman were removed from the collection because they are catalogued and searchable in New York University's Library catalog system.

Collection processed by

Sarah Griffin in 1997. Series XIII added by Rachel Schimke in 2012. Edited by Bonnie Gordon for DACS compliancy and to reflect the incorporation of nonprint materials in March 2014. Accretion materials processed in 2025 by Aki Snyder.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-12-11 20:48:49 UTC.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid is in English

Processing Information

In 2015, two boxes of photographs, negatives, artifacts, and graphic materials were discovered in the repository. The photographs and negatives were added to Series VIII: Photographs, Negatives, and Slides. That same year, artifacts and graphic materials found in the repository were incorporated into Series IX: Artifacts, Ephemera, and Graphic Materials.

In 2016, a donation from NOW-NYC including executive board meetings were incorporated into Series I: Administration and legal briefs from the same donation were added as a new series, Series XII: Legal Cases.

In 2017, additional materials were found in the repository. These materials had been separated from the original collection during processing and were reincorporated into the collection in 2017.

In 2018, five boxes containing banners, videos, photographs, and memorabilia were added to Series XIV: Unprocessed Materials as a 2018 Accretion. These items were originally stored loosely across several boxes and were transferred into proper archival containers. Loose photographs and documents were organized into folders by the archivist, with titles assigned according to general subject matter. The born-digital records included in this accretion were inventoried, but not forensically imaged at this time.

NOW-NYC sent an additional donation of legal briefs and executive board meetings minutes in 2016. The accession number associated with this gift is 2016.042. In 2018, the organization sent five boxes of photographs, videos, and memorabilia. The accession number associated with this gift is 2018.019. In July 2023, NOW-NYC sent additional administrative documents and ephemera. The accession number associated with this gift is 2023.097. In October 2025, NOW-NYC donated nine digital legal files. The accession number associated with this gift is 2025.082.

In 2022, additional websites were added to the collection and description for the archived websites was updated. In November 2023, an accretion of administrative documents and ephemera was intellectually integrated into the collection as Boxes 103-106. In April 2025, materials from Box 37 were rehoused into three flat boxes and four folders in a shared flat box. Materials from this box are now found in Boxes 37, 107-108, and Shared Tamiment 194 (Folders 3-6).

In Fall 2025, an accretion consisting of 44 record cartons, three flat-file-folders, two tall manuscript boxes, two half manuscript boxes, twelve oversized flat boxes, and a card box was arranged and described by an archivist. All materials housed in record cartons, tall manuscript boxes, and half manuscript boxes were rehoused into legal manuscript boxes. These materials were placed into legal archival folders. Oversized materials were rehoused into appropriately sized archival folders and oversized flat boxes. Original titles, if applicable, were retained, but in some instances, new titles were assigned to better reflect the folder's contents.

Materials were arranged into series and subseries by topic and then organized predominately alphabetically by file title within those series and subseries – the exception to this arrangement is Series II: Correspondence and Series VI: National and Regional NOW. Related materials were grouped together intellectually and physically, when possible. At this time, naming inconsistencies across the collection were standardized. Duplicate materials and materials that did not fit within the scope of the collection were returned to the donor.

Photographs were removed from their original housing and placed into archival sleeves. 42 analog audiovisual materials were assigned individual unique identifying numbers and housed appropriately.

New York University Libraries follows professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity of the content. During processing, 19 optical disks, two floppy disks, and a compact flash card were forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged using Isobusters and Forensics Toolkit. The electronic records were intellectually incorporated into the finding aid.

Revisions to this Guide

September 2016: Edited by Heather Mulliner to reflect incorporation of 2016 accession.
June 2019: Edited by Amy C. Vo for compliance with ACM Required Elements for Archival Description.
November 2019: Edited by Weatherly Stephan to note missing audiovisual materials in Series XI.
May 2021 - November 2025: Updated by Rachel Mahre and Natalia Medero to state some audiovisual materials have been digitized and are accessible to patrons.
January 2022: Updated by Lyric Evans-Hunter to reflect the digitization of some audiovisual materials.
May 2022: Edited by Nicole Greenhouse for additional administration information and the incorporation of archived websites.
April 2025: Updated by Lauren Stark to reflect rehousing of materials in Box 37
July-November 2025: Accretion materials were arranged and described by Aki Snyder.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from NOW NYC Guide.wpd

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012
https://library.nyu.edu/locations/special-collections-center/