League of Women Shoppers Records, 1937-2001
type: FindingAid
type: Document
conforms to: General International Standard for Archival Description
publisher: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
encoded as: League of Women Shoppers Records, 1937-2001
topic: League of Women Shoppers Records
subject: League of Women Shoppers Records
has part: Biographical History for: League of Women Shoppers Records
topic: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
subject: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
topic: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
subject: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
topic: Constitution and by-laws: agenda, drafts, and finished documents, 1939, 1930s
subject: Constitution and by-laws: agenda, drafts, and finished documents, 1939, 1930s
topic: National Board
subject: National Board
topic: Agendas, 1938
subject: Agendas, 1938
topic: Minutes, 1938-43, n.d.
subject: Minutes, 1938-43, n.d.
topic: Correspondence and memoranda, 1938-44
subject: Correspondence and memoranda, 1938-44
topic: National Executive Committee: minutes, 1938-42
subject: National Executive Committee: minutes, 1938-42
topic: National Membership meetings: minutes, 1943-44
subject: National Membership meetings: minutes, 1943-44
topic: Local affiliates
subject: Local affiliates
topic: Agenda, 1938
subject: Agenda, 1938
topic: Minutes, 1938
subject: Minutes, 1938
topic: Correspondence, 1938-44
subject: Correspondence, 1938-44
topic: Publicity
subject: Publicity
topic: Leaflets, 1938-45, n.d.
subject: Leaflets, 1938-45, n.d.
topic: Newsletters, 1938-43, n.d.
subject: Newsletters, 1938-43, n.d.
topic: Pamphlets: drafts and printed material, 1937-44
subject: Pamphlets: drafts and printed material, 1937-44
topic: Miscellaneous: lists, notes, and printed material, n.d.
subject: Miscellaneous: lists, notes, and printed material, n.d.
topic: Testimony, 1944, n.d.
subject: Testimony, 1944, n.d.
topic: Members: biographical notes and list, cir ca 1940, 20 00-01
subject: Members: biographical notes and list, cir ca 1940, 20 00-01

General International Standard for Archival Description
type: Standard

Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Repository
type: Organization
type: Agent
country code: US
maintenance agency code: mnsss
is publisher of: League of Women Shoppers Records, 1937-2001
administers: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
provides access to: League of Women Shoppers Records
provides access to: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
provides access to: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
provides access to: Constitution and by-laws: agenda, drafts, and finished documents, 1939, 1930s
provides access to: National Board
provides access to: Agendas, 1938
provides access to: Minutes, 1938-43, n.d.
provides access to: Correspondence and memoranda, 1938-44
provides access to: National Executive Committee: minutes, 1938-42
provides access to: National Membership meetings: minutes, 1943-44
provides access to: Local affiliates
provides access to: Agenda, 1938
provides access to: Minutes, 1938
provides access to: Correspondence, 1938-44
provides access to: Publicity
provides access to: Leaflets, 1938-45, n.d.
provides access to: Newsletters, 1938-43, n.d.
provides access to: Pamphlets: drafts and printed material, 1937-44
provides access to: Miscellaneous: lists, notes, and printed material, n.d.
provides access to: Testimony, 1944, n.d.
provides access to: Members: biographical notes and list, cir ca 1940, 20 00-01

Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: SpatialThing
is administered by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

League of Women Shoppers Records, 1937-2001
type: EAD
type: Document
description: Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Brook Hopkins. 2003-07-01
created: 2003-07-01
conforms to: Encoded Archival Description
conforms to: Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
encoding of: League of Women Shoppers Records, 1937-2001

Encoded Archival Description
type: Standard

Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
type: Standard

League of Women Shoppers Records
type: ArchivalResource
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
level: collection
identifier: MS 328
date: 1937 - 2001
date created accumulated string: 1937 - 2001
date created accumulated start: 1937
date created accumulated end: 2001
produced in: Creation of League of Women Shoppers Records
date: 1937-1944
date created accumulated string: 1937-1944
date created accumulated end: 1944
extent: 1 box
extent: (.25 linear ft.)
language: eng
origination: League of Women Shoppers
has biographical history: Biographical History for: League of Women Shoppers Records
scopecontent: Scope and Contents of the Collection The League of Women Shoppers Records consist of .25 linear feet dating from 1937-2001. These materials are far from a complete archive of the organization, but rather a selection of materials collected by one member. The bulk of the records date from 1937 through 1945 and focus on the national office of the League and its Chicago branch, though there are also a few records from Columbus, Ohio, Washington, D.C., and Newark, New Jersey. The documents reveal the history of the League of Women Shoppers, its goals, and the activities it conducted to promote them. Types of materials include agendas, correspondence, minutes, notes, printed material, and testimony. Consumer education, union organizing, workplace conditions, and popular front activism are some of the major subjects addressed in the collection. The records offer insight into the goals and activities of a typical popular front-era progressive group that organized women on the basis of their roles as wives, mothers, and consumers and aimed to improve conditions for women and for the working-class as a whole. In addition to documenting the League of Women Shoppers itself, the papers document major twentieth century historical trends such as the achievements of the industrial union movement in the 1930s, and the increasing attention devoted to race and gender issues in U.S. politics during and after World War II.
associated with: Consumer education--United States--History--Sources
associated with: Consumers' leagues--United States--History--Sources
associated with: Labor movement--History--20th century--Sources
associated with: Labor unions--United States--History--20th century--Sources
associated with: Popular fronts--United States--History--20th century
associated with: Work environment--United States--History--20th century--Sources
associated with: O'Connor, Jessie Lloyd, 1904-
associated with: League of Women Shoppers--History--Sources
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
aggregates: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
has part: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
aggregates: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)

collection
type: Level
type: Concept

Creation of League of Women Shoppers Records
type: Creation
type: Event
product: League of Women Shoppers Records
involved: League of Women Shoppers Records
time: Time of Creation of League of Women Shoppers Records
at time: Time of Creation of League of Women Shoppers Records

Time of Creation of League of Women Shoppers Records
type: Interval
timeline: universaltimeline
start: 1937
interval starts: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/1937
P86i contains: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/1937
end: 2001
interval ends: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/2001
P86i contains: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/2001
end: 1944
interval ends: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/1944
P86i contains: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/1944

1 box
type: Extent
archbox: 1
label: (.25 linear ft.)

League of Women Shoppers
type: Agent
is origination of: League of Women Shoppers Records

Biographical History for: League of Women Shoppers Records
type: BiographicalHistory
type: Document
type: DocumentPart
body: Historical Note Christmas card sold by the League of Women Shoppers, 1942 Twenty socially conscious women who wished to use their power as consumers to obtain justice for workers founded the League of Women Shoppers (LWS) in New York City in June 1935. By 1937, the New York group claimed thousands of members and established branches in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Newark, New Jersey, and Columbus, Ohio. Although the LWS was officially non-partisan and, according to its constitution, "non-political," many members, including Jessie Lloyd O'Connor, Lillian Hellman, and Freda Kirchwey, had ties to other progressive and labor organizations. The official purposes of the League were threefold: to investigate the working conditions in the stores they patronized and the factories that produced the goods they consumed; to educate and organize consumers to support union organizing and to press for better wages and working conditions for workers who produced goods and provided services; and to protect and improve American living standards through both grassroots actions, such as boycotts and buyers' cooperatives, and legal regulation, such as rent and price controls and the protection of wages. In keeping with its unofficial progressive bent and political agenda, the LWS also supported other social justice causes, including civil rights for African-Americans and equal pay for women workers. The Dies Committee branded the League of Women Shoppers a subversive organization in 1939. Nevertheless, League members continued to participate in a variety of consumer and union organizing campaigns through the early years of the 1940s. When the U.S. became formally involved in World War II, the League expanded its program to include efforts to support rationing and discourage black market sales of goods in short supply. In 1944, League members-whose numbers had decreased significantly from the late 1930s-worked for Franklin Roosevelt's reelection to a four…
topic: League of Women Shoppers
subject: League of Women Shoppers
is biographical history for: League of Women Shoppers Records
is part of: League of Women Shoppers Records, 1937-2001

Consumer education--United States--History--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

lcsh
type: ConceptScheme

Consumers' leagues--United States--History--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Labor movement--History--20th century--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Labor unions--United States--History--20th century--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Popular fronts--United States--History--20th century
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Work environment--United States--History--20th century--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

O'Connor, Jessie Lloyd, 1904-
type: Concept
in scheme: lcnaf
focus: O'Connor, Jessie Lloyd, 1904-

lcnaf
type: ConceptScheme

O'Connor, Jessie Lloyd, 1904-
type: Person
type: Agent
type: E21 Person

League of Women Shoppers--History--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcnaf
focus: leagueofwomenshoppers--history--sources

SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: League of Women Shoppers Records
is aggregated by: League of Women Shoppers Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
level: series
extent: .1 linear ft.
scopecontent: This series provides an overview of the League of Women Shoppers' national office and the affiliate organizations in Chicago, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio, Newark, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. It is arranged in four subseries: Constitution and by-laws, National Board, National Executive Committee, Membership Committee meetings, and Local affiliates. The National Board material dates from 1938 through1944 and includes agendas, minutes, correspondence, and memoranda. Similarly, the material from the Local affiliates dates from 1938 through 1944 and includes agendas, minutes, and correspondence.

SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: League of Women Shoppers Records
is aggregated by: League of Women Shoppers Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
level: series
extent: .15 linear ft.
scopecontent: This series contains material that documents the activities undertaken by the League of Women Shoppers at the national and local levels between 1937 and 1944, and biographical material about two members of local League branches. It is organized into four subseries: Publicity, Testimony, Members, and Miscellaneous. Publicity, the largest subseries, dates from 1938 to 1945 and consists of leaflets, newsletters, pamphlets, notes, lists, and miscellaneous printed material, organized chronologically. Members includes biographical material about Alice Lesser Shepard, a member of the Eastchester, New York branch, and Lucille Montgomery, a progressive philanthropist, who was a key figure in the Washington, D.C. branch of the LWS.

SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: League of Women Shoppers Records
is aggregated by: League of Women Shoppers Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
level: series
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Constitution and by-laws: agenda, drafts, and finished documents, 1939, 1930s
aggregates: Constitution and by-laws: agenda, drafts, and finished documents, 1939, 1930s
has part: National Board
aggregates: National Board
has part: National Executive Committee: minutes, 1938-42
aggregates: National Executive Committee: minutes, 1938-42
has part: National Membership meetings: minutes, 1943-44
aggregates: National Membership meetings: minutes, 1943-44
has part: Local affiliates
aggregates: Local affiliates

SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: League of Women Shoppers Records
is aggregated by: League of Women Shoppers Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
level: series
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Publicity
aggregates: Publicity
has part: Testimony, 1944, n.d.
aggregates: Testimony, 1944, n.d.
has part: Members: biographical notes and list, cir ca 1940, 20 00-01
aggregates: Members: biographical notes and list, cir ca 1940, 20 00-01

series
type: Level
type: Concept

.1 linear ft.
type: Extent

.15 linear ft.
type: Extent

Constitution and by-laws: agenda, drafts, and finished documents, 1939, 1930s
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
is aggregated by: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

National Board
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
is aggregated by: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Agendas, 1938
aggregates: Agendas, 1938
has part: Minutes, 1938-43, n.d.
aggregates: Minutes, 1938-43, n.d.
has part: Correspondence and memoranda, 1938-44
aggregates: Correspondence and memoranda, 1938-44

National Executive Committee: minutes, 1938-42
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
is aggregated by: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

National Membership meetings: minutes, 1943-44
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
is aggregated by: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Local affiliates
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
is aggregated by: SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION (1938-44)
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Agenda, 1938
aggregates: Agenda, 1938
has part: Minutes, 1938
aggregates: Minutes, 1938
has part: Correspondence, 1938-44
aggregates: Correspondence, 1938-44

Agendas, 1938
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: National Board
is aggregated by: National Board
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Minutes, 1938-43, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: National Board
is aggregated by: National Board
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Correspondence and memoranda, 1938-44
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: National Board
is aggregated by: National Board
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Agenda, 1938
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Local affiliates
is aggregated by: Local affiliates
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Minutes, 1938
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Local affiliates
is aggregated by: Local affiliates
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Correspondence, 1938-44
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Local affiliates
is aggregated by: Local affiliates
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Publicity
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
is aggregated by: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Leaflets, 1938-45, n.d.
aggregates: Leaflets, 1938-45, n.d.
has part: Newsletters, 1938-43, n.d.
aggregates: Newsletters, 1938-43, n.d.
has part: Pamphlets: drafts and printed material, 1937-44
aggregates: Pamphlets: drafts and printed material, 1937-44
has part: Miscellaneous: lists, notes, and printed material, n.d.
aggregates: Miscellaneous: lists, notes, and printed material, n.d.

Testimony, 1944, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
is aggregated by: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Members: biographical notes and list, cir ca 1940, 20 00-01
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
is aggregated by: SERIES II. ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERS (1937-2001)
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Leaflets, 1938-45, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publicity
is aggregated by: Publicity
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Newsletters, 1938-43, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publicity
is aggregated by: Publicity
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Pamphlets: drafts and printed material, 1937-44
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publicity
is aggregated by: Publicity
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Miscellaneous: lists, notes, and printed material, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publicity
is aggregated by: Publicity
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA