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Abortion & Reproductive Politics: Primary Sources: Archives & Records

Manuscripts

NARAL Pro-Choice Minnesota Records
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.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL)

MCCL Newsletter
MNHS call number: Microfilm 1348

MCCL Newspaper Clippings
Microfilmed newspaper clippings (1962-1985) compiled by MCCL documenting the abortion controversy in Minnesota. The clippings document both the pro-life and the pro-choice sides of the abortion controversy and related issues as they were played out in Minnesota and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere. Many relate to the establishment, structure, and history of MCCL as an organization.
MNHS call number: M544 Click here to see the finding aid or view the online catalog listing

Minnesota Birth Control League, President's Files.
Constitution, bylaws, minutes, correspondence, membership lists, meeting programs, clinic and financial reports, a memo book, printed pamphlets, news clippings, and related materials kept by Elizabeth H. Shafer. Shafer was the founding president of an organization that was formed on March 15, 1928, in Minneapolis as the Motherhood Protection League for the purpose of promoting education about family planning, reforming laws that regulated access to birth control, and providing medical contraceptive treatment. The records document the formation of the League and its earliest activities.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Jeri Rasmussen Papers
Papers of a Minnesota Democratic Party and abortion rights activist, including biographical and family information; personal correspondence, speech transcripts, and appointment books and calendars; and correspondence, minutes, printed materials, legislative files, newspaper clippings, and related papers reflecting her activities in the pro-choice movements, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and various women's political and feminist organizations, particularly the Minnesota branches of the Abortion Rights Council and Planned Parenthood. Rasmussen was public relations director of the latter from 1978-1985.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Save Our Unwanted Life, Inc., Organization Records
Records, 1973-1977, 1981, documenting the activity of a Minnesota pro-life youth group affiliated with Minnesota Citizens Concerned For Life and the National Pro-Life Coalition. The bulk of the collection is composed of records related to the state organization of Save Our Unwanted Life (SOUL) and includes its newsletter, bylaws, a roster of state board members, state board minutes, financial statements, and printed matter.
MNHS call number: P2036 Click here to see the finding aid or view the catalog listing.

Gene Waldorf Papers
Biographical information, correspondence, legislative bill files, published background materials, and newspaper clippings documenting the legislative activities and interests of Gene Waldorf, DFL state representative and senator (1976- ) from St. Paul District 66, and a leader of the pro-life forces in the Minnesota Legislature. The major portion of the collection relates to the abortion issue, including information on freedom of choice, parental notification, school-based clinics, teenage pregnancy, and public funding of abortion.
MNHS call number: Waldorf, Gene Click here to see the finding aid or view the online catalog listing

Jean M. Wilcox Papers
Memoranda, circulars, correspondence, articles, pamphlets, minutes, reports, and other papers pertaining to Wilcox's service as secretary of the Minnesota Birth Control League, with information on birth control legislation, Margaret Sanger's work, and the activities of other state and national birth control organizations; and data on Wilcox's work with the Minneapolis Town Meeting Association (1941-1958) and other Minnesota civic organizations.
MNHS call number: P319 Click here to see the finding aid or view the online catalog listing

Katherine Wood Taylor Papers
Printed materials, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, speech files, audiocassette recordings, and some correspondence of a Minnesota Republican Party activist and abortion rights advocate. The material focuses primarily on abortion-related issues and legislation, and on Taylor's involvement in pro-choice organizations in Minnesota and her interest in abortion issues in other states.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Minnesota Women’s Meeting Records, 1974-1978
Correspondence, minutes, transcripts of proceedings, delegate application forms, schedules, lists, committee files, news releases, radio scripts, newspaper clippings, and related records documenting the Minnesota Women’s Meeting, held in St. Cloud on June 2-5, 1977. Workshops at the conference covered a wide range of women’s issues, including abortion, employment, finances, health, educational opportunities, political action, battered women, rural and minority women’s issues, and international affairs. Most of the information on the abortion issue is found in the newspaper clippings and documents the attempts of the anti-abortion delegates to present their case.
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Government Records

Governor Perpich Constituent Services Office Files
There are files on a number of mass mailing projects; some 1990 State of the State speech letters and logistics; "crank" letters; and three boxes of letters (1989-1990) on abortion, mainly in opposition.
MNHS call number: Governor: Perpich, Rudy Click here to see the finding aid or view the online catalog listing.

Governor Perpich Constituent Correspondence
Unsorted letters received on a variety of issues such as crime, abortion, and medical care.
MNHS call number: Governor: Perpich, Rudy Click here to see the finding aid or view the online catalog listing

Governor Perpich Press Office Records
Records maintained by the governor’s press office, particularly by his press secretary, Bob Aronson. Included are constituent correspondence answered by the press office (1977 - April 1978), subject files (1975-1978), newspaper clippings (1975-1978), photographs (1975-1977), and audiovisual tapes and cassettes (1975-1978). While the records touch on most aspects of the governor’s activities, topics of particular interest include abortion, announcement of Perpich’s move into the governor’s office, the Bicentennial, appointment of Muriel Humphrey to her husband’s U. S. Senate seat, the 1977 inauguration and State of the State address, the power line controversy, and the motorcycle helmet law. 
MNHS call number: Digital Finding Aid

Books & Other Publications

Abortion: Need, Services, and Policies, Minnesota
New York, N.Y. : Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1979.
MNHS call numberHQ767.5.M6 A26 1979

A Teacher’s Guide to Abortion, edited by Janelle Clark and Annette Hubbard. 
Minneapolis, MN: Abortion Education and Referral Service, 1983.
MNHS call numberHQ763.A26 T42 1983

Minnesota Choice Attitude Survey Statistical Report
St. Paul, Minn.: Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, 1990.
MNHS call numberHQ767.5.U5 M56 1990

ARC News
Minneapolis, MN : Abortion Rights Council of Minnesota, 1982-1989
MNHS call number: Microfilm 1345

Life & Family News
Collegeville, MN. : Life & Family Center, 1981-1989
MNHS call number: Microfilm 1006

Film & Video

Choice Action Minnesota
1 videocassette (31 min.)
Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, c1992.
Film in support of preserving women’s right to choose an abortion. Various people speak in defense of the Roe vs. Wade decision and discuss the importance of pro-choice, including: Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota; Nancy Brataas, Minnesota State Senator from Rochester ; Dr. Jocelyn Elders, Arkansas Commissioner of Health.
MNHS call number: Videotape 902

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