ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA
GRAND FORKS, NORTH DAKOTA 58202
COLLECTION: OGL #1308
DATES: 1981-1994
SIZE: 2.5 linear feet
ACQUISITION: The National Abortion Rights Action League Papers were deposited in the Orin G. Libby Manuscript Collection by Gini Duval, Fargo, North Dakota, on June 19, 1995 (Acc.#95-2022).
ACCESS: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Department of Special Collections.
The National Abortion Rights Action League, a non-partisan grass-roots political organization was founded in 1969. It educates Americans, helps elect pro-choice candidates, and works for policies that enable women and men to make responsible decisions about sexuality, contraception, pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion.
The North Dakota Chapter of NARAL began in Fargo in the early 1980's, when it formed a board and began having regular meetings. However, due to diminishing funds, the chapter soon decided to elect a president instead of a paid director. Lynn Gifford served as its first president. During her term, Fargo Women's Health was embroiled in controversy. Anti- abortionists chained themselves to radiators, laid down in the clinic driveway, and noisily disrupted the clinic's work. So much of the chapter’s regular monthly meetings were taken up with the clinic's legal battles and legislation, that it was unable to complete the original paperwork needed for the National organization.
The National Abortion Rights Action League continued to extend the deadlines, but in the early 1990's, finally asked the North Dakota Chapter to disaffiliate. Activists in North Dakota were few, and it was too difficult to maintain the organization with little support. After disbandment, the Chapter's treasury was given to the Women's Network of the Red River Valley, the YWCA Shelter, and to the Rape and Abuse Crisis Center.
The NARAL records are arranged alphabetically by folder title, then chronologically. Most materials date from the early 1990's. A significant amount concerns the political sphere, with files on individual North Dakota congressmen, elections and conventions, election questionnaires, endorsement/support questionnaires and voter's guides.
The collection also contains information on the North Dakota chapter, its members, meeting information, and minutes from 1990-1994. Included are pamphlets, correspondence, newspaper clippings, Planned Parenthood Newsletters (1989-1992), Reproductive Rights Publications (1989-1992), and Washington Memo Newsletters (1992-1994).
Folder 1. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Abortion: A Call to Deliberate:
Sept. 1990
2. Abortion Control Act
3. Abortion Services in the U.S., 1984-85
4. Affiliate Listing and Information
5. Agendas: 1989-1993
6. Annual Meeting Plans: 1990, 1992
7. Annual Plan: 1991-1992
8. Annual Report: 1988-1989
9. Anti-Abortion Publications
10. Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression Trainers
11. Arguments on Legal Abortion
12. Articles: 1985-1991
13. Birth Control
14. BARAL
15. Board of Directors: 1990-1991
16. Board Orientation Manual: 1988
17. Brochure Samples
18. Buttons
19. Campaign Training School
20. Candidate Guidelines: 1990
21. Candidate Questionnaire: 1990
22. Certificate of Incorporation: 1990
23. "Choice Action" House Party
24. Clinic/Dr. Terrorism
25. Clinic Information
26. Coalition Information
27. Congressional Record on Choice: 1992
28. Congressional Votes: 1988-1990
29. Conrad, Kent
30. Correspondence: 1989-1993
31. Criminal Proceedings-Gifford, Lynn: 1992
32. De Moss Foundation Ads: 1992
33. Director's Report: 1990
34. Dorgan, Byron
35. Election Calendar: 1992
36. Election/Convention: 1990-1992
37. Elector Guide for NARAL Action Corps
38. Endorsement/Support Questionnaire: 1990
39. Events: 1990-1993
40. Fact Sheets
41. Feminist Majority Foundation
42. Finance: 1989-1993
43. Freedom of Choice Act
44. Fundraising
45. Guidelines for Escorts: 1991
46. Heigaard, Bill
47. History
48. House Bills (1991)
49. Informed Consent Agreement Surveys
50. Intelligencer (1992)
51. Job Descriptions and Evaluations
52. Jokes
53. Lambs of Christ
54. Laurent, Norvell M.
55. Legislative Lists and Committees (1989-1991)
56. Legislative Testimony (1990-1991)
57. Legislature-ND (1989-1994)
58. Letterhead
59. Letter Samples
60. Letters to the Editor
61. Lobbying
62. Logo
63. Magazines (1989-1992)
64. Major Donor (1991)
65. Maxwell, Liz
66. Membership
67. Minutes (1990-1994)
68. Mobilize for Women's Lives (1989)
69. NARAL-Supported Candidate Ads
70. National Action Corps Day
71. National Organization of Women
72. National Women's Reproductive Health Call-In Day
73. Nationwide Chapters
74. Network News (1993)
75. Newspaper Clippings
76. Newspaper Clippings
77. Newsletters-NARAL (1991-1992)
78. North Dakota Chapter
79. Operation Rescue (1991-1992)
80. Organizational
81. Organizations List
82. Parental Rights
83. Personnel (1989-1993)
84. Phone Bank Script and List
85. Photograph Information
86. Picketing Ordinances
Folder 1. Planned Parenthood
2. Planned Parenthood Newsletters (1989-1992)
3. Pledge/Volunteer Information
4. Political Committee (1990-1992)
5. Postcard Activists
6. Presidential Candidates Positions (1992)
7. Press Coverage
8. Public Affairs Division
9. Questionnaires (blank)
10. Rally Day (1990)
11. Reading List
12. Religious Coalition
13. Reproduction Choice
14. Reproductive Freedom News (1992-1993)
15. Reproductive Rights Manual (1990)
16. Resolutions Committee (1992)
17. The Righteous Rhetoric of the Anti-Abortion Movement: Nostalgia for Lost
Hegemony; Hansel, Mark
18. RU-486
19. Rutgers (1989)
20. Senate Bills (1991)
21. Sinner, George
22. Song Sheet
23. Spaeth, Nick
24. Staff
25. Standards for Affiliation
26. State-by-State Review (1991)
27. State Directors Report (1989-1990)
28. State Legislative Program Plan (1990)
29. Students
30. Supreme Court
31. Voters Guides (1990)
32. Voter Identification (1991)
33. Washington Memo Newsletter (1992-1993)
34. Wentz, Janet
35. Winning with Choice
36. Women of Color Retreat (1990-1993)
37. Women's Literature
38. Women's Political Caucus-ND (1989-1992)
39. Women's Where: Clothes for a Cause (1993)
13 photographs have been separated and placed in the Orin G. Libby Photographic Collection. They depict views from outside of the Fargo Women's Health Organization Clinic.
A videotape describing National NARAL's roles has been removed and labeled V844.
The 1991 and 1992 editions of: Who Decides? A State-by State Review of Abortion Rights, published by the NARAL Foundation have been separated and cataloged for the North Dakota Book Collection.
Return to: Women's Organizational Records
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