Collection Summary
Pollitzer, Anita, 1894-1975
Anita Pollitzer Papers
1923-1964
1945-1946
3 cubic feet (4 boxes)
Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries
Papers reflecting Pollitzer's interest and activities in regard to women's rights, particularly her work with the National Woman's Party
Biographical Note
Anita Lilly Pollitzer (1894-1975), suffragist and equal-rights advocate, was born in Charleston, S.C. on October 31, 1894. She grew up in Charleston and later attended Teacher's College, Columbia University, where she received a bachelor's degree in art and education in 1916 and a master's degree in international law from Columbia University in 1933. She became interested in the suffrage movement immediately after graduation in 1916 and made the struggle for the granting of equal rights to women her life's work. One of the early members of the National Woman's Party, she served on its Executive Council from 1921 onward and became the National Chairman in 1945, succeeding Alice Paul, party strategist. She was a leader in the early campaigns to have the Equal Rights Amendment passed by Congress and was also active in the international women's movement. Anita Pollitzer, who was the wife of a free-lance press agent, Elie Charlier Edson, in private life, died in 1975.
Scope and Content Note
Papers reflecting Pollitzer's interest and activities in regard to women's rights, including correspondence, statements, minutes, reports, clippings, photographs, and other published items concerning the National Woman's Party, Alice Paul and leadership issues in National Woman's Party, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), women workers, political endorsements for the ERA, support of the Republican Party, the Married Women's Association (Great Britain), and the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Correspondents include Mary Sinclair Crawford, Jeanette Augustus Marks, Ethel Ernest Murrell, Alice Paul, Agnes Ermima Wells, Anna Kelton Wiley, Alice Morgan Wright, and Mary E. Owens.
This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.
Restrictions on Use
Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.
Related Materials
Vassar College also holds a small collection of Elie Charlier Edson papers, which were probably part of the original accession.
Subject Headings
Names:
Paul, Alice, 1885-1977
Crawford, Mary Sinclair
Marks, Jeanette Augustus, 1875-1964
Murrell, Ethel Ernest
Wells, Agnes Ermima, 1876-1959
Wiley, Anna Kelton, 1877-1964
Wright, Alice Morgan, 1881-1975
Owens, Mary E.
Organizations:
National Woman's Party
Republican Party (U.S. : 1854- )
Married Women's Association (Great Britain)
United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
Subjects:
Equal rights amendments
Feminism
Women's rights
Women--Employment
Women--Social conditions
Women in politics
Women--Suffrage
Feminists
Document Types:
Photographs
VCL Categories
Women's History
Encoding Information
Encoded by Elizabeth Clarke, April 2007. Updated June 2007, box list added.
Processing Information
Original processing date unknown.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mrs. Peter Seeger.
Preferred Citation
Anita Pollitzer Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.
Container List
1.1-1.2
Biographical material, clippings, photographs
1.3-1.6
Publications, miscellaneous notes and typescripts, correspondence
1.7-1.11
National Woman's Party – 1946-1947 controversy, minutes of meetings of National Council, 1938-1945, pamphlets, articles, clippings
1.12
Master's thesis: "Suffrage and World War I," by Harvey Kraut, Brooklyn College,
(photocopy of typescript)
1964
1.13-1.14
Miscellaneous publications and clippings on equal rights
Box 1
Hearings and other Congressional and government documents on Equal Rights Amendment,
1931-1948
2.1
Material on Susan B. Anthony
2.2-2.6
Correspondence concerning the Equal Rights Amendment
2.7
Congressional campaign for passage of ERA,
1946
2.8-2.11
National Woman's Party business and meetings, ERA and Democratic Party
2.12-2.13
Equal Rights Amendment
2.14-2.15
Equal Rights Magazine
2.16-2.17
National Woman's Party
2.18
French Constitution
2.19
Obituary of Beatrice Fairfax,
1945
2.20-2.27
Correspondence concerning ERA, NWP,
1945-1946
2.28
Women workers and the ERA; press releases, clippings,
1938-1945
2.29
Bulletin of the International Council of Women,
August and December 1945
2.30-2.31
Senate Judiciary Committee and passage of Equal Rights Amendment – correspondence, voting,
1943-1950
2.32-2.34
Correspondence re: ERA
2.35
Legal Status of Women – pamphlet published by Women's Bureau,
1944
2.36-2.41
Correspondence, re: National Woman's Party and ERA,
1943-1947
2.42
Married Women's Association (Great Britain) – correspondence, pamphlets
2.43-2.46
Correspondence and other material on the ERA and NWP
2.47
Material on Lucretia Mott
2.48
Multi-Party Committee of Women – correspondence, and pamphlets,
1944-1946
2.49-2.52
Correspondence and other material on ERA
2.53-2.56
NWP business and miscellaneous
2.57-2.58
ERA and NWP in New York
2.59-2.61
Correspondence re: NWP and ERA,
1946-1948
2.62
Opposition to ERA – clippings, letters, pamphlets,
1944-1946
2.63
Correspondence re: NWP and ERA with Mary E. Owens,
1946-1947
2.64
Alice Paul – correspondence, material about her
2.65
Correspondence re: ERA in Pennsylvania
2.66
Pepper-Morse Bill-equal pay for women
2.67
Press releases,
1943-1946
2.68
Letters to Senator George L. Radcliffe, a supporter of ERA
2.69-2.72
ERA – correspondence, endorsements, support of Republican Party
2.73
Article on Marian Roberts – lack of legal rights of married women
2.74
Statement by Eleanor Roosevelt on Equal Rights Amendment
2.75
Anniversary of Seneca Falls Convention
2.76-2.79
Miscellaneous correspondence on ERA,
1946
2.80
Elizabeth Cady Stanton – celebration of anniversary of her birth
2.81
Doris Stevens – clippings re: controversy about appointment of U.S. delegate to Inter-American Commission on Women
2.82
Strittmater will – correspondence concerning sale of property willed to National Woman's Party,
1945-1946
2.83
Stiassny curriculum vitae
2.84
United Nations Sub-Commission on Status of Women – 1st session
2.85-2.88
Correspondence re: ERA and NWP business,
1946
2.89
NWP treasurer's reports,
1946
2.89
NWP auditor's reports,
1943-1945
2.90
25th anniversary of women's suffrage amendment – clippings, photographs
2.91-2.92
United Nations – correspondence, clippings on Sub-Commission on Status of Women and women in the UN; UN voluntary organizations
2.93-2.104
Correspondence on ERA and NWP,
1943-1946
2.105
Woman's Enfranchisement Day – anniversary of Nineteenth Amendment (statements, press releases)
2.106
Committee on Women in World Affairs
2.107
Women's Joint Legislative Committee for Equal Rights – correspondence, meetings,
1946
2.108
World Woman's Party for Equal Rights – correspondence, press releases,
1938-1947
2.109-2.111
Correspondence and other material on ERA,
1946
Box 3
2 folders of photographs (many unlabeled) – woman's–rights leaders and their meetings, including Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Anita Pollitzer, and Mary Sinclair Crawford
Box 3
2 framed photos – reception in honor of delegates to the International Council of Women…Washington,
1947
Box 3
Newspaper: Seneca County Press, July 21, 1923 – "Special equal rights edition,"
21 July 1923
Box 3
Large photographs of Blanche Yukon and Mme. Dorade Phillippe
Box 4
Recordings