ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Following the 1920 ratification of the nineteenth amendment which granted suffrage to women the American Woman Suffrage Association was reorganized as the League of Women Voters. The Montgomery County League of Women Voters was established the following year. The League's primary objective was to operate as a non-partisan organization that would teach and encourage women to participate effectively in politics, and would endorse legislation to improve the quality of life for citizens within their communities.

Because of its proximity to the nation's capital, Montgomery County underwent rapid growth in the early years of the twentieth century. The League of Women Voters was among those civic organizations that recognized the need for new institutions to deal with problems resulting from this growth. In the early years of the League members played an important role in securing increased funding for education, and for the initiation of public health programs. As it became apparent that the County could no longer be adequately governed from the Maryland General Assembly, the League allied itself strongly with the Montgomery County Civic Federation, and later the Charter Committee. Throughout the charter reform movement of the 1930s and 1940s, the League provided the rank-and-file workers who were crucial to winning home rule in 1948. Members canvassed heavily in County communities, circulating petitions, distributing literature, and speaking to organizations. Marie Garber, in her 1964 thesis E. Brooke Lee vs. Charter: The Fight to Modernize Montgomery County Government, 1938-1950, claims that no community group was more important to the charter reform movement than the Montgomery County League of Women Voters.

In the new era of suburban development of the 1950s and 1960s, the League sought to strengthen local government further. The organization was involved in all areas of County planning and civic activity, including the reorganization of the Maryland National Park and Planning Commission, the desegregation of the school system, and the Charter revision of the 1960s. Members educated the community in regard to County politics and government, and encouraged individuals to utilize their right to vote. On the state level, the League played a vital role in ensuring that Montgomery County voted in favor of a proposed new constitution for Maryland in 1968. Although the constitution was defeated in the state overall, the County vote was testament to the success of the League's campaign, to the importance of political activity at a grass roots level, and to the level of local citizen participation in government and community affairs.

For more information see Record Group 18: Civic Organizations, Guide to the Records of the Montgomery County Charter Committee, 1942-1954, 1968-1976.

PROCESSING PROCEDURES

General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents and photographs were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere.

Preservation copying of newspaper clippings was performed whenever feasible. Records in folders were arranged, unless otherwise indicated, in forward chronological order, with undated records appearing at the end of the folder. Records relating to the Maryland Constitutional Convention of 1967, which do not pertain to Montgomery County, will be transferred to the State Archives in Annapolis.

PROVENANCE

These records were transferred from Rockville Regional Library in October 1997. Additional items were transferred in 1999 and 2000.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The records of the League of Women Voters comprise 2.66 cubic feet of material ranging in dates from 1941 to 1990, with the bulk of the records dating from 1941 to 1969. The collection was originally compiled by the Marie Bennett Memorial Library and contains subject files and the personal papers of individuals who worked directly with the League of Women Voters or who were involved with issues of concern to the League. The records, therefore, do not constitute a history of the League itself but provide a general overview of the significant social and political issues which concerned County citizens during this period. The records are particularly strong in the areas of the history of the home rule movement, issues of land use and planning, the development of the merit system for County employees, and the campaign to ratify the proposed state constitution in 1968. The materials also include a variety of publications produced and distributed by the Montgomery County and National League of Women Voters which document the origins, goals, and operations of the League. Records include correspondence, memoranda, publicity material, campaign literature, reports, resolutions, historical publications, newsletters, interviews, speeches, notes, photographs, and clippings.

The records are arranged as five series:

Series I: Personal Papers

Subseries 1: Dinwoodey, Edith

Subseries 2: Garber, Marie

Subseries 3: Garrott, Idamae

Subseries 4: Kiplinger, Austin

Subseries 5: Kiplinger, Willard

Subseries 6: Smith, Lathrop

Series II: Subject Files

Series III: Maryland Constitutional Convention

Series IV: Printed Material

Series V: Fact Sheets.

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series I: Personal Papers, 1941-1986 (1.66 cu. ft.)

These files were originally organized into two sets, one containing biographical information and the other consisting of personal papers. During processing they were consolidated into one series. The records chronicle positions held and activities performed by various individuals which significantly affected the politics and government of the County. Biographical files on the following individuals were discarded as they consisted only of resumes which were duplicates of those found in the League of Women Voters oral history project transcript files (Record Group 16): John W. Coffman, Sam Eig, Margaret Taylor Jones, Dorothy Himstead, and Neil A. Ofsthun.

Record types include correspondence, memoranda, reports, minutes, agenda, campaign literature, publications, clippings, photographs, speeches, notes, and press releases.

The series is arranged in six subseries: Dinwoodey, Edith; Garber, Marie; Garrot, Idamae; Kiplinger, Austin; Kiplinger, Willard; and Smith, Lathrop. Records are arranged alphabetically by subject within each subseries.

Subseries I: Dinwoodey, Edith, 1942-1985 (0.33 cu. ft.)

Edith Dinwoodey was president of the League of Women Voters in 1943, and worked full-time without pay for the Charter Committee in the 1944 Charter campaign. When the new Charter government was formed in 1948 she was named to the County Personnel Board where she helped to create the County's first merit system. Of particular significance in this series are the correspondence files from the 1940s, and the files which document the activities of the Conflicts of Interest Committee to which the League of Women Voters submitted recommendations for the establishment of a County Ethics Commission. Both contain the correspondence of F. P. Lee, who was Chairman of the Special Committees of the Montgomery County Charter Committee, and Chairman of the Conflicts of Interest Committee.

Subseries II: Garber, Marie, 1941-1969 (0.33 cu. ft.)

Marie Garber was Vice-Chairman of the Precinct 13-31 Democratic Party in the 1950s, and Chairman until 1965. In 1967 she was appointed Minority Clerk to the Board of Supervisors of Elections, and became Elections Supervisor under the merit system in 1972. During the course of her career Garber spoke often before local groups regarding education, finance, and the history of Montgomery County government. A large proportion of the papers in this subseries pertains to Garber's work on the history of the Charter movement. In 1961 she submitted a seminar paper for a history class entitled The Campaign for a Home Rule Charter in Montgomery County, Maryland, 1938-1948. The paper was later used as the basis for her 1964 masters thesis E. Brooke Lee vs. Charter: The Fight to Modernize Montgomery County Government, 1938-1950. Preparatory material for both documents, and the documents themselves, provide an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the home rule movement in the County. The last five folders in box 2 were transferred to the collection from the Rockville Regional Library local history collection.

Subseries 3: Garrott, Idamae, 1966 (1 folder)

Idamae Garrot was President of the League of Women Voters from 1963 to 1966. This subseries contains memoranda, correspondence, and campaign literature documenting Garrott's campaign as a democratic candidate for the Montgomery County Council in 1966.

Subseries 4: Kiplinger, Austin, 1948-1971 (0.34 cu. ft.)

Austin Kiplinger was Chairman of the Charter Committee Education and Publicity Committee in 1948. The Committee was charged with keeping the charter issue before the public through newspapers, radio, and the mail, and played a crucial role in combating the opposition of the Democratic machine.

In March 1965, Kiplinger was appointed to the Montgomery County Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Commission, becoming Chairman in August of that year. The Commission operated until 1970, when it was dissolved by a Council resolution. In October 1965, Kiplinger became one of the original members appointed by the County Council to the Community Action Committee (CAC). Kiplinger served as Chairman of the Committee until November 1969, and continued to serve on the Executive Committee and as Chairman of the CAC Employment Committee in the early 1970s. The records documenting Kiplinger's involvement with the CAC include material relating to the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC), a federally funded program to train the unemployed and underemployed which established a satellite program in Rockville in the early 1970s. Records documenting Kiplinger's work with the CAC supplement those found in the records of the Community Action Committee, also in RG 18. In addition, the subseries includes one folder containing working papers from a Committee on Financing Education in Montgomery County in 1960. A note attached to the material indicates that this Committee did not complete its work or issue any reports.

Records types in this subseries include press releases and correspondence from the Education and Publicity Committee; minutes, agendas, and resolutions from the Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Commission in 1965; and founding documents, agendas, minutes, correspondence, memoranda, and clippings, from the CAC and its Education Committee. Several issues of Community Tip Sheet, a monthly publication of the former Department of Community Development, can also be found in the CAC files.

Subseries 5: Kiplinger, Willard, 1942-1947 (2 folders)

Willard Kiplinger served on the Charter Committee Education and Publicity Committee during the 1944 and 1948 Charter campaigns. Austin Kiplinger requested his services in 1948 for the insight he might be able to offer from his experience in 1942-1944. The publicity strategies used by the Committee, which Willard Kiplinger helped to devise, are well documented in this subseries. Records types include press releases, pamphlets, newspapers, and other campaign literature.

Subseries 6: Smith, Lathrop, 1948-1986 (0.66 cu. ft.)

Colonel Lathrop E. Smith served Montgomery County as president of the County Council from 1951 to 1952. He was also active in a variety of other civic organizations and County Commissions through which he advocated that conservation and watershed protection be included in the process of County planning and development. Records documenting Smith's work as Chairman of the Rock Creek Watershed Association, Chairman of the Upper Montgomery County Planning Commission, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of the Montgomery Soil Conservation District, and Chairman of the West Montgomery Citizens Association are particularly well represented here. The files contain a significant collection of photographs depicting the persistent flooding of Rock Creek during the 1950s.

The subseries contains background material relating to, and the report of, the Public Administration Service Committee of the League of Women Voters. The purpose of this Committee was the "preservation and strengthening of the provisions of the home rule and council manager government as embodied in the Charter of 1948." Also included here is a notebook of records assembled by Smith, the bulk of which were collected between 1961 and 1965 when Smith was a member of the Board of Governors for the Montgomery County Citizens Planning Association. Material from the notebook includes papers by planners and consultants; an application for a zoning text amendment to create a rural zone in the County; and several founding documents of the Rock Creek Watershed Association. The material was removed from the notebook for preservation reasons and left in its original order.

Series II: Subject Files, 1944-1975 (0.33 cu.ft.)

This series contains the subject files compiled as part of the Marie Bennett Memorial Library to represent various issues with which the League of Women Voters was involved primarily from the period 1944 to 1968. The scope of the series is indicative of the degree to which the League immersed itself in all aspects of County development and progress, and its commitment to building a government which answered the needs of the community. Particularly well represented in the series is the history of the Charter movement and Charter revision, and the issues of zoning and County planning. The material relating to desegregation provides an excellent overview of the process by which the County integrated its school system in the late 1950s.

Records in this series include correspondence, memoranda, publicity material, reports, resolutions, historical publications, newsletters, interviews, speeches, notes, and clippings.

The series is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Series III: Maryland Constitutional Convention, 1967-1968 (0.34 cu. ft.)

From September 1967 to January 1968, 142 delegates representing all the counties of Maryland met at the Maryland Constitutional Convention in Annapolis to draft a new constitution for the state. The old constitution, written for the rural Maryland of 1867, had been amended 200 times and was now considered by many to be "a clumsy patchwork of obsolescence and contradiction." On the final vote of the Convention, only three of the 142 members voted against the constitution that had been drafted. Delegates were confident that the constitution would be subsequently ratified in May 1968.

With the Montgomery County Citizens for the Proposed Constitution which was formed in 1968, The League of Women Voters strongly supported the Montgomery County "Pro-Con" campaign to ratify the proposed constitution. The members argued that Montgomery County would be able to function far more effectively as part of the state under the proposed constitution. Their opponents, however, were equally convinced that the new constitution awarded the Governor "dictatorial powers" and represented "bigger government and bigger taxes." Opponents also feared that the new constitution would erode the powers of the municipalities in the County and render them puppets of the County government. When the people of Montgomery County went to the polls in May, 62,832 voted in favor of ratification, while 26,251 voted against it. The overwhelming approval by Montgomery County Citizens was not enough, however, to counteract strong opposition to the constitution in the rest of the state.

Records in this series consist of correspondence, memoranda, publicity material, clippings, and photographs documenting the work of the Montgomery County Delegation to the 1967 State Convention, as well as efforts undertaken in support of, and in opposition to, ratification of the constitution. The text of the constitution and the political issues involved in its support and ultimate defeat, are well documented. Correspondence includes that of Helen L. Koss, Montgomery County Delegate to the Convention. Photographs of the campaign tour of Governor Spiro T. Agnew and Senator Joseph D. Tydings to Wheaton in May 1968 are also included.

The series is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Series IV: Printed Material, 1954-1971 (5 folders)

This series contains printed material circulated by the League including guides to the County, informational publications about the Charter system, and a study of the County's correctional system. Additional printed material of this kind can also be found in Series I and Series II.

The series is arranged chronologically.

Series V: Fact Sheets, 1964-1990 (0.33 cu.ft.)

This series contains the fact sheets which were compiled by the League and distributed to members. The sheets discussed various local and national issues of public interest. Although the series contains fact sheets from 1964 on, the majority of the materials is from the years between 1977 and 1990.

The sheets are arranged in chronological order.

BOX INVENTORY

Series I: Personal Papers

Box 1

Subseries I: Dinwoodey, Edith

Anne Arundel County, 1959-1974

Biographical Information, 1985

Conflicts of Interest Committee

1958-1959

1959-1960, n.d.

Correspondence and General Information,

1942-1947

1947-1949, 1956, n.d.

Lindsay Law, 1946-1947

Merit System Law/Personnel Board, 1946-1956

Subseries 2: Garber, Marie

Biographical Information, 1976-1977

Education: Need for Additional Statewide Funds, 1967

Montgomery County Charter History, 1941-1950

Political Commentary, 1959-1966

Precinct Democrat Newsletter, 1956-1965

Seminar Paper

1961

Draft, [c. 1961]

Seminar Paper/Thesis: Background Material

1948-1961

1962-1969, n.d.

Thesis

Comments/Notes of Edith Dinwoodey, 1960-1961

Draft, 1964 (2 folders)

Illustration Material, [c. 1961]

Miscellaneous Correspondence and Notes, 1961-1963, n. d.

Outlines, [c. 1964]

Subseries 3: Garrott, Idamae

Correspondence and Publicity Material, 1966

Subseries 4: Kiplinger, Austin

Committee on Financing Education in Montgomery County, 1960

Community Action Committee, 1967

Community Action Committee, 1968-1971

Community Action Committee - Employment and Training, 1969-1976, n.d.

Montgomery County Charter Committee Education and Publicity Committee, 1948

Rehabilitation and Redevelopment Commission, 1965-1970

Box 2

Subseries 5: Kiplinger, Willard

Montgomery County Charter Committee Education and Publicity Committee

[1942-1946]

[1946-1947]

Subseries 6: Smith, Lathrop

Biographical Information, 1971-1986, n.d.

Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission Reorganization, 1953-1960, n.d.

Maryland-National Park and Planning Commission Reorganization: Clippings, 1953

Montgomery County Citizens Planning Association Notebook, 1955-1964

Montgomery County Soil Conservation District, 1956-1967, n.d.

Public Administration Service, 1962-1970

Box 3

Rock Creek Watershed Association

1954-1956

1957-1974, n.d.

Upper Montgomery County Planning Commission

1950

1951

January-August, 1952

September-December, 1952, n.d.

1953-1957

West Montgomery County Citizens Association Committee on Road Markings and Historical

Monuments, 1948, n. d.

Series II: Subject Files

Box 4

Alcoholic Beverage Laws, Montgomery County Citizens Study Report on, 1964

Assessments: Agriculture, 1960-1967

Bennett, Marie: Biographical Information, 1965-1967

Community Development, 1962-1975, n.d.

Education: Desegregation, 1956-1959

Elections

Redistricting, 1966-1967

Voting Information, 1960-1964

General Plan, 1960-1968

League of Women Voters History (U.S.), 1949-1962

Maryland Court System, Studies of, 1963-1967

Master Plans

Bethesda-Chevy Chase, 1968

Olney, 1964-1966

Potomac-Travilah, 1964-1965

Montgomery College Education Committee, 1964

Montgomery County Charters and History, 1944-1968

Montgomery County Charter Revision

1964-1965

1967-1968

Montgomery County Charter Revision Commission Minutes, March-August 1967, January-April,

1968

Montgomery County Government, 1947-1968

Nonpartisans for a Better Montgomery County, 1966

Box 5

Planning: General Plan, 1960-1968

Potomac River Basin Compact, 1967-1968

Report on Use of Public Facilities by Recreation and Group Work Agencies in Montgomery and

Prince George Counties, 1959

Zoning, 1962-1965, n. d.

Series III: Maryland Constitutional Convention

Anti-Ratification Campaign, 1968

Clippings, 1967-1968

League of Women Voters Pro-Con Campaign, 1968

Montgomery County Citizens for the Proposed Constitution

Campaign Literature, 1968

Endorsements, 1968 General Correspondence, 1968

Precinct Newsletters, 1968

Press Releases, 1968

Montgomery County Delegation, 1967

Series IV: Printed Material

Know Your County, 1954

Montgomery County's Charter: The Challenge of Change, 1965

Seminar Papers from the League of Women Voters Workshop on Montgomery County's Charter:

The Challenge of Change, 1966

This Is Montgomery County, Maryland, 1969 edition

Montgomery County's Corrections System, 1971

Series V: Fact Sheets

Box 6

1964-1990 (6 folders)