SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Series 1: Constitution and By-laws (10 folders)
This series contains the by-laws of the local league for the past fifty years.  Early by-laws were adapted from a national model but eventually the Murfreesboro league tailored by-laws to fit their own needs.  Included in this series are policy sheets that represent more flexible policies of the Murfreesboro league that were voted on each year.  Also included in this series are the by-laws of the national league.

Series 2: Minutes, 1957-1995 (38 folders)
Contained in this series are the minutes of the League of Women Voters of Murfreesboro.  The minutes are contained in folders by year and were broken down from several officer notebooks.   The minutes may also contain an agenda, treasurer’s report, and membership list.

Series 3:  Annual Reports, 1942-1946 (8 folders)
The annual report was given each year by the Murfreesboro League President at the annual meeting.  Other annual reports in the series include the annual report to the LWVUS that details the local league’s activities and positions on certain issues.  Two annual reports from the LWVTN are also contained in this series. 

Series 4:  Membership, 1950-1960 (13 folders)
Membership in the league varied from about seventy members in the 1960s and 1970s to about fifty members in the 1980s and 1990s.  This series contains official national and local Murfreesboro league lists as well as membership recruiting materials.  Other recruiting materials can be found in the publications series. 

Series 5: Financial Records, 1920-1953 (8 folders)
Contained within the financial records series are primarily treasurer’s reports and budgets.  Documentation concerning the Murfreesboro League’s annual finance drive is also located within this series.  The raised only about a third of their budget from dues, the remainder came from contributions from interested citizens and corporations.  Local politician John Bragg and the large Nissan plant are just a few examples of those who supported the League of Women Voters of Murfreesboro.

Series 6:  Public Relations & Education (14 folders)
This category includes clippings, news releases, slide shows and scripts, a folder with documentation from the local LWV 75^th anniversary celebration, and photographs.  This series serves as evidence to the Murfreesboro league’s visibility in the community.

Series 7: Publications (91 folders)
This series contains publications of the national, state, and local levels of the League of Women Voters.  The national publications contain documents on how to run a local league as well as educational materials on issues like the ERA or environmental issues published by the LWVUS or the LWVUS education fund.  At the state level is annual Yearbook is available for years in the 1980s and 1990s.  The state league also had an education fund that produced publications on Tennessee taxes and women’s history.  On the local level publications include pamphlets on land use and education, the public service pamphlet Know Your Local Government, and the monthly or bi-monthly newsletter, the Murfreesboro Voter.  The Murfreesboro Voter was not just sent to league members but contributors or others interested in league activities.  The publications series allows a researcher to learn more about how the local, state, and national leagues worked together.

Series 8: Issues and Activism (10 folders)
The final series contains documentation on many of the issues that concerned the national, state, and local Murfreesboro league.  Therefore the documentation in this series is divided into local, state, and national categories.  The state and national league sections contain issues that those sections worked on such as the National Voter Act or Tennessee tax reform. The local section of this series contains all correspondence and documentation of the activities of the Murfreesboro league such as election forums or and extended school program.  Also in this section are consensus reports of the opinions of the Murfreesboro league.  The consensus reports were requested by either the national or state leagues but are contained within the local league’s issues section in order to better understand the opinions of the Murfreesboro league on specific issues.