Mildred Jeffrey Papers, Part 2 52 Linear Feet (50 SB, 2 MB, 1 OS) 1920S-2004 (Bulk 1970S-2003)
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Mildred Jeffrey Collection Papers, 1930-1984 (Predominantly, 1950s-1970s) 63 linear feet Accession # 300 DALNET # OCLC # Mildred “Millie” Jeffrey was born in Alton, Iowa on December 29, 1910 into a family of independent, hardworking women. Her grandmother ran the family farm and raised sixteen children after her husband died. Her mother, Bertha McWilliams, who raised Milly, the oldest, and six other children, became Iowa's first female registered pharmacist in 1908 and owned a drugstore in Alton and later in Minneapolis. Ms. Jeffrey's campaign against social injustice began in 1928 when she joined the left- leaning Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the YWCA while a student at the University of Minnesota. The Y, which organized interracial dances, hosted controversial speakers, and attempted to integrate restaurants, had a reputation as one of the most radical student groups on campus. After graduating in 1932, she attended Bryn Mawr College, receiving a master’s degree from the Department of Social Economy and Social Research in 1934. She worked for the next year as a special investigator for the National Recovery Administration and then took a job organizing for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America in Philadelphia, trying to recruit as many millworkers as possible before the inevitable firing or arrest. Eventually, she became educational director of the Pennsylvania Joint Board of Shirt Workers. In 1936, she married fellow Amalgamated organizer Homer Newman Jeffrey, and the two of them traveled throughout the South and East organizing textile workers. During World War II, the Jeffreys both worked in Washington as consultants to the War Labor Board, where they became close friends with the Reuther brothers. When Mildred and Newman Jeffrey moved to Detroit in 1944, Victor Reuther offered her a job as director of the newly formed UAW Women's Bureau; she reluctantly accepted only after a neighbor agreed to care for her two young children. As the UAW’s first female department head, Mildred Jeffrey gained a forum for her lifelong commitment to equal rights for women not only in society and the workplace, but in the union as well. She organized the first UAW women’s conference in response to the massive postwar layoffs of women production workers replaced by returning veterans. From 1949 until 1954, she ran the union's radio station, after which she moved on to direct the Community Relations Department. Her last post with the UAW was as Director of the Consumer Affairs Department from 1968 until her retirement in 1976. Mildred Jeffrey Collection - 2 - Mildred Jeffrey had been active in Democratic Party politics from the time she arrived in Detroit, serving as a precinct delegate, state central committee member, and national committeewoman. Preferring to spend her energy on the grunt work of politics -- leafleting, organizing, telephone canvassing, and fundraising -- she did not run for public office until 1974, when she was elected to the Wayne State University Board of Governors, an office she held for sixteen years. Her commitment to equal rights for women and minorities did not abate after her retirement from the UAW in 1976. As early as 1948 she began campaigning for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. As a founding member and chair of the National Women's Political Caucus, NOW’s political arm, she supported female candidates for public office and was an original board member of the Michigan Women's Foundation. In seeking social justice and equality for all people, Mildred Jeffrey has spent a lifetime in committee and organizational work on behalf of civil rights, education, health care, youth employment, and recreation issues. The papers of Mildred Jeffrey consist of correspondence, reports, minutes, speeches, UAW convention materials, clippings, articles, and political, labor, and feminist publications. Related material may be found in the UAW Community Relations Department: Mildred Jeffrey Collection. A transcript of an oral interview with Mildred Jeffrey may be found in the 20th Century Trade Union Woman series of oral histories on deposit at the Reuther Library. Important subjects in the collection: Abortion Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America Automobile industry workers--Michigan Child care--United States Civil rights--Michigan Civil rights--United States Consumer affairs--United States Consumer protection--United States Democratic Party Discrimination in employment--United States Equal pay for equal work--United States Equal Rights Amendment--United States Feminism--United States National Organization for Women National Women’s Political Caucus Political activists--Michigan Political parties--Michigan Politics--Michigan Pro-choice movement Recreation--United States Mildred Jeffrey Collection - 3 - Sex discrimination against women Students for a Democratic Society Trade-unions and education--United States Trade-unions--Automobile industry workers--United States Trade-unions--Clothing workers--United States Trade-unions--Organizing--United States United Automobile Workers.--Women’s Bureau Wayne State University (Detroit, Mich.) Board of Governors Women automobile industry workers Women in politics--Michigan Women in politics--United States Women in the labor movement--United States Women in trade-unions--United States Women labor leaders--Michigan Women--Employment-United States Important subjects in the collection (cont’d): Women’s rights--Michigan Women’s rights--Societies, etc. Women’s rights--United States Working class--Education--United States Working class women--United States Youth--Employment--United States World War, 1939-1945--Women workers Important correspondents in the collection: Bella Abzug Irving Bluestone Franz Daniel Charles C. Diggs, Jr. John Dingell Douglas Fraser Martha Griffiths Adelaide Hart Philip A. Hart Newman Jeffrey Lady Bird Johnson Odessa Komer Olga Madar Barbara Mikulski Joyce Miller Margaret Price Roy Reuther Victor Reuther Walter Reuther Mildred Jeffrey Collection - 4 - Patricia Schroeder Adlai Stevenson Edie Van Horn G. Mennen Williams Nancy Williams Leonard Woodcock Non-manuscript material: A number of photographs, films, audio tapes, buttons, bumper stickers, and posters have been placed in the Archives Audiovisual Collection. A number of books and labor journals, including a bound volume of issues of The New Deal and The Sheboygan Times from April through December of 1936 have been transferred to the Archives Library. PLEASE NOTE: Folders are computer-arranged alphabetically within each series in this finding aid, but may actually be dispersed throughout several boxes in the collection. Note carefully the box number for each folder heading. Mildred Jeffrey Collection - 5 - Contents 60 storage boxes, 2 large flats Series I, Women’s Issues, 1944-1983, Boxes 1-10, p.5 Series II, Political Activities, 1933-1984, Boxes 10-38, p. 14 Series III, Labor, 1918-1983, Boxes 39-55, p. 38 Series IV, Personal and General Subject Files, 1914-1983, Boxes 55-62, p. 49 Mildred Jeffrey Collection - 6 - Series I Women’s Issues, 1944-1983 Boxes 1-10 Box-folder Folder heading 9-2 13th congressional district; women, 1972 5-48 Abortion, n.d. 6-31 Abortion; corres., misc., 1979, 1981 3-13 Abortion; misc., 1976 1-27 Abortion; misc., 1979 8-47 Abortion reform, 1972 8-37 Abzug, Bella, 1973 5-32 Abzug, Bella, n.d. 8-66 Abzug, Bella; clippings, picture, 1976 2-12 Abzug, Bella; excerpts from speech, 1973 8-31 Abzug, Bella; flyers, n.d. 4-15 "Affirmative Action in the 1980s," 1981 4-27 Affirmative Action on Women; Wayne State Univ. report, 1977 3-35 AFL-CIO IUD Women's Conference; fact sheet on major legislative issues, 1961 2-8 AFL-CIO IUD Women's Conference; fact sheets, 1961 8-30 “Aging Woman, The,” 1975 8-54 Arizona Women's Meeting, 1977 9-33 "Bills of Interest to Feminists," 1974 6-8 Birth Control—Margaret Sanger; information, 1920, 1933 9-1 Booklet, n.d., 1978 7-38 Booklets, 1962-84 2-39 Booklets, 1973-75 3-7 Booklets, 1975-78 2-42 Booklets, n.d. 5-52 thru 53 Booklets, n.d., 1954, 1975, 1977 1-39 thru 40 Booklets, n.d., 1957, 1975-78 7-36 thru 37 Booklets, n.d., 1976, 1982 1-32 Booklets; misc., 1946-51 2-11 Campaign Conference for Democratic Women, 1960 8-46 Campaign Conference for Democratic Women, 1966 4-25 "Campaign Techniques for Women Candidates and Manager," 1976 9-41 “Capital Woman,” 1974 10-2 “Capital Woman,” 1975 8-4 “Capitol Capsule,” 1967 4-37 Carter, Jimmy, on women, n.d. 9-8 Child care; clippings, 1975 5-28 Child care; misc., 1972 Mildred Jeffrey Collection - 7 - Box-folder Folder heading 4-35 Child care seminar; Israel, 1977 4-19 Children and education, 1977 3-5 Chisholm, Shirley; speech, 1972 10-8 Clancy, Marilyn D.; campaign materials, 1976 9-3 Clippings, 1971-78 8-18 Clippings, 1972, 1981 3-10 Clippings, 1972-80 8-70 Clippings, 1976 6-4 thru 5 Clippings, 1977, 1983 8-55 Clippings, 1978 5-46 thru 47 Clippings, n.d., 1952, 1973-78 3-50 Clippings; misc., 1975-82 4-7 Clippings, misc., 1980 7-33 CLUW (Coalition of Labor Union Women), 1974 9-24 CLUW, n.d., 1973 4-49 thru 50 CLUW, 1974-75, 1979 6-54 CLUW; corres., 1977 6-50 CLUW; corres., n.d. 8-11 CLUW; misc., 1970 2-15 Coffee hour discussion leaders; tips, n.d. 6-62 Commission on the Status of Women; minutes, agenda, 1975 8-34 Committee for Labor Women, 1960 7-28 Conference for Democratic Women, 1960, 1979 4-40 Conference for Women on SALT II, 1978 3-11 Correspondence, 1956-79 2-20 Correspondence, 1959-76, 1978, 1979 1-28 Correspondence, 1963-66 9-7 Correspondence, 1967, 1976-82 8-12 Correspondence, 1975, 1977 6-27 thru 28 Correspondence, 1977-82 6-53 Costanza, Midge, 1976 8-5 “Daily Breakthrough,” 1977 9-21 "Democratic National Convention, The 1980: A Comparison of Male and Female Delegates," 1981 9-25 Democratic National Policy Committee on Women's Political Power; statements, 1972 4-30 Democratic Task Force, n.d.