Title: Catherine Conroy Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1947-1990

Creator:

• Conroy, Catherine, 1919-1988

Call Number: Mss 826; Tape 1263A; PH 5041; PH 5042

Quantity: 1.6 c.f. (5 archives boxes), 7 tape recordings, and photographs

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Catherine Conroy, a Wisconsin leader of the labor and women's movements, mainly consisting of correspondence, minutes, financial statements, photographs, and other records of her involvement with the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the Communication Workers of America, the University of Wisconsin School for Workers, and the Wisconsin Women's Network. Information on CWA consists largely of correspondence and research material about her 1974 sex discrimination suit against the union. The WWN and CLUW are each documented by by-laws, minutes, correspondence, and policy statements, but other organizations and governmental agencies with which Conroy was associated or to which she was appointed are only sparsely represented. Personal material includes a 1976 oral history transcript, miscellaneous correspondence, income tax records, biographical clippings, commemorative materials, and family photographs. In addition to Conroy, Joseph A. Beirne and Addie Wyatt are featured on the tape recordings.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00826

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

Born on November 27, 1919, Catherine Conroy was the adopted daughter of James and Amelia Conroy of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She grew up on Milwaukee's west side where her father was an art and antique dealer. James Conroy lost his business during the Depression. Because of the reversal in his fortunes, after her graduation from West Division High School Catherine went to work for Milwaukee County doing kitchen and housekeeping work. In 1942 she began working for the Wisconsin Telephone Company as a long distance operator, and later as a training instructor. She became an officer in the Telephone Guild of Wisconsin which evolved into Local 5500 (later Local 4600) of the Communication Workers of America. Her leadership positions with this union included picket captain (for the 1947 national strike of telephone workers), steward, business manager, and division officer. She headed the local from 1951, when the local was reorganized as part of the Communications Workers of America, until 1960 when she became a representative of the CWA International. In that capacity Conroy was responsible for collective bargaining and contract negotiations in eastern Wisconsin, as well as monitoring the activities of ten locals. In 1967 her union work took her to Chicago. In 1974 Conroy became the first woman appointed to the Wisconsin AFL-CIO executive board.

Conroy's involvement in the women's movement began in 1963 when, at the recommendation of Robert Ozanne of the School for Workers, she was appointed to the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women. She was one of the founding members of the National Organization for Women, briefly serving on the NOW board. She also helped to organize and served as the first president of Chicago NOW. In addition, she was an officer of both the state and Milwaukee organizations of the Coalition of Labor Union Women and she was appointed to President Carter's Advisory Commission for Women.

Although Conroy devoted most of her attention to the causes of labor and women's rights she was also involved with the governing boards of many civic and charitable organizations, including the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin, and the Natural Resources Board, the Board of Catholic Social Services, and United Fund of Greater Milwaukee.

Catherine Conroy died of cancer on February 18, 1989.

The Catherine Conroy Papers reflect her active participation in numerous labor and women's organizations. Unfortunately, the collection only suggests these efforts without providing any substantive documentation of the nature of her activity and influence. Furthermore, the documentation (except for photographs) dates almost entirely from the period after her return to Wisconsin in the early 1970s.

The papers are arranged as PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL and ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS. Within each series the files are alphabetically arranged.

The PERSONAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL consists of newspaper clippings, miscellaneous correspondence, genealogical and personal miscellany, income tax forms, photographs, and a transcript of a 1976 oral history. This interview, which was conducted as part of the Twentieth Century Trade Union Woman Project of the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, is the best source of information on Conroy's early career in the collection. An excellent interview subject, she spoke at length about her youth, her early experiences as an employee of the telephone company in Milwaukee, and her developing interest in the union movement. CLUW was also discussed, as was, to a lesser extent, her involvement in the organization of NOW. The clipping files contain copies of several other informative interviews conducted by Wisconsin journalists. Apparently a consistent “saver” only of financial records, Conroy's collection includes a very complete file of her state and federal income taxes. In addition to documenting her employment history, the income tax returns are also useful for the lists of her charitable contributions which are occasionally appended. The general correspondence contains several letters which suggest her support for and association with Governor Anthony Earl.

Also listed with the personal material is a large file of photographs which document her family life and her involvement with CWA, the School for Workers, and other labor and women's organizations. Unfortunately, many of the pictures in the collection are unidentified.

The ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS are arranged alphabetically by organizational name. Some of these files contain only mementos of her involvement. For example, the NOW file consists largely of material associated with her recognition as NOW Feminist of the Year in 1976, and the CWA file contains the scrapbook (now disassembled) compiled to honor her retirement. Other files are largely comprised of letters congratulating her on her appointment to governmental positions or other honors she received.

Most useful among the organization records are the files on the Wisconsin Women's Network and the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Although material in the Conroy Papers which duplicated national CLUW records in archival collections elsewhere has been weeded the remaining documentation contains some unique information about CLUW in Wisconsin. Present are Wisconsin membership lists, correspondence, and information on state conventions of labor union women. Among the documentation saved by Conroy about Wisconsin Womens Network are annual reports, by-laws, minutes, financial records, policy statements, and the slides and script for a slide show prepared by the Mediawatch Task Force.

Other documentation of special interest in the series is correspondence, legal documents, and research material concerning the sex discrimination suit she brought against CWA in 1974 when a man less experienced than she was appointed state director of the union. Also important is a file of minutes of the Milwaukee Board of Election Commissioners, a public agency for which no other records had been received by the State's Archives at this writing (1993), and information on her strong support of the nursing Ph.D. degree at the University of Wisconsin.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Catherine Conroy, Milwaukee, and by the Conroy Estate via Sister Joel Read, 1984-1989. Accession Number: M84-351, M89-156

Processing Information

Processed by Amy Sliwinski (Intern), 1993.

Mss 826	Series: Personal and Biographical Material
Box   1 Folder   1	Biographical clippings, 1947-1985, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Correspondence, 1951-1990
Box   1 Folder   3	Genealogical information
Box   1 Folder   4	House purchase, 1973-1985
Box   1 Folder   5-6	Income taxes, 1939-1982
Box   1 Folder   7	Memo books, 1980-1987
Box   1 Folder   8	Miscellany
Box   1 Folder   9	Oral history, 1976
PH 5041	Photographs Scope and Content Note: Photographs of Catherine Conroy, the Conroy Family, the School for Workers, and her involvement with the Communications Workers (both in Milwaukee and nationally) and various other organizations.
	Series: Organizational Records	⇧
	AFL-CIO
Mss 826 Box   1 Folder   10	Membership information, awards, 1978-1981
Tape 1263A No.   1-2	Speeches by Addie Wyatt, Marion Thompson, and Catherine Conroy (?) at AFL State Women's Conference, April 22, 1972
	Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW)
Mss 826 Box   1 Folder   11	Correspondence, 1974-1986
Box   1 Folder   12	Milwaukee, 1974-1980
Box   1 Folder   13	Wisconsin, 1980-1987
Box   2 Folder   1	Membership lists, 1977, 1984, 1986
Box   2 Folder   2	1984 state report
Tape 1263A No.   3, 7	December 3, 1977 State meeting
	Communication Workers of America
	Conroy vs. CWA
Mss 826 Box   2 Folder   3	Correspondence
Box   5	Research material: “Equal employment opportunity in the Bell System,” circa 1971
Box   2 Folder   4	Convention slide show script, undated
Box   2 Folder   5	Correspondence, 1971-1985
Box   2 Folder   6	Retirement, 1982
Box   2 Folder   7	Training, 1964, undated
Box   2 Folder   8	Union and technology interview, 1984
Tape 1263A No.   5-6	Speeches by Joseph A. Beirne and the Deputy Under Secretary of Labor at the CWA National Women's Conference, June 9, 1972
Mss 826 Box   2 Folder   9	Cooperative West Side Association, 1980-1981
Tape 1263A No.   4	“COPE Report,” July 1971
Mss 826	Election Commissioners, Board of
Box   2 Folder   10-11	General material, 1986-1988
Box   2 Folder   12	Minutes, 1979-1986
	Governor's Commission on the Status of Women
Box   3 Folder   1	General, 1966, 1973, 1977
Box   3 Folder   1	April 27, 1972
Box   3 Folder   2	International Women's Year, 1977
Box   3 Folder   3	Judicial Nominating Commission, 1979
Box   3 Folder   4	Midwest Conference of Union Women, 1973
Box   3 Folder   5	National Organization for Women, 1976-1987
Box   3 Folder   6	Natural Resources Board, 1978-1979, 1984
Box   3 Folder   7	President's Advisory Committee on Women, 1980
Box   3 Folder   8	Supreme Court, Board of Governors, 1978
	University of Wisconsin
	Board of Regents, 1983-1984
Box   3 Folder   9	Nursing Ph.D. program
Box   3 Folder   10	Miscellaneous material
Box   3 Folder   11	School for Workers, 1953-1977
Box   3 Folder   12	Wisconsin Women's Council, 1983-1986
	Wisconsin Women's Network
Box   3 Folder   13	By-laws, 1986, undated
Box   3 Folder   14	Annual reports, 1980, 1982-1986
	Minutes
Box   3 Folder   15	Board of Directors, 1983-1986
Box   3 Folder   16	Executive Committee, 1984-1986
Box   3 Folder   17	Action alerts, 1983-1986
Box   3 Folder   18	Checks received, 1986-1987
Box   4 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1985-1986
Box   4 Folder   2	Financial statements, 1984-1987
Box   4 Folder   3	Fundraising task force, 1983-1986
Box   4 Folder   4	Milwaukee caucus, 1985-1987
Box   4 Folder   5	Officer and organization lists
Box   4 Folder   6	Policies and statements
Box   4 Folder   7	Task forces: Mediawatch Task Force slide show
Box   4 Folder   8	Script
PH 5042	Slides
Mss 826 Box   4 Folder   9	WBWC Summit