The Joanne M. Duren Papers relate almost solely to her years in the Assembly and consist of constituent correspondence; legislative, committee, and subject files; and radio scripts. Only a few scattered items in the subject files relate to her career prior to holding public office.
The constituent correspondence is filed chronologically by session and then alphabetically by community. The majority of this mail came from the 50th District, although there are files of Capitol and out of district mail and of form letters. Individual folders on Madison and Milwaukee are included with the mail from the district communities. Copies of some letters appear to have been interfiled in other portions of the collection.
The legislative bill files are also arranged by session and then subdivided by Assembly and Senate bill number. Included are correspondence, memoranda, and
Committee files include correspondence, memoranda, hearing testimony, minutes, and sound recordings. The files pertaining to committees which she chaired such as Tourism, Recreation, and Economic Development and State-Federal Relations are especially complete and are of great research value. Also substantial are the files on the State Supported Programs Study and Advisory Committee and the Assembly's Special Committee on Telephone and Electricity Rate Disparities. Surprisingly, however, there are no paper files on her work on the Education Committee. Because the container list could not accommodate full descriptive information on the Tourism, Recreation, and Economic Development tapes, researchers interested in the work of this committee should also consult the appendix to the register.
The subject files are among the most valuable parts of the collection. Here the researcher will find correspondence, memoranda, and reference material relating to Duren's involvement with various advocacy groups and other legislators in her efforts to restrict abortion. Other substantial files relate to alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, railroad abandonment, and the establishment of the University of Wisconsin College of Veterinary Medicine. This section originally contained three cubic feet of questionnaires which were discarded, although summaries of results have been retained.
Of considerable interest are the recordings, scripts, and research material pertaining to her weekly radio broadcasts about legislative activity. In 1986 the scripts and handwritten notes used in preparation of the talks were microfilmed and returned to the donor. Retained in hard copy form were unedited materials used in preparation of the scripts. A subsequent accession of biographical clippings was also filmed and returned to the donor.
