The records of WONAAC deal mainly with the United States pro-choice movement during the early 1970s. Much of the material originated in New York City, where WONAAC national headquarters were located, and concerns New York State, which was one of the first states to liberalize abortion laws. In addition, there is material from both regional chapters and international abortion groups. The collection has been divided into six series: Administrative Files, Activities, Subject File, Legal Files, Regional Files, and Miscellany.
Seventeen reel-to-reel tapes and one cassette record WONAAC meetings, conferences, and rallies. Also included are tapes of the 1972 abortion hearings of the New York Legislature. Apparently, the WONAAC material was recorded on tapes already containing speeches and panel discussions of the Young Socialist Alliance, and other socialist groups; some of this is still present on parts of the tapes. The tapes are listed below with the appropriate series.
The ADMINISTRATIVE FILES contain the working files of the national office, located first in Washington, D.C. and subsequently in New York City. WONAAC ACTIVITIES records are arranged chronologically by event, and consist of material regarding conferences, demonstrations, and the International Abortion Tribunal. The Tribunal, coming after the three national conferences, was originally scheduled for March 9-11, 1973, and was designed to hear testimony regarding abortion, contraception, and forced sterilization experiences. The files include correspondence with noted women in politics, entertainment, and athletics who were invited to endorse or participate in the Tribunal. Among them were Bella Abzug, Simone de Beauvoir, Shirley Chisholm, Billie Jean King, Shirley MacLaine, and Eleanor McGovern. Because of the unexpected pro-abortion ruling of the Supreme Court on January 22, the Tribunal was replaced by a meeting on the International Struggle for Abortion Rights held March 10, 1973 in New York City. Featured speakers were three French abortion leaders. Although most of the material concerns the Tribunal, there is some information on the meeting that replaced it.
The SUBJECT FILE consists of material collected by the national office regarding various issues related to, or aspects of, abortion. The section about Shirley Ann Wheeler concerns her conviction on manslaughter charges after having an illegal abortion in Florida, and the support given her by WONAAC.
LEGAL FILES contain information on cases, bills, hearings, and laws related to abortion. WONAAC was not a party in any of the cases, but did file amicus curiae briefs in many of them.
Correspondence, near-print materials, and newspaper clippings collected by the national office and concerning the abortion movement in the United States and in foreign countries are located in the REGIONAL FILES. The United States files are arranged alphabetically by state, and material from foreign countries is arranged alphabetically by geographical groups of countries. The news clippings have been microfilmed for reasons of preservation, and are arranged in similar fashion.
MISCELLANEOUS includes a microfilmed scrapbook, one tape recording, and posters. The posters (1972-1973) were produced by the Women's National Abortion Action Coalition and announce Abortion Action Week, May 1-6, 1972, and other events, including the International Tribunal on Abortion, Contraception and Forced Sterilization; Women's National Abortion Action Conferences; and a march on Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.
