The records of the Dane County League of Women Voters are divided into series that relate to each of the three represented organizations: the MADISON LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, the MIDDLETON LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, and the DANE COUNTY LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS. The documentation for each is similar, although varying in extent and depth. The records for each local league are also arranged similarly.

In addition to the records housed in the Archives, the Historical Society library holds microfilmed, but incomplete, runs of newsletters, which are an essential source for research, and the published candidate questionnaires of the three organizations. Photographs received with the collection are limited, with the largest group relating to an exhibit of photographs organized in 1965 to draw attention to the urban renewal issue.

Because of the inclusion of the earliest records about league activity in the Madison area and the presence of documentation about involvement in important community issues during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, the records of the MADISON LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS are probably of greatest general research interest. These records consist of bylaws, administrative records, correspondence, financial records, files on committees and local units, membership records, and publications. In addition, there is documentation about ongoing activities and projects.

Grouped under the heading of administrative records are annual reports, files on annual meetings, and minutes. The annual reports are incomplete. Reports dating from the period 1955 to 1962 consist only of copies of the statistical data submitted to the state league office. Beginning in 1964 the reports were apparently prepared for the local membership, and they are as a result more useful narratives about activities and accomplishments. Documentation about the annual meetings, sometimes referred to as local conventions, varies considerably, but may include minutes, budgets and financial reports, and sometimes even speeches delivered by the president.

The minutes are very complete and provide the most important documentation in the collection about the organization's early years. Most useful are the minutes of the board, although there are separate files for regular membership meetings. (These meetings appear to have become less frequent over the years and to have ceased in 1950.)

The correspondence is subdivided into general files and subject files. The provenance and function of the general, chronologically-arranged files is uncertain, although the majority of the material consists of letters written by presidents and corresponding secretaries to national officers, other leagues, and elected officials. Unfortunately the early correspondence is scarce, and even the documentation of some later years appears incomplete. Most prominently noted among the represented league officers are Caryl Regan, Caroline Wilds, Clara Penniman, and Faith Mote. The subject correspondence includes two folders entitled “calls to action.” These are letters written by the Madison League in response to special requests from national league headquarters. Also here is a folder on the membership revolt of 1954 over the issue of non-partisanship and another containing letters to elected representatives. (Additional letters to politicians may also be found scattered throughout the general correspondence.)

The financial records include virtually complete runs of monthly financial reports, together with some annual reports and budgets. (Additional financial information may be found in the annual meeting records.)

Madison committees are primarily documented by chronologically-arranged files of annual reports. Unfortunately, these files are not complete, and the earliest years are most sparsely represented. A few committees are documented by separate files which contain other types of documentation in addition to the annual reports. These files are arranged alphabetically by name. Among the well documented committees are Public Relations (earlier known as the Radio Committee) and Urban Renewal. About the Public Relations Committee there are information and schedules about the public lecture series sponsored by the League for many years. Similar information relates to the series of radio talks that the League sponsored during the 1940s. A second, extensively-documented committee studied urban renewal, an important Continuing Responsibility of the 1960s (see below). This file includes discussion materials, minutes, photographs, and correspondence about Madison's response to the urban redevelopment problems of the 1950s and 1960s.

Records of the Madison local units also include chronologically-arranged files of annual reports, together with copies of form letters sent to unit leaders and information on training. Like the files on the committees, these primarily date from the 1950s and 1960s.

During the 1950s, the League of Women Voters began to use the term “continuing responsibilities” to refer to the national, state, and local topics which the league studied and on which it took action. This term has been used to alphabetically group all of the represented league activities that were of an ongoing nature; activities of short duration or those which predate the adoption of the continuing responsibilities terminology are arranged under the heading “projects.” The continuing responsibility files contain some of the most interesting documentation in the collection. Present are files on the city manager referenda, Madison's equal opportunities and fair housing ordinances, and Cherokee Marsh. In addition, some continuing responsibilities resulted in the formation of special league committees, and as a result additional information on Madison's continuing responsibilities may be found in that section of the collection. (The file on the Urban Renewal Committee is especially useful in that regard.) Important reports published as a result of these and other activities and studies are filed chronologically in the publication section below and also catalogued individually by the Historical Society Library.

Voter service was the league activity of longest duration. The files about this in the Archives are supplemented by the regularly-published candidate questionnaires that are available on microfilm in the State Historical Society of Wisconsin library. A highlight of the files are several brochures on the citizenship schools for women the Madison League sponsored during the 1920s and the annual candidate dinners which were a highlight of its early voter service work.

Madison League membership is well documented by lists and later published annual directories. Also useful are the annual calendars which contain lists of meetings, officers, as well as information about speakers who addressed the group. The 1951 membership questionnaires provide brief information about members' backgrounds, education, occupations, and occupations of their husbands.

The LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MIDDLETON is much less completely documented. Although there is a virtually complete file of minutes, other basic sources such as financial reports are scarce. Like the Madison League records, the material on Middleton's continuing responsibilities is of broad research interest, featuring files on the local library, the city recreation program, and the chapter's strong interest in regional planning. Several publications of the Middleton League are also included in the files.

The records of the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF DANE COUNTY chiefly date from the 1970s through the early 1980s, with some published material covering the period to 1990. Included with the background material which begins the series are earlier records of the Dane County Council. The minutes and general papers of this organization reflect the common interests that gradually developed between the Madison and the Middleton leagues and the planning that led to the merger in 1971.

The records include the basic documentation present for the two previously described organizations (minutes, annual reports, correspondence, and financial records), although other useful types of records such as the continuing responsibilities and committee files are only scantily represented here. Also the officers' correspondence in the collection covers only the period 1971 to 1978.

Within the administrative records the files of annual reports are complete from 1971 to 1986. These valuable resources list officers and summarize activities of committees. Also included is an incomplete file of the statistical annual reports to the national league. The annual meeting materials include agenda packets (containing information on budgets and financial reports, issues to be decided, and information about nominees for league office), and minutes of proceedings. Occasionally, there are also copies of the president's remarks to the membership. Regular reports of the treasurer are also complete for the documented period, 1971-1985.