Finding aid for the Women's Law Fund Records, Series II


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Women's Law Fund
Title: Women's Law Fund Records, Series II
Dates: 1972-1996
Extent: 0.60 linear feet (2 containers)
Abstract: The Women's Law Fund (1972-2006), a non-profit organization co-founded by attorneys Jane M. Picker and Lizbeth A. Moody, both professors at Cleveland State University's Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, evolved out of divisions within Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) concerning the mission, structure, and funding of that organization. WEAL was a national organization founded in Cleveland, Ohio, and committed to combating sex discrimination and advocating for economic equality for women through education and litigation. The focus of Women's Law Fund was to fund specific sex discrimination cases and secure attorneys for litigation. In the first case supported by the fund, LaFleur, et al. v. Cleveland Board of Education, et al., the U.S Supreme Court prohibited the school board's mandatory maternity leave policy for violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The Women's Law Fund disbanded in 2006 having reached its goals. The collection consists of administrative records, agendas, charts, correspondence, financial records, forms, grant proposals, legal records, lists, memoranda, minutes, newspaper articles, notes, promotional materials, and reports.
MS Number MS 5124
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English

History of the Women's Law Fund

The Women's Law Fund, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to eradicating gender discrimination through litigation and education, was incorporated in Cleveland in 1972. The fund was co-founded by attorneys Jane M. Picker and Lizabeth A. Moody, then colleagues at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University. Primarily funded by the Ford Foundation, the Women's Law Fund first supported precedent-setting litigation regarding gender discrimination in employment, education, government benefits, and housing. The Women's Law Fund was not a law firm; rather, it was an organization securing attorneys and providing funding for litigation in its area of expertise. In fact, the Women's Law Fund was the first non-profit organization in the United States to address gender discrimination cases. Although located in Cleveland, the fund was a national organization.

Notably, the first case supported by the fund, LaFleur, et al. v. Cleveland Board of Education, et al., reached the United States Supreme Court to result in a landmark ruling. In 1974, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Board's policy of mandatory maternity leave penalized female teachers for deciding to bear children, thus violating the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Other litigation of note supported by the fund includes multiple cases involving the Cleveland Police Department. Litigation succeeded in allowing women to enroll as police cadets, broaden their police presence beyond desk jobs at the Women's Bureau of the Cleveland Police Department, and allowing female police officers to wear pantsuits instead of mandatory skirts. The following cases all relate to the Cleveland Police Department: Christ, et al. v. City of Cleveland, et al., Clayton, et al. v. City of Cleveland, et al., Loy, et al. v. City of Cleveland, et al., Lucas, et al. v. City of Cleveland, et al., and Parkinson, et al. v. City of Cleveland, et al.

As the fund's efforts produced change, the Women's Law Fund shifted its focus in the 1990s to new areas of discrimination, namely that of American women employed overseas by American companies and female age discrimination. The organization disbanded at the end of their 2006 fiscal year, largely due to the achievement of its mission.

Click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Women's Law Fund


Scope and Content

Women's Law Fund Records, Series II, 1972-1996, consist of administrative records, agendas, charts, correspondence, financial records, forms, grant proposals, legal records, lists, memoranda, minutes, newspaper articles, notes, promotional materials, and reports.

This collection is of value to researchers studying women's history, gender studies, legal studies, and civil rights in Cleveland, Ohio, and throughout the United States in the late twentieth century. This collection records the evolution and management of the earliest organizations dedicated to fighting gender discrimination through legislation and litigation.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.

Restrictions on Access

Access to Container 2, Folder 1 is restricted; see Curator of Manuscripts. There are no access restrictions on the remainder of the collection.

Related Material

The researcher should also consult MS 4970 Women's Law Fund Records; MS 5255 Women's Law Fund Records, Series III; MS 4107 Women's Rights Society of Cleveland Records; and MS 5074 WomenSpace Records.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Sex discrimination against women -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Sex discrimination against women -- United States.
Women -- Employment -- Law and legislation.
Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Women -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States.
Women in education -- Legal status, laws, etc.
Women's Law Fund (Cleveland, Ohio)
Women's rights -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Women's rights -- United States.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5124 Women's Law Fund Records, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of Lana Moresky in 2010.

Processing Information

Processed by Natalie Jemiola-Wilson in 2012.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Women's Law Fund Records, Series II 1972-1996

Box Folder
1 1 Administrative records, Board of Directors and Board of Trustees, agendas and minutes 1993-1996
1 2 Administrative records, committees 1994-1995
1 3 Administrative records, human resources 1982-1996
1 4 Administrative records, organizational records including history and structure 1972-1996
1 5 Financial records and development 1974-1996
1 6 Greater Cleveland Community Shares affiliate organization, access strategy 1993-1995
1 7 Greater Cleveland Community Shares affiliate organization, miscellaneous materials including information regarding campaigns, donor choice, events, financial reports, forms, minutes, and targets 1993-1996
Box Folder
2 1 Legal records including cases and intake forms (access restricted - see Curator of Manuscripts) 1993-1995
2 2 Miscellaneous affiliate information, articles, and promotional materials 1993-1996