Biography

The Clinton County Women's Political Caucus (CCWPC), a local branch of the Iowa Women's Political Caucus (IWPC) and the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), held its first meeting in August 1973 with nineteen women and three men in attendance. The group wrote bylaws, elected officers, and organized committees including a speaker's bureau and a talent resumes committee to identify viable women candidates to serve on statewide appointed commissions. Caucus records indicate that while as many as forty women were dues-paying members in the early days and the mailing list included over three hundred names in 1975, the caucus was largely managed by a core of ten to twenty active members. The records do not describe how or when the caucus ceased meeting, although the February 1977 minutes state that concerns were expressed about "the fact that membership was down and there seemed to be a lack of direction."

The CCWPC met monthly and the meetings generally included a guest speaker or program. Speakers addressed topics such as women and the law, abortion, women on the police force, the United Way, women in the church, and energy efficiency. Public officials or candidates often addressed the group. CCWPC members worked closely with the IWPC. Many members attended IWPC conventions and conferences, and some even traveled to the annual meetings of the NWPC. CCWPC activities involved working on local campaigns (especially of women candidates), producing programs shown on the local cablevision station, and organizing an educational project on sex stereotyping. For this project, the CCWPC sponsored several showings of the film "Dick and Jane as Victims: Sex-role Stereotyping," surveyed the readers used in the Clinton public schools, and wrote a report on their findings, which was circulated through the Clinton school system.

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