Letter to the Editor, 2002

The League for Women Voters of the Rochelle Area organized in 1971 and became an official League in 1973. They work to provide information on relevant, voter oriented topics, as well as hold open forums for candidates, train future candidates, and register voters. The League often takes a two-year study on a particular issue. The materials within the collection document the Rochelle League’s formation and eventual acceptance into the National League of Women Voters. News articles relevant to League interests, such as candidate information, governmental issues and League events are included, as well as letters written to the editor from members. There are also more news articles in the two scrapbooks at the end of the collection.   Included in the collection are annual meeting minutes from 1973-2011. Meeting minutes are nearly complete, with a gap only occurring between 1994-1999. Information on the community dinners is also provided, including histories, invitations, and speaker invitations. The Hublights newsletter distributed to members are also complete.  Study material contains news articles, informational material, meeting minutes, and action notes about particular topics that the League chose to study. The material concerning Rochelle government, Ogle County government, accessibility, landfills, local transportation, and the equal rights amendment have the most information, with other topics containing only news articles. Financial ledgers include disbursements, cash receipts, budgets, and financial reports. Fund-raising efforts and donors are also recorded. Though there is no complete list of membership from the earliest years, a list of the charter members can be found in “Rochelle League Formation”, and memberships lists for several years are provided. There are no handbooks prior to 1983, but their run is fairly complete from 1983-2011. Researchers should note that there is little internal information about voter registration and candidate forums. There are also no correspondence between the Rochelle Area League and the Illinois or National League.