Friedman, Paul R. The Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons. New York: Avon, 1976

File — Box: 115, Volume: 4

Identifier: VII

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

From the Collection: The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah records (1957-1994) consist of documents concerned with the administrative functions of the local chapter and the civil liberties issues which the chapter was involved. Though the collection covers the organization since its founding, the bulk of the collection consists of records from the directorships of James Joy (1974-1976), Shirley Pedler (1976-1987), Robyn Blumner (1987-1989) and Michele Parish (1989-1992). Documents from the early years of the organization, as well as from the directorship of Steve Cook (1972-1974), are also found. Materials dealing with the ACLU of Utah in the mid-1960s are rare in this collection.

The collection is divided into seven sections. The first two sections are concerned with the administrative activities of the Utah chapter and the national ACLU office. Items concerned with the functions of the ACLU of Utah can be found in Section I. These include correspondence; Board of Directors' records; Legal Panel records; fund raising and membership documents; financial reports; personnel, cooperating attorneys, and intern/volunteer information; documents concerned with the Bicentennial of the Bill of Rights; and miscellaneous office documents. Items produced by the national office that are concerned with its administrative activities, yet do not explicitly mention the ACLU of Utah, are filed in Section II. These include correspondence; National Board of Directors' records; policy documents; Biennial Conference documents; and other records. Neither of these sections contain items pertaining directly to civil liberties issues, except for items concerned with national ACLU policy in boxes 24-26.

Items directly concerned with civil liberties issues are located in Section III of the collection. These documents are categorized by the pertinent civil liberties subject, and further divided by document type and date. In addition to correspondence involving the local and national offices, these documents include reports, articles, legislation, press releases, information circulars, newsletters, and brochures. Court documents concerned with actual cases argued in Utah courts make up a large portion of each subject category. Information concerning the activities of organizations associated with each issue can also be found, as well as news clippings.

Newsletters produced by ACLU affiliates (including the Utah affiliate), and the ACLU national office can be found in Section IV. These are organized by affiliate, and consist of just one or two issues per affiliate. The Utah affiliate newsletters and the national ACLU newsletter, however, comprise nearly complete runs reflecting the time span of the collection.

Items pertaining to the lobbying activities of the ACLU of Utah at the Utah State Legislature are located in Section V, and consist of committee meeting agendas and minutes, as well as summaries of legislation for the years 1987-1992. More complete records of these activities may be located through the State of Utah.

Section VI of the collection contains miscellaneous items and an addendum. These include ACLU handbooks, news coverage directories, miscellaneous documents, publications, and artifacts.

Dates

1976

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.