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| Title | Dorothy Young Sale papers |
| Finding Aid Identifier | MS 118 |
| Finding Aid Title | Finding aid for Dorothy Young Sale papers |
| Subject | Dorothy Sale; National Organization for Women; League of Women Voters of Seattle; finding aid; women's rights; equal rights; Equal Rights Amendment |
| Abstract | Women's rights leader and social activist Dorothy Young Sale was involved in the League of Women Voters of Seattle (LWV of Seattle) and the National Organization for Women (NOW) at the national, regional and local levels, serving both organizations as an officer and committee and task force chair. The collection reflects her work as a field organizer and NOW Northwest Regional co-director during the ERA Countdown Campaign; documentation of her involvement with LWV and NOW; her activity in the Seattle Women's Commission, the Seattle Office of Women's Rights, ProChoice Washington, and other activist organizations in the state of Washington; and her interest in a variety of regional issues ranging from equal opportunity and social and health services to urban planning. |
| Biography | Dorothy Young Sale (DYS) was born in 1932 in New York City. Raised on Long Island, she graduated from Swarthmore College, where she met her husband, Roger Sale, and received a Master of Library Science degree from Pratt Institute. She (moved to Seattle from Amherst, MA in 1962 when her husband started teaching at the University of Washington. Already a member of the League of Women Voters (LWV), she transferred her membership to the Seattle chapter and almost immediately began to be heavily involved by doorbelling for initiative elections and joining the civil rights movement. In 1964-1965, she co-chaired the Education subcommittee of the Seattle LWV study of Equal Opportunity in Education, Employment, and Housing in the Seattle area. From 1971 through 1974, she worked on the LWV of Washington study of women's status in Washington; worked for passage of the state Equal Rights Amendment (ERA); and lobbied for the state legislature's ratification of the national ERA Amendment in 1973. During that time she also worked for independent status for the Seattle Women's Commission and the Seattle Office of Women's Rights.
Sale joined the National Organization for Women's (NOW) Seattle chapter in 1972 and became active in the larger women's movement. She chaired Seattle NOW's Equal Employment Opportunity Task Force in 1973 and was Seattle NOW co-president in 1974 and 1975. Sale was elected Washington State NOW's Western Washington vice-president in 1978-1979 and, that same year, became a field organizer in the national NOW ERA Countdown Campaign, working in Oregon, Wyoming and North Dakota. She conducted ERA Action Team training throughout the region and nation.
In March 1979, she was elected NOW Northwest Regional co-director / National board member, serving in those positions until July 1983. Until July 1982, she worked for extended periods for the ERA Countdown Campaign in Illinois and Oklahoma, and also worked for ratification in Florida. As co-director of the Northwest region during this period, she supported existing NOW state organizations and local chapters, and organized new ones in Alaska and Wyoming. Sale was a member of the "Bellevue 21" which received nationwide media attention for the ERA in late 1980 for a "chained to the temple" protest at a Mormon temple.
Sale became active again in the LWV, serving on Seattle's Women's Issues Committee from 1991 to 1993. She was elected to the Seattle LWV board of directors in 1992, serving as Voter Service chair. She was elected a vice-president in 1993 for Social Policy Action and chapter president for 1995-1997. After her terms as president, she became Seattle LWV's development director, 1997-1998. From 1997 until 2005 she was the LWV of Washington's representative on ProChoice Washington and served as Reproductive Rights chair, 2004-2005. |
| Scope and Content | The collection documents the work of women's rights leader and social activist Dorothy Young Sale in Seattle, King County, the state of Washington, and the Northwest region, as well as nationally. The bulk of the collection consists of papers associated with her work in the League of Women Voters (LWV) of Seattle; the LWV of Washington; National Organization for Women (NOW) Seattle–King County; NOW Washington; NOW Northwest Region; and NOW National. |
| Keywords | Dorothy Sale; National Organization for Women; League of Women Voters of Seattle; finding aid; women's rights; equal rights; Equal Rights Amendment |
| Inclusive Dates | 1956-2006 |
| Restrictions | None |
| Volume | 27.25 linear feet |
| Accession number | 2008.47 ; 2009.208 |
| Num of Boxes | 22 |
| Electronic Publisher | Washington State Historical Society |
| Contributors | Washington State Historical Society |
| Object Type | Finding aid |
| Format | .PDF |
| Rights | Funded through a National Endowment for the Humanities "We the People" grant for Washington Women's History to the Washington Women's History Consortium, a part of the Washington State Historical Society. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Property of the Washington State Historical Society - All Rights Reserved |
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