The University of Iowa Libraries

After the November election in 1992, a group of politically concerned women met in Boone, Iowa to discuss the status of women in elected positions in the state of Iowa. This group concluded that, although women constituted fifty-two percent of the population in Iowa, eighty-two percent of Iowa state senators and eighty-four percent of Iowa state representatives were men. Furthermore, at the time, Iowa had never had a female governor, Speaker of the House, majority leader in the Senate or House, or Congressperson. A related concern was the Republican dominance of Iowa politics and its perceived impact on equal representation.

The Democratic Activist Women's Network (DAWN) was created for the purpose of recruiting, educating, supporting and helping to elect Democratic women to public office in Iowa at the local and state levels. The organization was modeled after EMILY's List, establishing networks for candidate selection and endorsement through the provision of financial and moral support. In particular, DAWN actively recruits candidates to run for office and funnels member donations to them, as well as providing campaign volunteers, advice, and woman-specific campaign training. Candidates endorsed since the organization's inception include Elaine Baxter, Bonnie Campbell, Minnette Dodorer, Sandra Glenn, Patty Judge, Robbie Fye Leach, Anne Pederson, Linda Santi, and Kathy Walter.

DAWN is structured to correspond to the five Iowa Congressional districts, with local chapters in each district. In 1993, former Iowa Senator Beverly Hannon became chair of the newly created District 1 chapter. In 1996, Hannon resigned her position and membership, due to disagreements among members over candidate positions on abortion and reproductive rights. DAWN continues to recruit and endorse Democratic women candidates today.

The DAWN District 1 records date from 1981 to 2009 and measure 2 linear feet. The records are arranged in four series: Administrative records, Candidates, Publicity, and Photographs.
 
The Administrative records series comprises official documents of DAWN District 1 and dates from 1986-2009. This series includes DAWN brochures, organizational by-laws, professional contacts, correspondence, donor records, financial information, mailing lists, meeting agendas and minutes, member lists, phone messages and notes, documents relating to the organization's structure and legal status, and volunteer information.
 
The Candidates series contains information about the candidates selected by DAWN and dates from 1989-2008. This series includes the candidate application packet, campaign brochures featuring DAWN-endorsed candidates, records of the candidate recommendation committee, documents from the Center for the American Woman and Politics (CAWP) Forum for women legislators, district maps, and information regarding women in elected positions.
 
The Publicity series encompasses public relations, the media, and community events and dates from 1981-2009. This series includes documents from the annual meeting, advertisements for community events, literature from a media workshop, DAWN newsletters, newspaper clippings, a directory of members of the Professional Women's Network, and records from the statewide town meeting. The newspaper clippings have been subdivided according to topic: clippings relating to abortion, clippings about DAWN-endorsed candidates, miscellaneous clippings, and clippings of prospective DAWN members and candidates.
 
The Photographs series includes snapshots of DAWN District 1 members from 1992-1993 at district meetings.

Access: The papers are open for research.

Use: Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa.

Acquisition: The records (donor no. 704) were donated by Beverly Hannon in 2000 and Barbara Boatwright in 2010.

Preferred Citation: Democrat Activists Women's Network, District 1 records, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.

Repository:	Iowa Women's Archives
Address:	100 Main Library University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone:	319-335-5068
Curator:	Kären Mason
Email:	lib-women@uiowa.edu
Website:	http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.

Corporate Names:
Democratic Party (Iowa)
Democratic Activist Women's Network, District 1

Dates:
1980-1989
1990-1999

Topics:
Political clubs
Women in politics
Women in public life
Political campaigns

Occupations:
Political candidates

Geographic Names:
Iowa

Genre/Form of Materials:
Administrative records
Archives
Photographs

Browse:
Women, Politics and the Law