Election Collections at the WLA

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It’s Presidential Election time! No matter the outcome, it is historic given Hillary Clinton is the first woman candidate from a major political party. The WLA holds five collections of women who held elected office. Several of those women were also “firsts.”

Carol Moseley Braun served as the first, and so far the only, African American woman in the US Senate. Sr. Carolyn Farrell, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), was elected to the Dubuque City Council and because she received the majority of votes in the council election, became mayor. She is believed to be the first woman religious in the US to serve as mayor.

Check out all five the WLA collections of women serving elected office!

Carolyn Farrell, BVM
Mayor of Dubuque 1980-1981, City Councilwoman 1977-1981carolyn-farrell

Carol Ronen
Illinois State Representative 17th District 1993-2000, Illinois State Senator District 7 2000-2008, 48th Ward Democratic Party Committeewoman.carol-ronen

Mary Ann Smith
48th Ward Alderman 1989-2007mary-ann-smith

Marion Kennedy Volini
48th Ward Alderman 1978-1987marion-kennedy-volini

Carol Moseley Braun
Illinois State Senator 1993-1999, Chicago Mayoral Candidate 2011
(Papers currently unprocessed.)carol-moseley-braun-n-d

A joint blog effort between Nancy, Ellen, and Kate

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About Women and Leadership Archives

Established in 1994, the Women and Leadership Archives (WLA) collects, preserves, and makes available permanently valuable records of women and women’s organizations, which document women’s lives, roles, and contributions. The WLA grew out of the need to care for the records of Mundelein College and expanded to collect papers of women leaders and women’s organizations. Collection strengths include the subject areas of activism and women’s issues; authors; education; environmental issues; public service; social justice; women religious; and the fine, performance, and visual arts. The WLA is part of the Gannon Center and Loyola University Libraries and serves a wide variety of users, ranging from students and scholars to the general public. The WLA makes records available at the Archives in Loyola’s Piper Hall, offers remote reference services, presents programs, and provides online resources. Staff include a Director, Assistant Archivist, and graduate assistants from Loyola’s Public History Program.

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