Dayton Women's Health Center Records

The Dayton Women's Health Center Records document the administration and history of Dayton's first legal abortion clinic, as well as the litigation and controversy surrounding it. In addition to organizational records, the collection contains newspaper clippings; a scrapbook; correspondence; audiovisual materials, including recordings and photographs of picketers; and memorabilia. Through these records, researchers will gain insight into the operations of a women's health clinic and the turbulence of public opinion toward abortion in 1970s-1990s Dayton. The records are arranged into six series.

Series I, Administration, contains records documenting the business activities and history of the DWHC. Included are board meeting minutes, employee and medical handbooks, blueprints and building plans, statistics, not-for-profit registration, articles of incorporation, and research on other clinics. While this series includes a few financial records, these records are sporadic and document a very small portion of the clinic's history.

Series II, Abortion Controversy, contains materials documenting the abortion debate, and is divided into three subseries.

Subseries IIA, Pro-Choice Materials, contains correspondence from the clinic's supporters and former patients; newsletters and brochures from pro-choice organizations, including the National Abortion Rights Action League and Catholics for a Free Choice; handbooks on birth control and reproductive health; and a National Abortion Federation Field Guide to Anti-Abortion Extremists.

Subseries IIB, Pro-Life Materials, contains newsletters, brochures, flyers, ads, and other literature from pro-life organizations such as Rescue Dayton/The Jericho Project, Dayton Right to Life, the Pro-Life Action Line, and the Army of God. Many of these materials were sent to the DWHC by pro-life activists or left by picketers. This subseries also includes "hate mail" and letters from pro-life advocates, including one folder containing correspondence from David Enix, a picketer with whom the DWHC was involved in lengthy court cases.

Subseries IIC, Picket Notes, contains records of picketers that were written by DWHC staff and volunteers, particularly Jan Rudd. Few of these records are from prior to 1986, when the DWHC began to experience heavy picketing and became involved in litigation against them. The majority of the picket notes are from 1986-1991. Notes include the names of picketers, when they picketed, and what they did or said to DWHC staff, volunteers, and patients. Most of these picket notes correspond to the court cases described in Series IV, Litigation, and were compiled into a binder for the Enix contempt hearings, which has been disassembled into this series. Also see Series V, Audiovisual, for photographs and videos of the picketers.

Series III, Newspaper Clippings and Scrapbook, consists of newspaper clippings and one scrapbook documenting the history of the Dayton Women's Health Center and abortion in Ohio and the United States. The majority of the newspaper clippings are from the Dayton Daily News. Many of the clippings feature the activities of pro-life and abortion protest groups, including the picketers who frequented the DWHC in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pro-choice groups are also well represented in the newspaper clippings, which include coverage of local and national abortion rights marches. Clippings have been cut from whole newspapers. The scrapbook consists entirely of newspaper clippings on the same topics. These clippings have not been removed from their sticky pages. Loose items were removed and interfiled with the rest of the clippings. Items in this series are arranged in chronological order. Clippings of interest include those from 1973 (the opening of the clinic), 1986-1990 (the Enix trials), and 1997 (the closing of the clinic).

Series IV, Litigation, includes court documents, correspondence, and other records pertaining mostly to the DWHC's legal cases against picketers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Enix court documents are divided by case number, as the case was appealed several times and tried in the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court, Montgomery County Court of Appeals, and Ohio Supreme Court. Legal correspondence has been filed separately from any enclosed court documents. This series also includes attorney's fee statements and some records of litigation not pertaining to picketers.

Series V, Audiovisual, consists of photographs, negatives, audio and videocassettes, slides, and a 16mm film. Most of these items document the activities of pro-life picketers outside the clinic. The photographs and audio and videocassettes, in particular, were used as evidence in court against the picketers involved in the Enix trials. Many of the photographs are labeled with dates and names of the picketers, while four folders contain undated and unlabeled photographs. A few photographs detail the interior of the clinic or feature staff members. The materials in this series do NOT feature images or footage of patients, doctors, or abortions. Polaroids have been placed in paper sleeves, and negatives have been placed in plastic sleeves and housed in a binder box. One VHS tape features a news segment on the DWHC. The audiocassettes in this series are particularly fragile.

Series VI, Memorabilia and Magazines, contains memorabilia relating to the DWHC and the activities of its staff and volunteers, as well as People and Life magazines on teen pregnancy and fetal development. Included are a DWHC office door sign; a clinic escort vest and t-shirt (worn by clinic volunteers to escort patients past picketers and into the clinic); a National Abortion Rights Action League hat; a pocket Bible; some political pins pertaining to abortion, women's rights, and voting rights; and stickers and posters pertaining to the same.