The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Illinois Joint Committee for the Merit System in Civil Service Records 1921-1939
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Illinois Joint Committee for the Merit System in Civil Service Records |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1921-1939 |
| Size: | .5 linear ft. (1 box) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | The Illinois Joint Committee for the Merit System in the Civil Service was formed in 1932 as a steering committee for the effort to strengthen and improve the civil service requirements in Illinois. The Records contain correspondence, annual reports, minutes, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks of the Committee. |
No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Illinois Joint Committee for the Merit System in Civil Service. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
The Illinois Joint Committee for the Merit System in the Civil Service was formed in 1932 as a steering committee for the effort to strengthen and improve the civil service requirements in Illinois. In particular, the group centered its efforts on local and state legislation concerning the employment of Illinois public servants, including sanitary district workers, substitute teachers, park employees and rural health officials. This work was done in affiliation with thirty-four local groups, including the Illinois and Hyde Park League of Women Voters, the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs, the Catholic Women's League, the Municipal Employees' Society, the Juvenile Protective Association and the Illinois Federation of Labor. After seven active years, the committee merged with the Civil Service Association of Illinois in 1939.
One of the organizers and the first chairman of the Joint Committee was Mary Kelborne Nelson, who maintained leadership throughout the 1930's. A consistent advocate for civil service reform, Nelson had lobbied for the defeat of an anti-civil service law (the Wheeler Bill) in 1921, and throughout the 1920's worked closely with the Chicago and Illinois Civil Service Reform Associations.
The Illinois Joint Committee for the Merit System in Civil Service records contain correspondence, annual reports, minutes, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks of the Committee.
The collection is divided into three series: Series I: Mary Kelborne Nelson Correspondence; Series II: Organization of Joint Committee and Affiliates; Series III: Committee Materials.
Series I: Mary Kelborne Nelson Correspondence |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | April-November 1933 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | November-December 1933 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | January-April 1934 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | May-December 1934 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | January-April 1935 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | May-December 1935 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | January-October 1936 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | November-December 1936 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | January-May 1937 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | May-December 1937 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | January-December 1938 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | January-December 1939 |
Series II: Organization of Joint Committee and Affiliates |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Anti-Wheeler Bill; Woman's Joint Committee in Illinois Cook County Federation of Women's Club pamphlet |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | Woman's City Club of Chicago and the Civil Service Association of Chicago; Correspondence, 1921-1927 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | County Bureau of Public Welfare |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | Woman's City Club; Rural Health Committee, 1929 |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | Woman's City Club; Rural Health Committee, Civil Service Committee, 1932 |
| Box 1 Folder 18 | Woman's City Club; Rural Health Committee, National Merit Dinner, 1931 |
| Box 1 Folder 19 | Proposed plans for Illinois Federal Employment Service |
Series III: Committee Materials |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Pamphlets and radio script |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Reports and correspondence, 1935 |
| Box 2 Folder 3-6 | Reports and correspondence, 1936 |
| Box 2 Folder 7-8 | Reports and correspondence, 1937 |
| Box 2 Folder 9-10 | Reports and correspondence, 1938 |
| Box 2 Folder 11 | Reports and correspondence, 1939 |
| Box 2 Folder 12 | Annual reports, 1934-1939 |
| Box 2 Folder 13-14 | Scrapbooks |