The National Congress of Neighborhood Women Records consist of 58 linear feet, dating from 1974-1999, and document the early history of the organization, the growth of its local and national programs, and the development of a national and international network of poor and working-class grassroots women over a 20 year period.

Types of material include correspondence, memoranda, records of the administrative boards and committees, annual reports, material from national conferences and planning meetings, funding proposals, program descriptions and reports, writings on the history and programs of NCNW, publications, articles, research papers, files on affiliated organizations, printed material, photographs, and audiovisual materials.

Since this is a continuing collection of an existing organization, it is necessarily incomplete, with many gaps in the records, particularly those documenting programs still active. The bulk of the material in this processed portion dates from 1975 to 1990. Focusing on the years before the split between the national and local administrations, these records document the formation of core programs in education, employment, and leadership support, as well as the development of a national community development agenda. Also well represented are local housing and tenant programs of the 1980s, the Resource Center, and networking and involvement in the early years of the international women and development movement. In SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION, there is only a small amount of documentation of NCNW's local affiliate, the Neighborhood Women of Williamsburg/Greenpoint. However, their involvement in local programs from 1986 to the early 1990s is represented within SERIES II. PROGRAMS.

It offers a rich source of material on the formation of a successful national organization based on feminist principles and with a grassroots, working-class base. It also offers a fascinating view of its inner workings, with all of the personal and political dynamics that come with incorporating a feminist consciousness into an organization, and where issues of class, race and ethnicity are acknowledged and openly discussed. Through personal stories, shared in workshops, support groups, conferences, meetings, and writings, we are offered a unique perspective on the women's movement.

In addition, there is a treasure trove of subject files on women's issues, grassroots organizing, and community development. Included are numerous published and unpublished writings by NCNW members and others on topics such as class, working-class feminism, ethnicity, female poverty, and women and community development. There are also files on women's and community activist organizations, many in the New York City area, as well as NCNW affiliates nationwide, and international organizations.

This collection is organized into five series:

• I. Administration
• II. Programs
• III. Organizations
• IV. Photographs
• V. Audiovisual Material

The inter-relatedness and continuing evolution of the NCNW programs creates a challenge in attempting to organize the records in our typical hierarchical arrangement. The programs of NCNW are best viewed as a web, not distinct projects. The community and economic development vision/agenda of NCNW, for example, influenced projects in many program areas, including leadership and employment training, housing projects, and of course, international programs in community development. Identifying where one project ends and another begins can be problematic, changes in funding often affected the name of the project, as well as its staffing and scope. Wherever possible, the original organization of records has been retained. For example, in SERIES I. ADMINISTRATION, the Central Chronological File and the Development files have been kept intact. But for the most part, records were received in various states of order, in which case the archivist imposed an organization that seemed to be consistent with the original provenance of the records.