Guide to the Esther C. Lawton Papers, 1935-1996 (bulk 1971-1978)

Collection number: MGN 279



University Libraries
The Pennsylvania State University
Special Collections Library
Penn State University Archives


Contact Information:

Pennsylvania State University
University Libraries
Special Collections Library
104 Paterno Library
University Park, PA 16802
814/865-7931
FAX 814/863-5318
E-mail: jxe2@psulias.psu.edu

Processed by: Matt Herbison
Date Completed: 2002
Encoded by: Susan Hamburger

©2006 Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Creator: Lawton, Esther C.
Title: Esther C. Lawton Papers, 1935-1996 (bulk 1971-1978)
Collection number: MGN 279
Provenance: Gift of Esther Christian Lawton and Dr. Diane Christian, 1998. The papers were donated by Ms. Lawton and her niece, Dr. Diane Christian, at the time of an oral history interview with Ms. Lawton conducted by Jean Rainey for the "A Few Good Women" project in 1998, shortly before Ms. Lawton's death.
Extent: 7 cubic feet
Repository: Pennsylvania State University, University Libraries, Special Collections Library

Administrative Information

Access

Unrestricted access.

Processing

Mr. Matt Herbison, a graduate student in Statistics organized the papers as a volunteer project before embarking on a master's degree program in archival studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Under the direction of archivist Lee Stout, Mr. Herbison sorted the papers into series based largely on subject content or organizational origin during the spring and summer of 2002. The final stages of creating the inventory were completed by Lee Stout in the fall of 2002.

Preferred Citation

Esther C. Lawton Papers, 1935-1996 (bulk 1971-1978), MGN 279, Penn State University Archives, Special Collections Library, University Libraries, Pennsylvania State University.

Related Material

Part of the "A Few Good Women" Collection at Penn State.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into six series: I. Personal; II. Job Evaluation and Classification; III. Federally Employed Women (FEW); IV. Women's Professional Organizations; V. Women's Rights; and VI. Miscellaneous.

The series are arranged by subject and form of material.

Biographical Note

Born in Brooklyn, New York on August 23, 1910, Esther Lawton was the eldest child of James and Carmela Todisco Christian, both native Italians who had come to the United States around the turn of the century. After graduating with honors from high school, she attended Hunter College, and then the University of Rochester, where she majored in languages and literature and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and other honorary societies. Graduating at the height of the depression in 1932 and finding little work in her field, she and her fiance, David Lawton, accepted jobs in the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. in 1936.

After starting as a Grade 2 clerk, Ms. Lawton moved to the Office of the Secretary in 1940, coordinating foreign intelligence reporting before the creation of the Office of Strategic Services. In 1942, she was recruited as a position classifier in the Bureau of the Public Debt, and thus began work in a field to which she was to make exceptional contributions. Ms. Lawton remained at Treasury, working from 1954 to 1959 in the Office of the Secretary. She then served as chief of the Classification Branch in the Internal Revenue Service until 1961, after which she returned to the Office of the Secretary. In 1972, she was named deputy director of personnel at the Department of the Treasury. She retired in 1980, a Grade 16. In the 1960s and 1970s, she had come to be considered the best position classification analyst in the federal government.

From her earliest days in Washington, she became committed to organizations, educational and cultural as well as professional. As her reputation grew in the field of position classification, she joined the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and the Society for Personnel Administration (SPA), serving these groups in many capacities; in 1961 she was the first woman elected to be president of the SPA. She was a charter member of both Executive Women in Government and Federally Employed Women (FEW), serving a term as President of the FEW in 1972.

During this period, Ms. Lawton served as a consultant for the Ford Foundation on a mission to Lebanon, where she was charged with reviewing all aspects of personnel management for the government. From 1968 to 1972, she served in a similar capacity in Jordan, writing civil service personnel laws in French for both countries. She also did public relations and general personnel work, and after her retirement, she set up her own management consulting firm.

An early believer in the women's movement, Ms. Lawton served on a Treasury Department committee established in 1962 to discover the extent of discrimination against women within the department. During the seventies, as the White House actively sought to appoint women to high level positions throughout government, Ms. Lawton was instrumental in seeing that lists of women qualified for supergrade positions were sent out to the appropriate people. Among her many organizations fighting for women's rights were the International Alliance of Women, the National Women's Party, the Washington Network for Women, and the Women's Equity Action League. For seven years she was a member of the District of Columbia's Commission on the Status of Women.

Concurrent to her career in the Treasury Department were over 25 years of teaching at George Washington University. She received her master's degree in 1942, and four years later began teaching French in night classes at GWU. Continuing until 1973, she became well known as a specialist in the translation of French to English. Upon retiring from the Treasury Department, Ms. Lawton assumed additional teaching and advisory responsibilities at GWU.

Ms. Lawton was the recipient of the 1969 Federal Woman's Award and the Secretary's Honor Award in 1970. She was named Professional Woman of the Year in 1970 and 1972 by the L'Enfant Chapter of the Business and Professional Women's Clubs. She received the inaugural Julia Fiss Bishop Award in 1985 from the ASPA's Section for Women in Public Administration. Other honors include the 1977 Stockberger Award from the International Personnel Management Association and the 1980's Training Officers' Award for contributions to the training community.

Throughout her career, Esther Lawton was a champion of women's rights and fair criteria for advancement and promotion. Her husband, Civil Service Commission director David Lawton, died in 1967. Esther Lawton died at home in Washington, D.C, on February 14, 1998.

Scope and Content

The collection consists primarily of Esther Lawton's reference files. It includes many governmental and professional publications and reports relating to position classification and job evaluation, often containing Ms. Lawton's handwritten notes. Information pertaining to women's rights and the Equal Rights Amendment form a substantial component of the collection. These include a wide range of documents, including women's rights group newsletters and publications; government publications for public consumption as well as internal to federal agencies and departments; publications pertaining to International Women's Year (1975) and International Women's Decade (1975-1985); and a collection of subject files.

Index Terms

These materials are indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Pennsylvania State University. Researchers wishing to find related materials should search the catalog under these index terms.

Personal Subjects

Lawton, Esther C. (Esther Christian), 1910-1998

Corporate Subjects

District of Columbia. Commission for Women

United States. Dept. of Labor

Topical Subjects

Equal rights amendments

International Women's Decade, 1976-1985

International Women's Year, 1975

Job evaluation

Occupations -- Classification

Women -- Societies and clubs

Women in the civil service

Women's rights

Corporate Creators

Federally Employed Women, Inc.

International Personnel Management Association

National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs

United States Civil Service Commission

Form/Genre Terms

Government publications -- United States

Letters (correspondence)

Meeting minutes

Organization records

Reports

Container List

Personal Series

Personal, 1960-1991.

This series includes many of Lawton's speeches and publications. There are a number of letters dealing with topics of both a professional and personal nature. There is a small amount of miscellaneous material, including several award ceremony programs, certificates and letters of appreciation, and files pertaining to international consulting work. Two 1970s photographs are also included, one large group shot of Lawton in Europe and another of Lawton at an awards ceremony.

Box 1

Folder 01

Speeches and speech-related correspondence, 1970-1978

Box 1

Folder 02

Speeches by Arthur Latham and A.E. Weatherbee on personnel issues in the U.S. Treasury Dept., 1960-1961

Box 1

Folder 03

Miscellaneous correspondence, 1970-1980

Box 1

Folder 04

Employee Evaluation and Factor Evaluation System (FES) Report (Originally found in E. Lawton's "Speeches" folder), 1976

Box 1

Folder 05

Draft of "Development of an Action Program to Advance the Employment and Utilization of Women in the Federal Service," 1966

Box 1

Folder 06

"A Study of the Status of Women in the Treasury Dept," 1966

Box 1

Folder 07

"Job Evaluation Principles and Problems" - Chapter 2 from Job Evaluation and Pay Administration in the Public Sector, ed. Harold Suskin, 1977

Box 1

Folder 08

Pertaining to position classification and personnel management, 1972-1981

Box 1

Folder 09

Appearances and mentions of E. Lawton in Publications, 1969-1975

Box 1

Folder 10

Reports for E. Lawton to review, 1962-1977

Box 1

Folder 11

Pertaining to international consulting work, 1978

Box 1

Folder 12

Invitation to be leader of People-to-People International delegation, 1976

Box 1

Folder 13

Accolades, 1969-1975

Box 1

Folder 14

Miscellaneous Personal, 1975-1976

Box 1

Folder 15

Photos (two), 1970s

Box 1

Folder 16

Mamie L Mizen (death arrangements), 1983

Box 1

Folder 17

Personal files list, 1991

Job Evaluation and Classification Series

Job Evaluation and Classification, 1930s-1992.

The largest components of this series are the professional and federal publications and newsletters pertaining to job evaluation and classification. The most prominent professional organizations in the series are the Classification and Compensation Society (CSS) and the International Personnel Management Association (IPMA). The U.S. Civil Service Commission created most of the government publications. Additionally, there are two 1930s-1940s reports from Ismar Baruch, an influential early proponent of job classification analysis. Several classification case studies and studies of the Factor Evaluation System (FES) are present.

Box 1

Folder 18

Congressional reports, hearings, acts, etc. pertaining to job evaluation and classification, 1960-1977

Box 1

Folder 19

U.S. Civil Service Commission - Personnel Officers Conference, 1973

Box 1

Folder 20

U.S. Civil Service Commission Grade Evaluation Guides, 1968-1976

Box 1

Folder 21

Factor Evaluation System (FES) Information, 1977-1979

Box 1

Folder 22

Classification of three coin press operator positions, 1980

Box 1

Folder 23

Case problems in position classification, undated

Box 1

Folder 24-25

Position-Classification Analysis reports prepared by Ismar Baruch (2 folders), 1930s-1940s

Box 1

Folder 26

Miscellaneous Position Classification Info - Originally labeled as "Extra Copies of Some Items," 1950-1978

Box 1

Folder 27

Miscellaneous Position Classification Info, 1962-1976

Box 1

Folder 28

Federal Personnel Manual-related excerpts, 1966-1968

Box 1

Folder 29

Educational (?) / Presentation (?) materials about the U.S. Civil Service Commission, 1970s

Box 1

Folder 30

Pan American Union - personnel policies, 1951

Box 1

Folder 31-32

Classifiers Column - Newsletter of the Classification and Compensation Society, 1973-1980

Box 1

Folder 33

Classification and Compensation Society (CCS) publications, 1972-1978

Box 2

Folder 01

International Personnel Management Association (IPMA) publications, 1974-1989

Box 2

Folder 02

Society for Personnel Administration (SPA) publications, 1956-1950

Box 2

Folder 03

Personnel journal articles, 1971-1992

Box 2

Folder 04

"The Qualifications, Organization and Operation of the US Government Economists" - Study Visit to the USA Report by G.J. Mungeam (located on long side of container), 1978

Box 2

Folder 05

"Job Evaluation: An Analytic Review" - Interim Report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by Donald J. Treiman, 1979

Box 2

Folder 06

Women and personnel-related (articles), 1973

Box 2

Folder 07

U.S. Civil Service Commission reports on white-collar and blue-collar workers, 1960-1975

Box 2

Folder 08

"Federal Workforce Outlook" publications from U.S. Civil Service Commission, 1965-1968

Box 2

Folder 09

"The Competition for Quality" - retaining science and engineering personnel, 1962

Box 2

Folder 10

The Federal Top Salary Network, 1960-1966

Box 2

Folder 11

State Salary Surveys, 1975-1977

Box 2

Folder 12

Salary Tables from U.S. Civil Service Commission, 1966-1978

Box 2

Folder 13

Glossary of Current Industrial Relations and Wage Terms, 1950-1965

Box 2

Folder 14

Pay Structure of the Federal Civil Service, 1960-1978

Box 2

Folder 15

National Survey of Professional, Administrative, Technical and Clerical Pay, 1960-1961

Box 2

Folder 16

(non-folder) Various governmental and professional organization publications dealing with personnel management and job classification, 1970s

Box 3

Folder 01

(non-folder) Various governmental and professional organization publications dealing with personnel management and job classification, 1930s-1970

Federally Employed Women (FEW) Series

Federally Employed Women (FEW), 1969-1991.

In addition to being a charter member of Federally Employed Women, Lawton served as the organization's president in 1972. The records of her presidential tenure form the bulk of this series. They include meeting records, drafts of reports, and letters (both personal and those intended for general members). Several folders contain records produced in preparation for the 1972 National Board Meeting. FEW mailings and chapter information packets are present, as well as copies of the FEW's News and Views newsletters from 1969-1972. In addition to several public reports, there are also drafts and final versions of FEW's The ABC's of Your Job: A Handbook of Personnel Management Matters.

Box 3

Folder 02

FEW-related personal correspondence, 1969-1972

Box 3

Folder 03

Notes from April 5, 1972 FEW meeting, 1972

Box 3

Folder 04

Material Regarding FEW Third National Conference, 1972

Box 3

Folder 05

FEW Conference Report and notes, 1972

Box 3

Folder 06

Letters to FEW members, 1972

Box 3

Folder 07

FEW form letters, 1972

Box 3

Folder 08

FEW's News and Views newsletters, 1969-1972

Box 3

Folder 09

The ABC's of Your Job: A Handbook on Personnel Management Matters - drafts and correspondence, 1971-1972

Box 3

Folder 10

Relating to FEW National Board Meeting of January 1972, 1972

Box 3

Folder 11

FEW National Board Meeting Packet Info (January 1972), 1972

Box 3

Folder 12

FEW National Board Meeting Itinerary and Packet (January 1972), 1972

Box 3

Folder 13

FEW National Board Meeting (January 1972) - Personal copies of handouts/info, 1972

Box 3

Folder 14

FEW Board Meeting minutes, 1971-1972

Box 3

Folder 15

Information about and for FEW chapters, 1971-1972

Box 3

Folder 16

Information for new FEW chapters, 1971-1972

Box 3

Folder 17

FEW Policy and Procedures Manual - Working notes and drafts, 1972

Box 3

Folder 18

Miscellaneous and copies, 1971-1972

Box 3

Folder 19

FEW Advisory Council (member of), 1978-1979

Box 3

Folder 20

FEW: Post-presidency items, 1972-1979

Box 3

Folder 21

FEW Procedures Manual (1982) and earlier revisions, 1982

Box 4

Folder 01

FEW Report - Hiring Practices in the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, 1975

Box 4

Folder 02

FEW Report - A Survey on Women and the Federal Women's Program in the Federal Government, 1991

Women's Professional Organizations Series

Women's Professional Organizations, 1966-1980.

This series contains information and publications pertaining to a number of professional women's organizations, many of which Lawton was a member. Lawton had an ongoing relationship with the D.C. Commission for Women; this series contains Annual Reports from 1968 (the inaugural) through 1980 as well as meeting minutes. The National Federation of Business and Women's Clubs (BPW) is another well-represented organization in this series. Present are newsletters and meeting information from D.C. area chapters of BPW and National Business Woman, the magazine of BPW (1972-1976). Several other women's organizations are represented, including three folders containing reports of Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women.

Box 4

Folder 03

General Federation of Women's Clubs Manual - Part 1, 1978-1980

Box 4

Folder 04

General Federation of Women's Clubs Manual - Part 2, 1978-1980

Box 4

Folder 05

D.C. Commission for Women - Annual Reports - Part 1, 1975-1980

Box 4

Folder 06

D.C. Commission for Women - Annual Reports - Part 2, 1968-1974

Box 4

Folder 07

D.C. Commission for Women - Various Reports, 1970s

Box 4

Folder 08

D.C. Commission for Women - Meeting minutes, membership lists, and standing rules, 1980

Box 4

Folder 09

Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women - Reports Part 1, 1970s

Box 4

Folder 10

Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women - Reports Part 2, 1970s

Box 4

Folder 11

Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women - Draft of 1965 report, 1966

Box 4

Folder 12

Program handouts for National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs (BPW) Business Women's Week activities, 1972-1975

Box 4

Folder 13

BPW publications - Part 1, 1970s

Box 4

Folder 14

BPW publications - Part 2, 1970s

Box 4

Folder 15

BPW Convention Information, 1972-1974

Box 4

Folder 16

BPW Annual Reports, 1972-1975

Box 4

Folder 17

D.C. BPW Manual of Policies and Procedures, 1969

Box 4

Folder 18

BPW Handbook for the Foundation Committee - with written notes, 1980

Box 4

Folder 19

BPW Newsletters, 1972-1975

Box 4

Folder 20

BPW-related - Various printed items, 1970s

Box 4

Folder 21

BPW - Personal (with respect to E. Lawton), 1976

Box 4

Folder 22

National Business Woman: The Magazine of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc. - Jan 1974 to March 1976 (incomplete) 1974-1976

Box 4

Folder 23

National Business Woman: The Magazine of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, Inc. - Jul 1972 to Dec 1973 (incomplete), 1972-1973

Box 4

Folder 24

"Effecting Social Change for Women" - From the Federation of Organizations for Professional Women, 1976

Women's Rights Series

Women's Rights, 1938-1985.

This series is the largest in the collection. It contains a wide variety of information that Lawton collected pertaining to the Women's Rights Movement and the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment. Included are newsletters, brochures, and publications produced for the International Women's Year/Decade, the Federal Women's Program, and the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau, as well as many other organizations. The end of this series contains a number of subject-based folders.

Box 4

Folder 25

International Women's Year (IWY) - Re: National Commission on the Observance of IWY, 1975-1977

Box 4

Folder 26

IWY - US Center of IWY - items, 1975

Box 4

Folder 27

IWY - UNESCO and UN-related publications, 1975-1976

Box 5

Folder 01

IWY - Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) publications, 1975-1976

Box 5

Folder 02

IWY - Miscellaneous programs, 1975

Box 5

Folder 03

IWY-related publications, 1975-1977

Box 5

Folder 04

IWY - Miscellaneous, 1975-1978

Box 5

Folder 05

(non-folder) "'To Form a More Perfect Union' : Justice for American Women" - Report of the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, 1976

Box 5

Folder 06

IWY- Foreign language publications (Arabic), 1975

Box 5

Folder 07

"Women Today" - Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) newsletter (incomplete) - Part 1, 1977-1982

Box 5

Folder 08

"Women Today" - ERA newsletter (incomplete) - Part 2, 1972-1976

Box 5

Folder 09

Women and Employment (Rights) - Various articles, publications, and reports, 1970s

Box 5

Folder 10

Sex Discrimination - Various articles, publications, and reports, 1970s

Box 5

Folder 11

"Common Cause" newsletter dealing with ERA passage (incomplete), 1973-1976

Box 5

Folder 12

ERA-related newsletters, releases, and statements, 1970s

Box 5

Folder 13

ERA - Publications dealing with more in-depth issues, 1970s

Box 5

Folder 14

ERA - General information publications, 1970s

Box 5

Folder 15

ERA - Newspaper and journal articles , 1970s

Box 5

Folder 16

Women's Political Education Coalition - Issue papers and a questionnaire, 1970s

Box 5

Folder 17

"International Women's News" - Journal of International Alliance of Women (incomplete), 1977-1981

Box 5

Folder 18

National Association of Commissions for Women newsletters, 1974-1976

Box 5

Folder 19

Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) newsletters and materials, 1974-1982

Box 5

Folder 20

(non-folder) "The Spirit of Houston: The First National Women's Conference," 1978

Box 5

Folder 21

Washington Women's Arts Center (WWAC) newsletters and brochures, 1975-1979

Box 5

Folder 22

Women's Organizations - Miscellaneous Information, 1972-1981

Box 5

Folder 23

Women's Rights - U.S.State publications, 1976-1979

Box 6

Folder 01

White House and Women - Various reports, newsletters, memoranda, etc. - many from Sarah Weddington, 1970-1981

Box 6

Folder 02

Women's Bureau of the U.S. Dept. of Labor - Reports - typically several printed pages dealing with one particular issue, 1970s

Box 6

Folder 03

(some non-folder) Women's Bureau of the U.S. Dept. of Labor - Publications, 1970s

Box 6

Folder 04

U.S. Dept. of Labor - Publications on Women and Work, 1970s

Box 6

Folder 05

"Women and Work" - Newsletter of U.S. Dept. of Labor (incomplete), 1973-1975

Box 6

Folder 06

Federal Women's Program (FWP) - Articles and publications, 1972-1977

Box 6

Folder 07

"Women in Action" - Newsletter of the Federal Women's Program (FWP) (incomplete), 1971-1980

Box 6

Folder 08

(non-folder) U.S. Civil Service Commission Studies on Employment of Women in the Federal Government, 1967-1977

Box 6

Folder 09

U.S. Civil Service Publications on Women - includes "Women in the Federal Service" (1938), 1938-1976

Box 6

Folder 10

U.S. Civil Service - Newsletters and releases, 1965-1978

Box 6

Folder 11

U.S. Civil Service Journal, 1974-1976

Box 7

Folder 01

(some non-folder) U.S. Commission on Civil Rights - Publications, 1966-1979

Box 7

Folder 02

U.S. Dept. of State - Publications on Women, 1977-1985

Box 7

Folder 03

U.S. Dept. of Treasury - Reports on Women and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), 1966-1976

Box 7

Folder 04

U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare - Publications, 1970s

Box 7

Folder 05

U.S. Census Bureau - Reports on Women, 1976-1978

Box 7

Folder 06

Government Publications on Women and Work - from departments other than those in previous folders, 1970-1981

Box 7

Folder 07

Miscellaneous Government Publications on Women/Minorities and Employment (upward mobility and affirmative action), 1971-1996

Box 7

Folder 08

Miscellaneous congressional reports and acts regarding women, 1977-1978

Box 7

Folder 09

Women and Employment - non-governmental publications, 1973-1975

Box 7

Folder 10

Women - International Scope, 1970-1976

Box 7

Folder 11

Women and Education - Part 1, 1971-1979

Box 7

Folder 12

Women and Education - Part 2, 1971-1979

Box 7

Folder 13

Women and Money - brochures, 1970s

Box 7

Folder 14

(one non-folder) Research on Women, 1976-1980

Box 7

Folder 15

Women and Police Work, 1972-1977

Box 7

Folder 16

Women and the Law, 1969-1975

Box 7

Folder 17

Women and Childcare, 1971-1972

Box 7

Folder 18

Project Women - Report from program to teach junior high school girls about job opportunities, 1970s

Box 7

Folder 19

Miscellaneous publications on women, 1972-1975

Miscellaneous Series

Miscellaneous, 1969-1976.

This series contains several folders, primarily materials from the U.S. Civil Service Commission and the Treasury Department that do not fit the framework of the other series in the collection.

Box 7

Folder 20

Treasury Information, 1970s

Box 7

Folder 21

U.S. Civil Service Commission - General Information, 1970s

Box 7

Folder 22

U.S. Civil Service Commission - Publications (not re: women), 1969-1976

Box 7

Folder 23

Miscellaneous, 1970s