New York State Senator Karen Burstein Women's Issues Files

Alphabetical.

Karen S. Burstein served as a New York State Senator from 1973 until her resignation in 1978. While in the Senate, Burstein served on a number of standing committees including Crime and Correction, Consumer Protection, Judiciary, and Social Services. She was the ranking minority member of the Standing Committee on Health. During her years in the Senate, she introduced or supported many bills relating to consumer protection, the rights of women and minorities, and legislative reform.

After resigning from the Senate, Burstein served five years as President of the Center for Women in Government. She was also a member of the State Public Service Commission (1978-1980) and for two years was Chair and Executive Director of the State Consumer Protection Board. In 1983, Burstein became President of the Civil Service Commission and Head of the Department of Civil Service.

The series contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, conference materials, clippings, and other materials created or collected by Senator Karen Burstein during her close involvement with major women's issues. The records provide unique information on the development of leadership strategies by women's movement advocates.

The records contain material from state government agencies, advocacy organizations and individuals relating to topics including abortion; child care; displaced homemakers; women in prisons; International Women's Year; and the National Women's Conference (1977). The largest segment of the records relate to the campaign to win passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in New York State and includes several folders of material representing both sides of the issue.

Folder list is available at the repository.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.