The National Organization for Women, Rochester Chapter Records represents local examples of action women organized during the 1970s- 2000s. This collection is divided into four series: Chapter Records, Issue Campaigns, Printed Materials and Women Against a Violent Environment. The Chapter Records include by-laws, board of director meeting minutes, a member survey and issues from the chapter newsletter. Issue Campaigns includes materials related to supporting women's reproductive health rights, welfare, equal rights and pay equity. The third series includes pamphlets and newspaper clippings documenting various issue campaigns associated with the local chapter. The Women Against a Violent Environment series includes meeting minutes and newspaper clippings from this active sub-group of NOW.

The Northaven papers chronicle the history of the organization founded in 1895, from its early insistence upon moral reform and Christian purity to service founded upon modern tenets of social science, practical assistance and advice. The papers, while incomplete, include correspondence, memoranda, budgets, annual reports, scrapbooks, and publicity material. Especially useful to the researcher will be the volumes in box two and an oversize volume containing the constitution, charter, and by-laws of the organization, secretary's minutes of staff and board meetings, and admittance, progress, and case histories of women during and after their stay in the home during the period 1898-1932.