University of Massachusetts Amherst. All rights reserved.
2007 University of Massachusetts Amherst. All rights reserved.
Established in 1995 to gain city-wide support for a domestic partnership ordinance, the Northampton Domestic Partnership Coalition's campaign included fundraising and neighborhood canvassing. Their early efforts succeeded, and in May 1995, the Northampton City Council passed an ordinance recognizing domestic partnerships in the city. The measure allowed people of either gender to register as a couple and entitled them to visitation and child care rights in schools, jails, and health care facilities.
Soon after the ordinance was passed, however, a group of residents opposed to the measure -- later organized as Northampton for Traditional Values -- launched a petition drive to overturn the ordinance and place a referendum before the voters during the November election. Although they succeeded in getting on the ballot, the initiative failed, losing by fewer than a hundred votes.
Consisting chiefly of newspaper clippings covering both sides of the debate over Northampton's domestic partnership ordinance, this collection includes perspectives extending from Northampton and Boston to Washington D.C. Among the publications represented are
Also included in the collection are documents that the Northampton Domestic Partnership Coalition used during their city-wide campaign: maps, a list of locations of yard signs, a list of the registered voters from the second district of Northampton, and a copy of the city ordinance that was passed on May 18, 1995.
The collection is open for research.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Northampton Domestic Partnership Coalition Collection (MS 512). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Processed by Maradith A. Wilson, 2007