Nan Grogan Orrock papers

Nan Grogan Orrock:

A Guide to Her Papers at Georgia State University Library

Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library
100 Decatur St., S.E.
Atlanta, Georgia, 30303
404-413-2880
archives@gsu.edu

2015

Scope and Contents of the Papers

The Nan Grogan Orrock papers include correspondence, printed material, and financial records, that document legislation, political campaigns, and issues Orrock was involved with, 1969-2010 (bulk 1990-2006). The papers are organized in 6 series: Legislative, Campaigns, Organizations, Personal, Research Files, and Audio Visual Materials.

Biography of Nan Grogan Orrock

Nan Grogan Orrock was born on November 8, 1943 in Abingdon, Virginia. She earned a B.A. in English from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia. Her work experience spans the fields of philanthropy, civil rights, and union and community organizing. She is the mother of two grown sons. Her activism began as a young college student when she stepped into the streets with the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. She also worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Atlanta and Mississippi and led a community civil rights project in Black Belt counties of her home state of Virginia in the mid 1960s.

Senator Nan Orrock was first elected by Atlanta voters to the State Senate in 2006, after serving 10 terms in the State House of Representatives. During her tenure in the House, she was the first woman elected to the position of House Majority Whip. She has also served as the Governor's Floor Leader, a committee chair, and a member of the Speaker's Policy Committee. Senator Orrock's legislative expertise includes health policy, women's issues, child/family policy, workplace issues, civil liberties, civil rights, and environmental issues. She is a founder of both the Georgia Legislative Women's Caucus and the Working Families Agenda Caucus. Orrock's successful legislative initiatives include passage of the Georgia Family Medical Leave Act, the Prescriptive Equity for Contraceptives Act, the Chlamydia Screening Act, Georgia Hate Crimes Act, and the Omnibus AIDS Statute. She has been named Public Health Legislator of the Year for her efforts. In 1996, Orrock worked with a legislative team to pass landmark legislation regulating landfills and has continued to monitor landfill issues and advocate for environmentally sound policy on air and water, solid waste, and nuclear waste.

Orrock is the Chair of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee of the National Conference of State Legislators. She is a founding member and Secretary of the National Labor Caucus of State Legislators. She is a member of the Bakery, Confectionery, and Tobacco Union and was employed at Nabisco for 17 years. She is the Chair of the Board of the Center for Policy Alternatives and serves as a Trustee of the Sapelo Foundation. She is currently the President of Women Legislators' Lobby (a position she has held since 1997), a national, non-partisan group of legislators, which works for balanced budgets, increased spending on families, education, health and child care, and a reduction in excessive and wasteful military spending.

Index Terms

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

To quote in print, or otherwise reproduce in whole or in part in any publication, including on the Worldwide Web, any material from this collection, the researcher must obtain permission from (1) the owner of the physical property and (2) the holder of the copyright. Persons wishing to quote from this collection should consult the reference archivist to determine copyright holders for information in this collection. Reproduction of any item must contain the complete citation to the original. All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Administrative Information

Citation

[item], [folder title], [series title], Nan Grogan Orrock Papers, W118, Archives for Research on Women and Gender. Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University, Atlanta.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Nan Grogan Orrock, January 5, 2011.

Processing Information

Processed by Courtney Nix, Thai Nguyen, and Hilary Morrish, 2014-15. Finding aid by Hilary Morrish and Thai Nguyen.

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