The bulk of the collection is correspondence. Maupin and other organizers of HWR corresponded with domestic workers, lawyers, politicians, and related activist organizations to provide domestic workers with legal assistance, training, job referrals, and other vital resources. Of note are the organizers' two-year correspondence with the office of California assemblyman Art Agnos, as well as their correspondence with Carolyn Reed and other lead organizers of the NCHE. Agnos promised to help the organization further improve Wage Order No. 15, while the NCHE provided financial and other assistance to the HWR project as it got off the ground. Maupin co-led a workshop at an NCHE conference in Memphis, Tennessee in 1980.
Also included are various forms and surveys, often in English and Spanish, distributed to domestic workers to help them find jobs and provide feedback about their experiences.
In 1979, members of Union WAGE (Women's Alliance to Gain Equality) formed the Household Workers' Rights (HWR) project in anticipation of upcoming Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) hearings to improve wage orders. The HWR was most concerned with Wage Order No. 15, which protected domestic workers' rights but suffered problems of enforcement. During the 1979 IWC hearings, the HWR helped secure a reduced work week for live-in domestic workers. The project also distributed fact sheets and leaflets and broadcast free speech messages on TV about domestic workers' rights.
The HWR remained active into the mid 80s, during which time the organizers arranged meetings for domestic workers, helped domestic workers navigate legal claims against current or former employers, and distributed literature about household workers' rights and safe household cleaning practices.
Instrumental to the creation of both Union WAGE and the HWR was Joyce Maupin, a life-long revolutionary labor activist. Maupin joined the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party (SWP) as a young woman. She ran for mayor of New York City on the SWP ticket in 1957, winning more votes than any previous SWP candidate. In the 1960s, she left the Party--and New York City--and moved to San Francisco, where she was active in local unions and helped organize two strikes. In 1971, she and other women formed Union WAGE to empower working women. She continued working on the HWR project into the 80s. Maupin passed away in 1998 at the age of 77.