Introduction

The American Council on Consumer Interests Records were donated to the Kansas State University Libraries in May, 1988 by the ACCI Board of Directors. ACCI is a non-partisan and non-profit organization that serves people with an interest in consumer affairs.

The ACCI records are part of the Consumer Movement Archives (CMA) established by the K-State Libraries in 1987. CMA collections are housed in the University Archives located in Hale Library. The purpose of the CMA is to provide a national repository for historical materials of leaders in the consumer movement and for records of consumer organizations, and to promote scholarly research in this field.

The records are contained in four boxes (4.0 cubic feet) and span the years 1953-1983. They are organized in the following series: 1) Correspondence, 1963-1983, 2) Board of Directors, 1976-1982, 3) Committees, 1954-1982, 4) Conferences, 1953-1978, 5) Financial Documents, 1956-1979, and 6) Miscellaneous, 1965-1982. The collection contains correspondence, minutes, reports, financial documents, and conference material.

The American Council on Consumer Interest Records are identified as University Archives accession number 119 (revised number PC 1988-41). Processing of the papers was completed by Anthony R. Crawford and Julie L. Holliday in July 1989.

Related collections in the Consumer Movement Archives include: Richard L. D.Morse Papers, Louis S. Meyer Papers, and the Currin V. Shields Papers.

Historical Sketch

1952    Colston Warne proposed an idea for "launching a consumer education association"

1953    Planning session for further consideration of the project; committee formed to draw 
        up by-laws; plans made for publishing a newsletter and a series of  pamphlets; 
        association named Council on Consumer Information; Eugene Beem, Executive Secretary; 
        CCI located at Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan

1954    First pamphlet released, Consumer Look at Farm Price Polices; Membership grew from 70 
        in July to 139 in late November; Warren Nelson, Executive Secretary; CCI located at 
        Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

1955    First Annual Conference held in Dayton, Ohio; Fred Archer, Executive Secretary; CCI 
        located at State Teachers College, St. Cloud, Minnesota

1956    Membership reached 640; Ramon Heimerl, Executive Director through 1965; CCI relocated 
        to Greeley State College, Greeley, Colorado through 1965

1957    The merger of CCI and the National Association of Consumers was approved

1958    Membership grew to 1041

1962    Five members of CCI were appointed to the President's Advisory Council

1963    Tenth Anniversary of the founding of CCI; membership 1200; eight conferences held, 14 
        pamphlets published, and 38 editions of the newsletter distributed

1964    CCI joined the International Organization of Consumers Unions

1966    Executive committee approved the publication of the Journal of Consumer Affairs; 
        Edward Metzen, Executive Secretary through 1975; CCI relocated to University of 
        Missouri, Columbia, its present location

1967    First issue of the Journal of Consumer Affairs published; CCI membership directory 
        published

1968    Membership 1531; CCI became a member of the Consumer Federation of America

1969    Name changed to American Council on Consumer Interests

1971    Colston E. Warne Lecture Series was formed

1972    ACCI Board of Directors established the Distinguished Fellow Award

1973    Title of Executive Secretary was changed to Executive Director; Executive Committee 
        was increased from 8 to 10 members

1975    College student internship program began as a joint project with the Conference of 
        Consumer Organizations (National Consumer Affairs Internship Program); Karen Stein, 
        Executive Director through June, 1978

1977    ACCI received a grant from the U.S. Office of Consumer Education to produce a position 
        paper, "Consumer Information Systems and Technical Assistance Services as Viewed by ACCI"

1978    Mel Zelenak, Executive Director through June, 1983

1983    Barbara Slusher became Executive Director through August 1988

1988    Anita Metzen became Executive Director

Scope and Content Note

The American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI) records document the activities of the group from its beginning in 1953 through 1983. The records are contained in four boxes (4.0 cubic feet) and they are divided into the following series: 1) Correspondence, 1963-1983; 2) Board of Directors, 1976-1982; 3) Committees, 1954-1982; 4) Conferences, 1953-1978; 5) Financial Documents, 1956-1979; 6) Miscellaneous, 1965-1982.

The first series contains incoming and outgoing correspondence of the executive directors, Edward Metzen (1973-1976), Karen Stein (1975-1978), Mel Zelenak (1978-1982), and Barbara Slusher (1984- 1986). The correspondence pertains mainly to payment of membership dues, a proposed site relocation, 1978, and publications.

The second series, board of directors, consists of minutes from board meetings and annual reports to the board from the executive directors (1976-1982).

The third series, committees, is one of the largest comprising forty-three folders. The executive committee sub-series (1956- 1982) contains correspondence, agendas, annual reports and documents concerning annual business meetings, meetings, conference calls and miscellaneous matters. The membership committee (1972-1977) is the second sub-series and contains correspondence regarding membership in ACCI and a promotional manual.

Conferences is another sizable series in the records. It spans the years 1953-1978 and is housed in one box. In this series is information about each annual conference including registration, program, finances, and planning.

The fifth series contains financial documents. It is divided into three sub-series; financial documents (1955-1983), grants (1963- 1981), and Internal Revenue Service (1967-1979). The first sub- series includes monthly, budget, and accountants reports, financial projections, and miscellaneous items. The grants sub- series contain information on grants applied for and/or received from Consumer's Union and the Office of Consumer Education. The third sub-series, Internal Revenue Service, has information pertaining to tax status, employee withholding, and miscellaneous tax information.

The last series contains miscellaneous material for the years 1965-1982. It concerns the following; ACCI history (a history of ACCI written by Henry Harap in 1969 is found here), internship program that began with the Conference of Consumer Organizations, booklet on lobbying by public interest charities, National Consumers Week, and testimonies from the Consumer Federation of America.

Container List

Box Folder

            Correspondence-Executive Director
              Edward Metzen
1     01         1973-1974
      02         1975
      03         1971-1975, Conference Proceedings
      04         1972, Consumers Union
      05         1971, Consumer Education Programs
      06         1974-1975, Degree Program & Workshop
      07         1972-1974, Grants & Funding
      08         1973-1975, Credit Union Funding
      09         1973-1975, Business Meetings & Constitution
      10         1975-1976, J.C. Penney Consumer Affairs Forum
              Karen Stein
      11         1975
      12         1976, January-March
      13         1976, April
      14         1976, May-August
      15         1976, March-September
      16         1975-1978, ACCI-COCO Internship Program
      17         1977-1978, Fire Research Center
      18         1976-1978, Journal of Consumer Affairs - Exchanges & Advertisements
      19         1977-1978, Regional Chapters
      20         1977-1978, Helen M. Goetz (President)
      21         1976-1978, Journal of Consumer Affairs
      22         1975, Journal of Consumer Affairs
      23         1974, Journal of Consumer Affairs
      24         1970-1973, Journal of Consumer Affairs
      25         1968-1969, Journal of Consumer Affairs
      26         1972-1975, Mailing List Rental
      27         1971-1976, Journal of Consumer Behavior/Research
      28         1975-1977, Stewart Lee (Newsletter)
      29         1975-1977, Joseph Uhl
      30         1975, Questionnaire Results
      31         1978, Reading File
      32         1976-1977, Marjorie Merchant
      33         1974-1975, Student Committees
      34         1972-1978, Eric Clearinghouse
              Mel Zelenak
      35         1978
      36         1979
      37         1980
      38         1979, A-C
      39         1979, D-H
      40         1979, I-P
      41         1979, R-W
      42         1980, A-B
      43         1980, C-G
      44         1980, H-M
      45         1980, N-R
      46         1980, S-W
      47         1981, A-B
      48         1981, C-F
      49         1981, G-I
      50         1981, J-R
      51         1981, S-Z
      52         1981-1982, Exhibits
      53         No Date
              Barbara Slusher
      54         1984-1986, National Consumer Affairs Internship Program

            Correspondence-General
              1980
      55         A-B
      56         B
      57         C
      58         C
      59         D
      60         E
      61         F
      62         G
      63         H
      64         I
      65         J-K
      66         L
      67         M
      68         N
      69         O
      70         P
      71         R
      72         S
      73         S
      74         T
      75         U-V
      76         W
      77         Y-Z
              1981
      78         A
      79         B
      80         C
2     01         D-E
      02         F
      03         G-H
      04         I
      05         J-L
      06         M
      07         N-O
      08         P
      09         R
      10         S
      11         T
      12         U-V
      13         W
      14         X-Z
      15      No Date

            Correspondence-Site Relocation of ACCI
      16      1971;1973;1976
      17      1977, September-November
      18      1977, December
      19      1978, January-March
      20      1978, April-December
      21      1979-80
      22      1978, Eastern Michigan University
      23      1977-1978, North Dakota State University
      24      1977-1978, Oregon State University
      25      1977-1978, University of Missouri

            Correspondence-Publications
      26      1963-1977

            Board of Directors-Minutes
      27      1976-1977
      28      1978
      29      1979-1980
      30      1981-1982

            Board of Directors-Reports from Exec. Dir.
      31      1978
      32      1979-1980
      33      1981-1982

            Committees-Correspondence
      34      1956-1973
      35      1974-1978

            Committees-Agendas
      36      1956; 1974; 1978; 1980

            Committees-Minutes
      37      1967-1968
      38      1970-1973
      39      1974-1977
      40      1978-1982

            Committees-Meetings
      41      1954
      42      1956
      43      1957
      44      1958
      45      1959
      46      1960
      47      1961
      48      1962
      49      1963
      50      1964
      51      1965
      52      1966
      53      1967
      54      1968
      55      1969
      56      1970
      57      1971
      58      1972
      59      1973
      60      1974
      61      1975

            Committees-Conference Calls
      62      1975-1978

            Committees-Annual Report
      63      1954,1966-1967
      64      1968-1970
      65      1971-1973
      66      1978-1979
      67      1980-1982

            Committees-Edward Metzer
      68      1974-1975

            Committees-Miscellaneous
      69      1973-1974
      70      1975-1977
      71      1972-1976
      72      1976, January-April
      73      1976, May-December
      74      1977, January-April
      75      1977, May-December
      76      1973, Promotional Manual

            Conferences
3     01      1953, Program
      02      1954, Program
      03      1956, Program
      04      1957, Program
      05      1958, Program
      06      1959, Program
      07      1960, Program
      08      1961, Program
              1962
      09         Registration
      10         Program
      11         Financial
              1963
      12         Program
      13         Financial
              1964
      14         Registration
      15         Program
      16         Financial
              1965
      17         Program
      18         Financial
              1966
      19         Registration
      20         Program
      21         Financial
              1967
      22         Program
      23         Financial
      24         Correspondence
      25         Speeches
              1968
      26         Registration
      27         Program
              1969
      28         Registration
      29         Program
      30         Financial
              1970
      31         Registration
      32         Program
      33         General
      34         Financial
      35         Correspondence
              1971
      36         Registration
      37         Program
      38         Financial
              1972
      39         Registration
      40         Program
      41         Financial
              1973
      42         Conference Manual
      43         Registration
      44         Program
      45         Financial
      46         Correspondence
              1974
      47         Registration
      48         Program
      49         Financial
      50         Correspondence
              1975
      51         Registration
      52         Program
      53         Financial
      54         Correspondence
              1976
      55         Registration
      56         Program
      57         Financial
      58         Correspondence
              1977
      59         Registration
      60         Program
      61         Financial
      62         Correspondence
              1978
      64         Registration
      65         Program
      66         Correspondence

            Financial Documents-Monthly Reports
      67      1956-1958
      68      1959-1960
      69      1961-1962
      70      1963
      71      1964
      72      1965
      73      1966, January-June
      74      1966, July-December
      75      1967, January-June
      76      1967, July-December
      77      1968, January-June
4     01      1968, July-December
      02      1969, January-June
      03      1969, July-December
      04      1970
      05      1971, January-April
      06      1971, May-June
      07      1971, July-December
      08      1972
      09      1973, January-June
      10      1973, July-September
      12      1973, October-December
      13      1974, January-April
      14      1974, May-September
      15      1974, October-December
      16      1975, January-April
      17      1975, May-August
      18      1975, September-December
      19      1976-1977
      20      1978
      21      1979

            Financial Documents-Budget Reports
      22      November, 1955-May, 1961
      23      June, 1961-1965
      24      1966
      25      1967-1970
      26      1971-1973
      27      1974-1976
      28      1977-1981

            Financial Documents-Accountants Reports
      29      1957, 1959
      30      1960-1961
      31      1962-1963
      32      1964
      33      1965
      34      1966-1967
      35      1970
      36      1970-1971
      37      1979

            Financial Documents-Projections
      38      1953-1955
      39      1972-1973
      40      1978
      41      1979

            Financial Documents-Miscellaneous
      42      No Date
      43      1953-1954
      44      1980      
      45      1981-1982
      46      1983

            Financial Documents-Grants
      47      Consumer's Union, 1963, 1966, 1969-1971
      48      Consumer's Union, 1980-1982
      49      Consumer's Union, 1978-1980
      50      Consumer's Union, 1967-1969
      51      Consumer's Union, 1962-1963, 1965-1967
      52      Consumer's Union, 1956-1969
      53      Office of Consumer Education, 1978
      54      Office of Consumer Education, 1977
      55      Office of Consumer Education, 1977
      56      Office of Consumer Education, 1977
      57      Office of Consumer Education, 1978
      58      Office of Consumer Education

            Financial Documents-Internal Revenue Service
      59      1967-1968, Form 941
      60      1971-1973, Form 941
      61      1974-1976, Form 941
      62      1977-1980, Form 941
      63      1956-1965, Form 990
      64      1966-1974, Form 990
      65      1975-1978, Form 990
      66      1964-1968, Employee Withholding
      67      1969-1971, Employee Withholding
      68      1973-1974, Employee Withholding
      69      1975-1979, Employee Withholding
      70      Miscellaneous
      71      1968-1969, Miscellaneous
      72      1973-1975, Miscellaneous
      73      1976, Miscellaneous
      74      1977-1978, Miscellaneous

            Miscellaneous-History
      75      Henry Harap, Correspondence, 1969-1970
      76      Henry Harap, ACCI History, 1969
      77      Henry Harap, ACCI History, 1969
      78      Miscellaneous, 1965, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975

            Miscellaneous
      79      Internship Program, 1976-1977
      80      Internship Program, 1976-1977
      81      Internship Program, 1976-1977
      82      Lobbying Efforts, 1977
      83      National Consumers Week, 1980, 1982
      84      Testimonies, 1978