Irma Hotchkiss Karmol papers

Collection

Identifier: MS-0200

Staff Only

Collection Overview

Abstract

The papers of Ohio State Representative Irma Hotchkiss Karmol date from April 1974 to April 1981, the bulk of which are from 1975 to 1979. They constitute correspondence, campaign files, legislation, newspaper columns and news releases, speech material, subject files relating to legislative issues, files concerning women's groups in which she was involved, and a television commercial video tape.

Dates

Creation: April 1964 - April 1981
Creation: Majority of material found within 1975-1979

Extent

5.06 Cubic Feet (11 legal boxes)

Creator

Karmol, Irma Hotchkiss, 1923-1979 (Person)

Scope and Contents

The papers of Irma Hotchkiss Karmol document her activities as a member of the Ohio General Assembly from her election in November 1974 until her death in April 1979.

Most of the correspondence is between Representative Karmol and her constituents and pertains to her stand or constituents' opinions on legislative matters or special requests for assistance from constituents.

The campaign files and television commercial video tape are primarily from her 1978 re-election campaign and include such material as her appearances, ads, issues, her voting and attendance records, and polls.

The legislation covers the budget, energy and conservation, education, and other issues in which Ms. Karmol was most interested. Some of the legislation introduced by Irma Karmol was finalized through the efforts of her son and dates as late as 1981. Representative Karmol's newspaper columns, news releases, and speeches are particularly helpful in determining important issues in Ohio from 1977 to 1979, areas of special interest to Karmol and her stand on issues.

The legislative subject files include a variety of topics, primarily in the areas of education, energy, health care, state government agencies, and welfare. The files on the University of Toledo's Center for Women and Women Involved in Toledo, Inc., indicate Ms. Karmol's involvement in women's issues outside, as well as in, the legislative arena.

The news clippings date from 1973 to 1979 and cover Representative Karmol's legislative and political activities in that period and also that of her election opponents.

Biographical / Historical

Irma Hotchkiss was born April 13, 1923, in Toledo, Ohio. She graduated from DeVilbiss High School in Toledo in 1941, and received a B.S. in business from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1945.

She married and raised a family of four children, David, Jeff, Beth, and Jim, while becoming involved in politics in the 1960s. She worked as a substitute teacher in the Sylvania, Ohio, school system and as a caseworker for the Lucas County Children's Services Board before being elected to a seat in the Ohio General Assembly in November 1974. She was elected from the 44th District, made up of southwest Toledo, Ottawa Hills, and parts of Sylvania and Springfield townships. She was re-elected twice (1976 and 1978) and held the seat until her sudden death in an automobile accident in Perrysburg while on her way to a legislative session in Columbus on April 24, 1979. Her son David was appointed to her Assembly seat temporarily, then won the position himself in the next election.

Ms. Karmol's legislative committee assignments included Energy and Environment, Finance-Appropriations' Human Resources Subcommittee, Insurance, Ethics, Policy, Energy Advisory Council, Energy and Resource Development Agency, and the Joint Committee on Health Care Costs. The assignments reflect her special areas of personal interest in child abuse, juvenile corrections, welfare, health care, women's issues, school funding, and energy conservation.

Representative Karmol was active in the Republican Party, a member of the Organization of Women Legislators, affiliated with Mercy and St. Vincent Hospitals, a charter member of Women Involved in Toledo, Inc., (W.I.T., Inc.), and also a member of the advisory board for the Center for Women at the University of Toledo.

Conditions Governing Access

No known access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers using this collection assume full responsibility for conforming to the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright, and are responsible for securing permissions necessary for publication or reproduction.

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

Correspondence, 1975 - 1979
Subject Files, 1976 - 1981
Printed Material, 1979
Photographic Material, 1978

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Representative Karmol's papers were donated to the Women's Studies Archives Project (WSAP) of the Center for Archival Collections (CAC) in October 1981 through the cooperation of her son, David Karmol, and Ann Bowers, Curator of Manuscripts of the CAC.