Consumer Federation of America records

Identity elements

Reference code

US US kmk 2015-16.017

Level of description

Collection

Title

Consumer Federation of America records

Date(s)

  • 1967-2023 (Creation)

Extent

22.50 Boxes

Name of creator

Administrative history

The Consumer Federation of America (CFA) is an association of non-profit consumer organizations that was established in 1968 to advance the consumer interest through research, advocacy, and education. Today, nearly 300 of these groups participate in the federation and govern it through their representatives on the organization’s Board of Directors.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The Consumer Federation of America records document the association's development from 1967 to 2017 through testimonies, newsletters, reports, statements, correspondence, press releases, pamphlets, policy resolutions, and audiotapes. The collection contains minutes from the CFA board of directors meetings, CFA policy resolutions and CFA annual reports (1980–2016). Other reports, statements, and surveys provide coverage of issues investigated, policies advanced, and materials developed to educate the public and media. Areas addressed include consumer safety, financial advancement and protection, consumer knowledge, post-9/11 terrorism insurance and safety, and product safety in general and specifically product safety in children's products and automobiles.

Of special interest is correspondence documenting interactions with prominent political figures including Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Bob Dole. Also noteworthy are pamphlets from the association’s annual Consumer Assembly (1980–2015) and pamphlets developed for the CFA project America Saves. A set of audiotapes (2000–2003) offers insight into CFA conferences that tackled issues including food safety, obesity, and bioterrorism. Reports document court cases and petitions. The collection contains the association's voting records (1971–2008).

CFAnews and Consumer Federation of America annual reports are available online. See Series 8 for online access to annual reports and series 9 for online access to CFAnews. Series 12 provides access to archives of CFA's website from 2007 to 2023.

System of arrangement

This collection is arranged into 12 series by type of material: 1) Official & Board Minutes; 2) Correspondence; 3) Statements; 4) Reports; 5) Testimonies; 6) Surveys; 7) Press Releases; 8) Annual Reports & Policy Resolutions; 9) CFAnews & Voting Record; 10) Conference Tapes; 11) Pamphlets; and 12) Web Archives.

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

All materials are open for research.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

Finding aids

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

The creating organization donated the records to the department.

Immediate source of acquisition

Consumer Federation of America officially donated the records on July 6, 2015, and the materials received accession number 2015-16.017.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Acquired to document the history and preserve the organizational records of the Consumer Federation of America from its conception through 2015. The organization is integrally involved in the consumer movement, which is a collection strength area for this repository.

Accruals

Consumer Federation of America will send Annual Reports and Policy Resolutions each year. Date ranges should reflect this. Additionally, the website is crawled at least twice each year and will be reflected in the date ranges.

Related materials elements

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

The annual reports and newsletters have been digitized and are available at https://krex.k-state.edu/handle/2097/34146 (reports) and https://krex.k-state.edu/handle/2097/34147 (newsletters).

Related archival materials

A video produced by CFA documents its first fifty years: "The Consumer Federation of America: Fifty Years of Education, Advocacy, and Research," available at https://consumerfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/cfa-celebrating-50-years.mp4.

Related descriptions

Specialized notes

  • Citation: Preferred Citation: [Item title], [item date], Consumer Federation of America records, Box [number], Folder [number or title], Richard L. D. and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections, Kansas State University Libraries.

Alternative identifier(s)

Archon Collection ID

243

Description control element

Rules or conventions

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Sources used

Archivist's note

Student assistant McKenzie Combes processed and described the materials in 2015–2016, completing the work in March 2016.

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Accession area