Kelly Wooten- Make Your Own History

I recently co-edited the anthology Make Your Own History: Documenting Feminist and Queer Activism in the 21st Century (Litwin Books, 2012), with Lyz Bly, an instructor of gender studies and history at Case Western Reserve and Cleveland State Universities, who earned her doctorate in American History from Case Western Reserve University in 2010.  

I started thinking about this book three years ago in 2009 when Emily Drabinski, the editor for the Litwin Books Series on Gender and Sexuality in Information Studies, emailed me out of the blue and asked if I would be interested in writing a book about zines after being referred to me by Jenna Freedman, the zine librarian at Barnard. My initial reaction was no, thanks, but then I realized this was a great opportunity to further explore some questions I had been asking about how to document the modern feminist movement beyond zines. I also knew that I wanted to explore these ideas from a variety of perspectives, and to produce a volume that was accessible to a variety of audiences—not just librarians, archivists and academics. To this end, I invited Lyz Bly, who I knew through her time at the Sallie Bingham Center as a Mary Lily Travel Grant recipient when she was researching the zine collections for her dissertation Generation X and the Invention of the Third Feminist Wave.

Once we started exploring this topic, we realized it was hard to address without including pieces about queer activism and second wave feminism due to the intersectionality and fluid nature of feminism. I hope this book will highlight the Bingham Center’s leadership in documenting the modern feminist movement, but also share the other work being done at other institutions and encourage other archivists and activists to participate in this process since these movements are far too big for just a handful of archives to document. 

Make Your Own History addresses the practical and theoretical challenges and advantages of researching, documenting, and archiving recent and contemporary activists in the feminist and queer movements. Chapter topics include zines, documenting the LGBT community, the future of collecting electronic and online records, and how the women of the Second Wave continue to contribute to the feminist movement.

Janice Radway, Walter Dill Scott Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University and professor emerita of Literature and History at Duke University, recommends that this collection “should be read by librarians,  archivists, and book historians everywhere who are thinking critically about how best to preserve and study the record of lives lived outside and beyond the limits of the conventional.”

Read more about this book in an interview with Michele Burger on her blog “The Practice of Creativity”: http://micheleberger.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/archives-as-activism-documenting-feminist-and-queer-activism-interview-with-author-kelly-wooten/

Post submitted by Kelly Wooten, Research Services and Collection Development Librarian for the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture at Duke University’s David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and Librarian for Sexuality Studies for Perkins Library.

Categories: feminist archives, LGBT archives, new books, Spotlight, Women, zines

Member Spotlight: Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History

In 2008, the Council on Library and Information Resources awarded a grant to the Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History (AARL) and Emory University to process "hidden" civil rights collections. At AARL, the collections are the Andrew J. Young Papers and the NAACP-Atlanta Branch Records. While processing the Andrew J. Young Papers, it revealed a "hidden" collection within this "hidden" collection: the papers of his wife of forty years, Jean Childs Young. Due to the content and amount of material, it became a collection separate from her husband's and is now available for research.

As the wife of a well-known minister, civil rights activist, politician, ambassador, and business leader, Jean Childs Young supported and participated in her husband's activities, but also created her own identity and career through working as an educator and activist. A few highlights of her contributions:

• She was as an elementary school teacher, coordinator of curriculum for Atlanta Public Schools, helped establish Atlanta Junior College (now Atlanta Metropolitan College), and founded the Mayor’s Task Force on Education. In the late 1960s, she worked to incorporate black studies into elementary school curriculum, twenty years before mandated by the Atlanta Public School system.
• President Jimmy Carter appointed her as Chair of the 1979 International Year of the Child, where more than 100 countries participated to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of the Child and to raise awareness about children's rights. Her involvement with children's advocacy extended to UNICEF, the Children's Defense Fund, and she co-founded the Atlanta-Fulton Commission on Children and Youth.
• In 1970, she founded the group "Women for Andrew Young," the first local campaign geared towards women, which reconvened for her husband's four Congressional campaigns, two Atlanta mayoral campaigns, and Georgia gubernatorial campaign. She also participated in the early 1980s ERA movement, Mondale/Ferraro campaign, and the League of Women Voters.

Jean Childs Young's papers reflect her work in education, politics, children's advocacy, church, and her personal life and family. The finding aid is now online. For additional information about AARL, please visit the website.


Contributed by Cheryl Oesteicher, Project Archivist
Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History
cheryl.oestreicher@fultoncountyga.gov


**If you are interested in spotlighting a collection, project, or event related to women's collections, please email a blurb to the WCRT Steering Committee: wcrt-cmte@forums.archivists.org**

Categories: Spotlight

Member Spotlight: Chicago History Museum

We'd like to introduce a new feature on the WCRT blog! We will be spotlighting various members' projects related to women's collections. If you have a project -- processing, exhibits, events, anything! -- that you would like to brag about, we'd love to have you submit it to share on the blog. Email WCRT co-chairs Meghan Lyon (meghan.lyon@duke.edu) or Cassie Schmitt (schmitt@uoregon.edu).

Today's inaugural spotlight comes from the Chicago History Museum:

In 2009, the Chicago History Museum (CHM) was awarded a National Historic Publications and Records Commission Basic Processing grant to reveal hidden manuscript collections. Archivists began by conducting a cataloging and assessment survey of CHM manuscript collections of 0.5 linear feet and larger. Over 1000 collections totaling nearly 20,000 linear feet were surveyed. Survey objectives included determining collections’ ideal minimal processing level; flagging found-in-collection materials lacking adequate accession information; updating MARC records; and assessing collections’ physical and intellectual access, potential research value, and conservation concerns. Survey data was then used to establish a prioritized list of collections to be processed to the series level. Among the factors considered when assessing potential research value was the relevance of a collection to gender and women's studies. Because of this effort, a number of women-related collections were processed as part of the NHPRC project. The project team is pleased to present a selection of these collections with the Women’s Collections Roundtable and larger scholarly community.

1. Alpha Gamma Pi records, 1963-1979. 1.5 linear feet.

Correspondence, meeting minutes, membership material, newspaper clippings, financial records, photographs, and other records of Alpha Gamma Pi, an African American sorority organized to recognize progressive women, serve as role models, and provide scholarships. Women were awarded for their academic and social achievements, especially those from low-income backgrounds.

Catalog record

2. Black Women in the Middle West project records, 1980-1985. 4.5 linear feet.

Questionnaires, lists, agendas, announcements, and other records of a grant project supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities to collection documentation on the lives of African American women in the Middle West. Completed questionnaires contain biographical information provided by Black women in Illinois and Indiana.

Catalog record

3. Chicago Home Economists in Business records, 1966-1983. 2.5 linear feet.

Financial records, membership information, board meeting minutes, correspondence, newsletters, press releases, and other records of the Chicago Home Economists in Business (CHEIB), an organization that focused on the relationship between home economists, business, and consumers.

Catalog record

4. Chicago Woman's Musical Club records, 1895-1979 (bulk 1914-1979). 6 linear feet.

Newspaper clippings, programs, newsletters, sheet music, music periodicals, correspondence, administrative files, annual directories, scrapbooks, and other records of the Chicago Woman's Musical Club, which sponsored performances of classical music, fostered music appreciation, and awarded scholarships to young musicians and prizes.

Catalog record

Finding aid

5. The Fashion Group of Chicago records, 1950-1987. 4.75 linear feet.

Administrative records, correspondence, financial records, reports, newspaper and magazine articles, photographs, and other records of The Fashion Group of Chicago, a local chapter of the international non-profit organization, The Fashion Group. Most materials relate to fashion shows, seminars, and other events hosted by the organization, which sought to promote high-end fashion and provide educational opportunities and resources for individuals interested in the fashion industry.

Catalog record

Finding aid

6. Ann Landers papers, 1947-2002. 106 linear feet.

Scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, correspondence, photographs, and other papers of Ann Landers, primarily regarding her career as an advice columnist for the Chicago Sun Times and later for the Chicago Tribune, and in syndication to newspapers throughout the United States. Scrapbooks contain her newspaper column, "Ask Ann Landers", and other newspaper clippings, articles, photos, etc. about Landers' journalism career, social service activities, and personal matters.

Catalog record

Finding aid

7. National Council of Jewish Women, Chicago Section records, 1899-1973 (bulk 1920-1970). 8.75 linear feet.

Meeting minutes, annual reports, financial records, correspondence, periodicals, newsletters, press releases, brochures, pamphlets, directories, manuals, scripts, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, and other records of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Chicago Section, a community service organization. Materials relate to services offered by the NCJW, both locally and nationally, such as job placement for immigrants and youth, scholarships and courses; care packages for servicemen and Jewish orphans during World War Two; and the Council Camp, a Jewish family camp in Wauconda (Ill.). Present are biographical materials pertaining to Hannah Greenebaum Solomon, founder and first president of the NCJW, and president of the Chicago Section for 12 years.

Catalog record

8. Lois Rosen papers, 1963-1996. 14 linear feet.

Correspondence, meeting minutes, conference notes, press releases, publications, periodicals, committee reports, legal and financial documents, newspaper clippings, flyers, and other papers of Lois Rosen, a Chicago social and civic activist from the 1960s-1990s. Most of the collection relates to Rosen's work within the Chicago Commission on Women, the Southwest Community Congress and Rosen's personal subject files. Also present are materials on the Chicago Newspaper Guild and the Chicago Tourism Council.

Catalog record

Finding aid

9. Charlotte E. Senechalle papers, 1950-200 (bulk 1950-1990). 3.75 linear feet.

Correspondence, meeting minutes, newspaper clippings, reports, and other papers of Charlotte E. Senechalle, primarily relating to her work with school improvement and the conditions of the Cook County Department of Corrections. Included are materials pertaining to Senechalle's work with the League of Women Voters (1960s), Church Women United (1990s), and the Citizens Schools Committee. Observer reports on the Chicago Board of Education (1971-1976) regarding school integration and desegregation and research files on criminal justice, penal systems, and prison conditions in Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois are also present.

Catalog record

Finding aid

10. Sister Miriam Wilson's collection on the Pontiac Brothers prison reform movement, 1978-1982. 1 linear foot.

Newspaper clippings, pamphlets, flyers, booklets, handouts, correspondence, and other documents of the Pontiac Brothers prison reform collection compiled by Sister Miriam Wilson. Materials document the response to the conviction of 31 prisoners in the 1978 Pontiac prison rebellion in Pontiac, Illinois, one of the largest prison riots in the United States. The Pontiac Prison was known for its crowded quarters and mistreatment of prisoners. 17 of the convicted prisoners were sentenced to death, which gained the attention of several local religious organizations and individuals such as Sister Miriam Wilson of St. Scholastic Priory in Chicago.

Catalog record

The project team consisted of archivists Peter Alter, Sarah Dorpinghaus, Jennifer Fowle, and Rachel Juris; collection and registration technician Christine McNulty; and project manager M. Alison Eisendrath. For more information about collections at the Chicago History Museum, please visit the CHM Research Center website.

Categories: Spotlight