Women's Interfaith Institute records
Scope and Contents
Contains minutes and records of board and annual meetings, financial records, grant information and requests, correspondence, mailings to members and "friends", promotional material and other organizational records from the WII's Berkshires location. The records document events and activities, such as retreats, vigils, services and conferences, of WII and other groups, mostly local. Papers on local women involved in ministry and on the research and writing of "Women Pastors". Also includes audiotapes of workshops and conferences, newsletters by WII and other organizations and publications.
Dates of Materials
- Creation: 1970 - 2019
Creator
- Women's Interfaith Institute (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Use
To the extent that they own copyright, Allison Stokes has assigned the copyright of Women's Interfaith Institute works to Smith College; however, copyright in other items in this collection may be held by their respective creators. For reproductions of materials that are governed by fair use as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission to cite or publish is required. For instances which may regard materials in the collection not created by Women's Interfaith Institute, researchers are responsible for determining who may hold materials' copyrights and obtaining approval from them. Researchers do not need anything further from Smith College Special Collections to move forward with their use.
Biographical Note
Women's Interfaith Institute (WII) was founded in 1992 as a support network for clergywomen in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts by Yale Divinity School graduate Reverend Allison Stokes. Under its founding name, Clergywomen's Interfaith Institute, the organization sought to to provide continuing education and resources to clergywomen and lay religious leaders of small congregations of multiple faiths. In addition to sponsoring annual Harvest Festivals, the group created an archive and lending library containing information on work by women "engaged in ministry" in the region, as well as materials on women in religion and feminist theology. In order to be more inclusive, the organization changed its name to Women's Interfaith Institute in 1995 and expanded its membership to include "women of spirit." When Allison Stokes moved to the Finger Lakes region of New York in 2002, she founded the separately incorporated affiliate organization, Women's Interfaith Intstitute in the Finger Lakes (NY). With the formation of the Finger Lakes affiliate, the Berkshires group became known as the Women's Interfaith Institute in the Berkshires (MA). In 2003, the Finger Lakes group purchased a historic church building next to the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York.
Extent
6.5 linear feet (6 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Women's Interfaith Institute (WII) was founded in 1992 as a support network for clergywomen in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts by Yale Divinity School graduate Reverend Allison Stokes. The collection contains minutes and records of board and annual meetings, financial records, grant information and requests, correspondence, mailings to members and "friends", promotional material and other organizational records from the WII's Berkshires location. it also includes papers on local women involved in ministry and on the research and writing of "Women Pastors" as well as audiotapes of workshops and conferences, newsletters by WII and other organizations and publications.
Arrangement
This collection has been added to over time in multiple "accessions." An accession is a group of materials received from the same source at approximately the same time.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Allison Stokes of Women's Interfaith Institute, 2014.
Accruals
Periodic accruals to collection are expected.
Processing Information
Between September 2022 and February 2023, Smith College Special Collections renumbered many boxes to eliminate duplicate numbers within collections in order to improve researcher experience. The following changes were made in this collection: Accession 2017-S-0039, Box 1 renumbered as Box 6
Subject
- Women's Interfaith Institute (Organization)
Source
- Women's Interfaith Institute (Donor, Organization)
Genre / Form
- Artifacts
- Books
- Brochures
- Business cards
- Bylaws
- Financial records
- Forms (documents)
- Grant proposals
- Invoices
- Leaflets
- Mailing lists
- Membership applications
- Membership lists
- Memorandums
- Newsletters
- Notes
- Organization files
- Pamphlets
- Questionnaires
- Resumes
- articles
- correspondence
- reports
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Finding aid to the Women's Interfaith Institute records
- Status
- Legacy Finding Aid (Updated)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2017-07-26T17:48:24-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
- 2019-03-14: Finding aid updated to current standards and published
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
