Adrienne Germain papers
Collection
Identifier: SSC-MS-00778
Scope and Contents
The collection contains materials related to Adrienne Germain's work with the Ford Foundation and the International Women's Health Coalition, including essays, research materials, and correspondence. The collection also contains awards and honors received at school and later in Germain's career, as well as photographs and notes from colleagues and friends.
Dates
- 1964 - 2016
Creator
- Germain, Adrienne (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.
Conditions Governing Access
Until we move into New Neilson in early 2021, collections are stored in multiple locations and may take up to 48 hours to retrieve. Researchers are strongly encouraged to contact Special Collections (specialcollections@smith.edu) at least a week in advance of any planned visits so that boxes may be retrieved for them in a timely manner.
Conditions Governing Use
To the extent that she owns copyright, Adrienne Germain has assigned the copyright in her 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 Adrienne Germain, 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
Throughout her career, Adrienne Germain has been a major force advancing international women's health and human rights in low income countries, and has made this work central to the missions of many international organizations. Born in San Francisco in 1947 to William and Carel Germain, Germain graduated from Wellesley College in 1969 with a B.A. and from University of California at Berkeley in 1971 with an M.A., both in sociology. Germain began her career at the Population Council in 1970, where for two years she undertook family planning program research. She started work with the Ford Foundation in 1972, where she became the youngest and first woman to be appointed as a Resident Representative to Bangladesh. In this role she worked to shift discussion of population issues to a reproductive health lens. She rose to the role of Vice President of and Program Director for the International Women's Health Coalition (IWHC) in 1985, where she drove policy analysis and conceptual development, supervised numerous programs and local groups in Asia, Africa, and Latin America addressing women's reproductive health rights, produced scholarship, and advised the U.S. State Department, NGOs, European governments, and the U.N. system. By 1994, Germaine's influence had led to the consensus that women's sexual and reproductive health rights were central to women's human rights, sustainable development, and population stabilization. In 1998, with the retirement of Joan Banks Dunlop, Germain became president of the IWHC. She went on to work for United Nations Population Fund as a consultant for their Reproductive Health Branch from 2011-2014. Germain has received many prestigious awards, among them the United Nations Population Award in 2012 and an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters at Bard College in 2001.
Extent
4.063 linear feet (2 record cartons and 1 half legal document box and one shared oversize flat box)
Overview
The Adrienne Germain papers contain the working papers of Adrienne Germain, a champion for women's health and human rights in low-income countries, including essays, research materials, and correspondence related to her work with the Ford Foundation and the International Women's Health Coalition.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series: professional materials and writings. The materials in each series are roughly arranged in chronological order.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was gifted to Smith College by Adrienne Germain in 2016.
Accruals
Periodic accruals may be added to the collection.
Processing Information
This collection was processed in March 2019 by student worker Sky Karp. The collection contained many loose materials not in folders. The collection was re-organized into folders, chronologically ordered, and publications and writings were separated from professional work (ultimately resulting in the two series). Books were also separated from other materials and put in chronological order (based on publication date). Nothing was removed from the collection.
- CD-Roms
- Dunlop, Joan Banks
- Germain, Carel
- International Women's Health Coalition
- Photographs.
- Population assistance--Developing countries
- Population policy -- History
- Publications
- Reproductive health--Developing countries
- Research
- Resumes
- Women's health services
- Women's rights -- Developing countries -- History -- Sources
- Women's rights -- South America -- History -- Sources
- Women's rights--Asia, Southeastern--History--Sources
- Women, Black -- Health and hygiene -- Africa -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
- books
- correspondence
- essays
- reports
- Title
- Finding Aid to the Adrienne Germain papers
- Status
- Legacy Finding Aid (Updated)
- Author
- Sky Karp
- Date
- 2019
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- English
Revision Statements
- 2017-07-26T17:48:24-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
- 2018-10-04: Updated legacy finding aid with DACS and further notes.
- 2019-03-29: Processed collection
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
