Abortion and Birth Control Committee records
Scope and Contents
Newsletters, newspaper clippings, notes, forms, and correspondence
Dates of Materials
- Creation: 1969-1974
Creator
- Abortion and Birth Control Committee (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, Deborah Dizard has assigned the copyright of the Abortion and Birth Control Committee's 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 the Committee, 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
Pre-Roe v. Wade committee associated with Valley Women's Center in Northampton, Massachusetts. The VWC's main purpose was to inform women about legal and educational means to improve their lives. It identified itself with radical feminism, scorning the National Organization of Women (NOW) for encouraging women to obtain positions of power in a patriarchal society as opposed to dismantling the patriarchy. It also allied itself with Third World causes and political battles. In addition, VWC members were among the first to address rape as a political issue. The VWC offered a myriad of free services to women. For example, there was a free store on the premises where one person could donate items in exchange for someone else's donated goods. In 1971, the VWC began sponsoring welfare rights programs and vocational counseling. It also offered pregnancy counseling, its most used-service.
Extent
0.229 linear feet (1 container)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Abortion and Birth Control Committee was a pre-Roe v. Wade committee associated with Valley Women's Center in Western Massachusetts that attempted to connect people with reproductive health services when such services were difficult to obtain. The collection contains the newsletters, newspaper clippings, notes, forms, and correspondence of the Committee.
Other Finding Aids
The collection has a container list that is available upon request by contacting specialcollections@smith.edu
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was gifted by Deborah Dizard in 2016.
Subject
- Abortion and Birth Control Committee (Organization)
- Valley Women's Center (Organization)
Source
- Dizard, Deborah Robin (Person)
- Title
- Finding aid to the Abortion and Birth Control Committee records
- Status
- Legacy Finding Aid (Updated)
- Author
- Madison White
- Date
- 2018
- 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.
- 2018-10-18: Updated to conform to DACS
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
