Charlene Spretnak papers
Scope and Contents
This collection documents the career and intellectual output of Charlene Spretnak, including publications (articles and books), drafts, lectures, research notes, and correspondence, as well as photographs, video recordings, and audio recordings of some interviews and presentations. The collection also includes one box of personal materials from Spretnak’s childhood and early adulthood.
The contents of the collection primarily reflect Spretnak’s areas of interest, activism, and work, including second-wave feminism, ecofeminism, and religion (particularly Buddhism and Roman Catholicism).
Some files contain contextual “orientation pages” or information about a particular correspondent at the beginning of the file, or in the online Scope and Content note; these were all provided by Charlene Spretnak.
Dates of Materials
- Creation: 1946 - 2020
Creator
- Spretnak, Charlene, 1946- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research use with the following restrictions on access:
At the direction of the donor, correspondence to and from Charlene Spretnak cannot be digitized in its entirety, or the entirety of any sections, for distribution on the internet.
Correspondence to and from Charlene Spretnak can be displayed in a more limited way in physical or digital exhibition, promotion of the collection, and made available for research use, at the discretion of the Charlene Spretnak.
Copies of books by the Donor that are inserted into relevant files of the archive are not to be removed from the collection.
The Juvenalia series is closed until 2050.
Conditions Governing Use
To the extent that Charlene Spretnak owns copyright, she has retained full ownership of any and all copyrights currently controlled by her in these materials until her death. After her death, Charlene Spretnak's published books will remain in copyright and will be transferred to the her literary executor and copyright in other materials will transfer to Smith College. 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 those few instances beyond fair use, or which may regard materials in the collection not created by Charlene Spretnak, 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 / Historical
Charlene Spretnak (1946 - ) is an academic, author, and activist who was involved in women’s spirituality and ecofeminism movements within second-wave feminism, as well as the Green Party movement within the United States. She has written articles and books on cultural history, ecological philosophy, feminism and other social change, religion and spirituality, art, and literature.
Charlene Spretnak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1946 and raised in Columbus, Ohio, the elder of two daughters. Her father was a professor of metallurgical engineering at Ohio State University; her mother was a homemaker. The 11 summers Charlene spent at a Camp Fire Girls camp in the Hocking Hills, in the Appalachian foothills of southeastern Ohio, constituted a formative experience. She graduated magna cum laude, with appointment to Phi Beta Kappa, from a Jesuit university: Saint Louis University. She also earned an MA in English and American Literature from the University of California at Berkeley.
Spretnak taught at the University of California at Berkeley and at the California Institute of Integral Studies, from which she retired in 2012 as professor emerita of philosophy and religion.
Source: Charlene Spretnak. For a more detailed biography written by Spretnak, please see the first item in the collection.
Extent
13.438 linear feet (13 containers)
1.09 Gigabytes
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Charlene Spretnak (1946 - ) is an academic, author, and activist who was involved in women’s spirituality and ecofeminism movements within second-wave feminism, as well as the Green Party movement within the United States. She has written articles and books on cultural history, ecological philosophy, feminism and other social change, religion and spirituality, art, and literature. This collection primarily documents her work through publications (articles and books), drafts, lectures, research notes, and correspondence, as well as photographs, video recordings, and audio recordings of some interviews and presentations. The collection also includes one box of personal materials from Spretnak’s childhood and early adulthood.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged by subject, as identified and organized by Charlene Spretnak, who also ordered items within files chronologically.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
As a preservation measure, researchers must use digital copies of audiovisual materials in this collection. Please consult with Special Collections staff or email specialcollections@smith.edu to request the creation of and access to digital copies.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Charlene Spretnak in 2020
Processing Information
This collection was accessioned by Althea Topek in 2022. The collection remains in the order in which it was donated to the archives. All series, sub-series, and audiovisual inventories and description was provided by the donor.
Source
- Spretnak, Charlene, 1946- (Donor, Person)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 04-10-2022: Moved the notes and descriptions written by Spretnak to a PDF linked from the finding aid. Reworked collection-level description (biographical note, scope and contents note, abstract, arrangement note) to be more aligned with our descriptive practices
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
