Voices of Feminism Oral History Project oral histories
Scope and Contents
The Voices of Feminism Oral History Project documents the persistence and diversity of organizing for women in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century. Narrators include labor, peace, and anti-racism activists; artists and writers; lesbian rights advocates; grassroots anti-violence and anti-poverty organizers; and women of color reproductive justice leaders. Interviews average 5-6 hours and cover childhood, personal life, and political work.
Each narrator's document box includes the recorded interview (on dvds or video tapes, plus audio CDs); the unedited and edited transcripts; correspondence between interviewer and narrator; a biographical survey; and the interviewer's guide. Some narrators' files include background materials and photographs.
Dates of Materials
- Creation: 1990-2014
Creator
- Voices of Feminism Oral History Project (Organization)
- Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History (Organization)
Language of Materials
English
Conditions Governing Access
Some of the oral histories in this collection have restrictions on access. Please see the notes attached to an individual interview for information about restrictions that apply to it.
Conditions Governing Use
To the extent that they own copyright, most of the narrators have assigned the copyright in their work present in these oral histories to Smith College. Whenever a narrator has retained copyright to an oral history, either permanently or for her lifetime, this information is noted in the finding aid below.
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 other than the oral histories, 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
The Voices of Feminism Archival Development Project, funded by the Ford Foundation from 2002 to 2008, aimed to bring race, class, and sexual diversity to the holdings of the Sophia Smith Collection. The project consisted of several parts: a) searching for personal papers and organizational records of women of color, grassroots organizers, and others marginalized in traditional historical accounts, b) conducting oral histories, c) collaborating with Gloria Steinem as she works in her own papers and identifies potential donors, and d) developing plans for a video documentary series based on these new materials.
Project staff included Joyce Follet, director and oral historian; Kelly Anderson, oral historian; Sheila Flaherty-Jones, editor; Kathleen Banks Nutter, oral historian; Loretta Ross, consultant and oral historian; Revan Schendler, consultant and editor; Kate Weigand, oral historian. Interviews were also conducted by Martha Ackelsberg, Nancy MacLean, and Evelyn C. White.
Biographical information about each of the narrators is available in the finding aid, below.
Extent
32.896 linear feet (79 containers)
2,560 Gigabytes (1,145 files (video, audio, transcripts) )
Abstract
Oral History Project documenting the persistence and diversity of organizing for women in the United States. Narrators include labor, peace, and anti-racism activists; artists and writers; lesbian rights advocates; grassroots anti-violence and anti-poverty organizers; and women of color reproductive justice leaders. Interviews cover childhood, personal life, and political work. Most oral histories consist of audiovisual recordings and transcripts, plus some background information.
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.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
As a preservation measure, original audiovisual materials in this collection are restricted. Digital versions of transcripts and video recordings are available online through links in the container list whenever allowed by the narrators.
Other Finding Aids
One or more content listings to individual accessions in this collection are available for download. Links can be found in the description of the individual accessions.
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital versions of transcripts and videos are available online through links in the container list below whenever allowed by the narrators.
Processing Information
Processed by Joyce Follet, Revan Schendler, and Burd Schlessinger, 2007
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. A full crosswalk of old to new numbers is available.
Subject
- Alexander, Dolores, 1931-2008 (Person)
- Asetoyer, Charon, 1951- (Person)
- Avery, Byllye (Person)
- Beal, Frances, 1940- (Person)
- Berek, Judith, 1943- (Person)
- Berkman, Brenda, 1951- (Person)
- Biren, Joan E. (1944) (Person)
- Casavant, Kathleen, 1951- (Person)
- Chavez-Thompson, Linda, 1944- (Person)
- Cook, Katsi (Person)
- Diallo, Dázon Dixon, Dr. (Person)
- Hayashi, Mary Chung, 1967- (Person)
- Martinez, Betita, 1925 (Person)
- Martinez, Luz Alvarez (Person)
- Levins Morales, Aurora, 1954- (Person)
- Nussbaum, Karen, 1950- (Person)
- Payne, LaDoris, 1948 (Person)
- Pharr, Suzanne, 1939- (Person)
- Ports, Suki Terada (Person)
- Achebe Betty Powell (June 14, 1940-February 21, 2023 ) (Person)
- Rodriguez, Luz (Person)
- Ross, Loretta J. (Person)
- Saika, Peggy, 1945- (Person)
- Sanchez, Graciela, 1960- (Person)
- Schneir, Miriam, 1933- (Person)
- Shelley, Martha, 1943- (Person)
- Smith, Barbara, 1946- (Person)
- Steinem, Gloria (Person)
- Tax, Meredith, 1942- (Person)
- Touré, Nkenge (Person)
- Vázquez, Carmen M. (1949-2021) (Person)
- Ward, Wynona (circa 1951) (Person)
- Winslow, Barbara, 1945- (Person)
- Kramer, Marian (Person)
- Kramer, Marion, 1944 (Person)
- Vazquez, Carmen, 1949- (Person)
- Hammer, Barbara, 1939-2019 (Person)
- National Abortion Rights Action League (Organization)
- Anderson, Kelly (Person)
- Christian, Meg (Person)
- Deming, Barbara, 1917 (Person)
- Follet, Joyce (Person)
- Jackson, James E., 1914- (Person)
- MacLean, Nancy (Person)
- National Women's Health Network (Organization)
- Nutter, Kathleen Banks (Person)
- Voices of Feminism Oral History Project (Organization)
- Weigand, Kate (Person)
- Ackelsberg, Martha A. (Person)
- Apuzzo, Virginia (1941) (Person)
- Bewsee, Michaelann (Person)
- Burnham, Linda, 1948- (Person)
- Edgar, Joanne (Person)
- Foo, Lora Jo (1951 January) (Person)
- Frantz, Margaret G. (Person)
- Gilbert, Ronnie (Person)
- Henry, Fran Worden (Person)
- Hollibaugh, Amber L., 1946- (Person)
- Kollisch, Eva, 1925- (Person)
- Lerner, Gerda (Person)
- MacKay, Anne (Person)
- Miller, Isabel, 1924-1996 (Person)
- Moraga, Cherrie L. (Person)
- Morales, Rosario, 1930- (Person)
- National Endowment for the Arts (Organization)
- National Organization for Women (Organization)
- Near, Holly (Person)
- Nelson, Marjory, 1928-2018 (Person)
- Olivia Records (Organization)
- Peterson, Jan (Person)
- Pratt, Minnie Bruce (Person)
- Reeve, Pat (Person)
- Reynolds, Tina (Person)
- Roma, Catherine (Person)
- Russell, Maura (Person)
- Schendler, Revan (Person)
- Stout, Linda (1954) (Person)
- Thom, Mary (Person)
- Helaine Victoria Press (Organization)
Genre / Form
- CD-Roms
- Computer media
- DVD-Video discs
- Electronic mail
- Oral histories
- Oral history
- Transcripts
- Videotapes
- correspondence
Topical
- African American women
- Artists
- Asian American women
- Audiotapes
- Birth control -- United States -- 20th century
- Civil rights activists
- Civil rights movements -- United States -- 20th century
- Feminists
- Feminists -- United States
- Indigenous women
- Jewish women
- Labor leaders -- United States
- Labor movement
- Labor movement -- United States -- 20th century
- Labor organizers
- Latina women
- Lesbian activists
- Lesbian community
- Lesbians -- United States
- Pacifists
- Peace movements -- United States
- Pro-choice movement -- United States
- Reproductive and sexual health
- Reproductive rights activists
- Research
- Sexual abuse victims
- Welfare rights movement
- Women fire fighters
- Women labor union members -- United States
- Women's liberation
- Working class women -- United States
- Writers
- Title
- Finding aid to the Voices of Feminism Oral History Project oral histories
- Author
- Joyce Follet, Revan Schendler, and Burd Schlessinger
- Date
- 2007, 2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- The project was made possible with generous support from the Ford Foundation.
Revision Statements
- 07/26/2017: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)
- 2017-07-26T17:48:15-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
- 05/23/2018: Updated to include Marian Kramer interview
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
