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Margaret G. Frantz papers

 Collection
Identifier: SSC-MS-00658

Scope and Contents

The collection includes correspondence, clippings, and articles, with a substantial amount from author and close friend Jessica Mitford. Materials pertaining to Frantz's teaching career at the University of California at Santa Cruz; topics include Women's Studies and American Studies curricula, women's rights, civil rights, radical social movements in the U.S., and second and third wave feminism.

Dates of Materials

  • Creation: 1938 - 2016

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research use without restriction beyond the standard terms and conditions of Smith College Special Collections.

Conditions Governing Use

The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to the unpublished works by the creator of this collection. Copyright to materials created by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. Permission must be obtained to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Biographical / Historical

Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1922, Marge Frantz (born Margaret Louise Gelders) was a lifelong activist. Introduced to radical politics and the Communist Party by her father Joe Gelders, Frantz's activism began early, with the Young Communist League in 1935. Frantz's Party activity ranged from selling the Daily Worker on the New York City subway to organizing the Alabama delegation to the American Youth Congress. Frantz finally left the Party in 1956, though her agitation far from ceased. She was an organizer for the United Electrical Workers, campaigned for Wallace, worked for Planned Parenthood, was a part of the free speech movement in Berkeley, and a stalwart of the peace movement. After she and husband Laurent (also a radical and former Communist Party member) had four children, Frantz returned to college (graduating from Berkeley in 1972) and went on to a PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she spent three decades as a celebrated and inspirational teacher. Frantz retired from teaching in 1989, but continued her activism while living in Santa Cruz with her partner, Eleanor Engstrand. Frantz died on October 16, 2015 in Santa Cruz.

Extent

34.355 linear feet (33 containers)

Abstract

Professor; Pacifist; Labor reform advocate. The collection includes correspondence, clippings, and articles, with a substantial amount from author and close friend Jessica Mitford. Materials pertaining to Frantz's teaching career at the University of California at Santa Cruz; topics include Women's Studies and American Studies curricula, women's rights, civil rights, radical social movements in the U.S., and second and third wave feminism.

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 Margaret G. Frantz (2010-2013) and Virginia Frantz (2015).

Related Materials

See also oral history of Margaret Frantz in the Voices of Feminism Oral History Project, Sophia Smith Collection.

Processing Information

Accessioned by Burd Schlessinger, February 2010

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.

Title
Margaret G. Frantz papers
Subtitle
Finding Aid
Date
2010
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

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)
  • 2017-07-26T17:48:20-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.

Repository Details

Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository

Contact:
Neilson Library
7 Neilson Drive
Northampton MA 01063