Southern Women, the Student YWCA, and Race collection
Scope and Contents
This is a collection of fourteen audiotaped interviews (transferred to CD) with women who were involved with the Student Young Women's Christian Association in the southeastern United States between 1920 and 1944. The interviews were conducted by Frances Sanders Taylor [Anton] in 1981 and 1982 as part of the research for her Stanford University doctoral dissertation, "'On the Edge of Tomorrow': Southern Women, the Student YWCA, and Race, 1920-1944."
Also included is a copy of the thesis, interview permission forms, and Taylor Anton's notes on the interviews. In addition, there are notes Taylor Anton made on a 1967 taped interview with YWCA student staff member, Mary Jane Willett. It is unclear who conducted the 1967 interview.
Taylor Anton's questions deal primarily with the women's memories of their YWCA involvement, and the YWCA's work on issues related to race, but she also inquires about their family background, and their lives and careers after their work for the Student YWCA. Many of the women interviewed first became associated with the YWCA as members, joining either as teenagers or during their college years. Later, they served as volunteer leaders and/or joined the staff at the local, regional, or national level. The YWCA made a point of hiring staff members to work in its Southern Region (southeast) who were themselves raised there believing that they would understand the territory best and be more effective advocates for YWCA program within that milieu.
Five of the women interviewed were African-American (Catchings, Hamilton, Logan, Thurman, and Williams) the remaining nine were white. Their names are as follows:
- Sarah Gibson Blanding
- Katharine "Kasha" Butler
- Rose May Withers [Catchings]
- Mary "Polly" Moss Cuthbertson
- Lois Gratz
- Grace Towns Hamilton
- Elizabeth "Betty" Smith [Harrington]
- Wenonah Bond Logan
- Katharine DuPre Lumpkin
- Frances Helen Mains
- Rosalie Oakes
- Augusta Winn Roberts
- Sue Bailey [Thurman]
- Frances Harriet Williams
Dates of Materials
- 1920-1944
Creator
- Taylor, Frances Sanders (Person)
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
Original audiovisual materials may not be used. Research copies are available.
Extent
2.146 linear feet (5 containers)
Abstract
YWCA workers. Fourteen audiotaped interviews with women who were involved with the Student Young Women's Christian Association in the southeastern United States between 1920 and 1944 conducted by Frances Sanders Taylor [Anton], 1981-82 as part her doctoral dissertation.
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.
Custodial History
Materials in this collection were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection by Frances Sanders Taylor Anton in 2009.
Additional Formats
Audio recordings have been copied to digital format for research use.
Processing Information
Processed by Maida Goodwin, 2011
- African American civil rights
- African American women -- Social conditions
- African American women -- Social conditions
- Audiotapes
- Black women
- Blanding, Sarah Gibson
- Butler, Katharine
- CD-ROMs
- Catchings, Rose May Withers
- Civil rights movements -- United States -- 20th century
- Computer media
- Cuthbertson, Mary Moss
- Gratz, Lois E.
- Hamilton, Grace Towns, 1907-
- Interviews
- Logan, Wenonah Bond
- Lumpkin, Katharine Du Pre, 1897-
- Mains, Frances Helen
- National Intercollegiate Christiain Council
- Notes
- Race awareness -- United States
- Race discrimination -- Southern states
- Roberts, Augusta Winn
- Rosalie Oakes
- Taylor, Frances Sanders
- Taylor, Frances Sanders
- Theses
- Thurman, Sue Bailey
- United States -- Race relations
- Williams, Frances Harriet
- Women -- Societies and clubs -- United States -- 20th century
- Women and religion
- Women in Christianity -- United States -- 20th century
- Young Men's Christian Association
- Young Men's Christian associations
- Young Women's Christian associations
- Young Women's Christian associations
- Young Women’s Christian Association of the U.S.A.
- Young women -- Social life and customs -- United States
Source
- Taylor, Frances Sanders (Donor, Person)
- Title
- Finding aid to the Southern Women, the Student YWCA, and Race (1920-1944) collection
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Maida Goodwin.
- Date
- 2011
- 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.
- 2018-10-12: Removed link to online playlist which was removed from website.
- 2019-06-06: Emergency repairs to make it publish on Asteria
Repository Details
Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository
