urn:taro:uh.warc.00022 Betty Barnes NOW Collection, 1967-1986 Joanie South-Shelley University of Houston Libraries 2003 Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Kristen R. Walker, March 2005 ENG 10 March 2005 Encoding started. Encoding completed. 12 March 2005 Betty Barnes NOW Collection, 1967-1986 Joanie South-Shelley University of Houston Libraries 2005 Descriptive Summary Barnes, Betty Betty Barnes NOW Collection 1967-1986 2002-003 1.5 linear feet; 3 boxes The Houston chapter of the National Organization of Women (NOW) was founded in 1970. This collection contains materials concerning the activities of the Houston chapter, primarily in the mid-1970s. A large section of the collection concerns the chapter’s Media Reform Task Force, as well as publications and information on the National Women’s Conference. Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries Biographical and Historical Note

Biographical Note

The Houston chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded in 1970 and quickly increased its membership to over 300 individuals concerned with women’s rights and status. Betty Barnes was a member, and was particularly active in the Houston chapter’s campaign to eradicate sexist and discriminatory depictions of women in the media, particularly on television programming and advertising.

Historical Note

The National Organization of Women (NOW) was founded in 1966 with equality for women as the primary goal. Today NOW has over five hundred chapters in the United States and is the largest feminist organization in the country. The organization’s website states that “Since its founding in 1966, NOW’s goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.” For more information on NOW, please consult the organization’s website: www.now.org.

 Scope and Contents

The collection contains material relating the Houston chapter of NOW, dating mainly from the mid-1970s. Materials include publications and information on the National Women’s Conference, with a large section of the collection relating to the Houston chapter’s Media Reform Task Force. When received in the archives, most of the material was sorted into folders and binders labeled by the creator. This arrangement and the folder titles have been adhered to as closely as possible. Related collections in the Women’s Archives include the Janet Pierce NOW Collection, the Donna Medley NOW and Feminism Collection, the Marjorie Randal National Women’s Conference Collection, the Houston Area Women’s Center Records, and the Nikki Van Hightower Papers.

 Acquisition Information

Donation by Betty Barnes, 2002

 Access Restrictions

Open for research.

 Use Restrictions

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, locating copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian.

 Preferred Citation

Betty Barnes NOW Collection, Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.

 Index Terms

Terms are either Library of Congress Subject Headings or taken from local sources.

 Subjects (Persons) Barnes, Betty Subjects (Organizations) National Organization for Women. National Organization for Women. Houston Chapter Subjects National Women’s Conference International Women's Year, 1975. Texas Houston. Congresses Feminism United States. Women United States Social conditions. Formats Records Reports Publications Processed by

Joanie South-Shelley, 2003

 Detailed Description Houston Area Chapter

This series contains twenty-three folders dating from 1971 to 1974, relating to the activities of the Houston Chapter of NOW. It is divided into two series, Administrative and Media Reform Task Force. The majority of material in this series concerns the Media Reform Task Force and its relationship with Houston television station KPRC Channel 2. The Media Reform Task Force series is divided into four sub-series, each of which reflects the division of the material by the creator of the records.

 Administrative 1 1Activities, 1970 1 2By-Laws, 1967 1 3Information/Task Forces, 1974 1 4Meeting Notes, 1971 Media Reform Task Force Station Information, 1974 1 5 Radio and Television Station Information, part 1 1 6 Radio and Television Station Information, part 2 1 7 Radio and Television Station Information, part 3 1 8 Radio and Television Station Information, part 4 1 9 Radio and Television Station Information, part 5 Federal Communications Commission 1 10 Broadcast Media Guides, 1971-1972 1 11 FCC Instructions, 1972-1974 1 12 FCC General Data, 1973 1 13 FCC General Data, Press, 1972-1974 KPRC Channel 2 1 14 Correspondence, 1974-1975 1 15 Data, 1973-1974 1 16 Monitering Analysis, 1974 1 17 Notes, 1 18 Petition to Deny, Draft, 1974 KPRC Channel 2 Notebook 1 19 Correspondence, 1973-1974 1 20 General Information, 1974 1 21 Negotiation Correspondence, 1974 1 22 Petition to Deny, Draft, 1974 1 23 Questionnaire, 1974 Texas and National NOW

This series of four folders contains two sub-series, Texas and National, relating to activities of these groups.

Texas 1 24Chapters, 1974 1 25Education and Legal Fund, 1986 1 26San Antonio Convention, 1977 National 1 27 Task Force Summaries, 1974 National Women’s Conference, 1977

The four folders in this series contain material on the National Women’s Conference, held in Houston in 1977.

 1 28 Briefing Book, part 1, 1977 1 29 Briefing Book, part 2, 1977 1 30 Proposed National Plan of Action, 1977 1 31 Conference Materials, 1977 Publications

This series of sixteen folders contains newsletter and books of relevance to the women’s movement. The Broadside was the newsletter of the Houston chapter of NOW.

 1 32 The Broadside, 1970-1971 1 33The Broadside, 1972-1973 1 34The Broadside, 1974 1 35 The Broadside, 1975 1 36 The Broadside, 1976 1 37 The Broadside, 1977 2 38 The Broadside, 1978-1979 2 39 The Broadside, 1980-1981 2 1 The Broadside-Herizons, 1979 2 2 Texas State NOW Newsletter, 1977 2 3 Pointblank Times, 1975 2 4 Pointblank Times, 1976-1978 2 5 Lesbian Connection, 1986 2 6 Liberated Women’s Appointment Calendar, 1974 2 7 Liberated Women’s Appointment Calendar, 1975 2 8 Women at Work in Song and Narrative Calendar, 1974 3 Woman Suffrage, History, Argument, and Results, 1917 Ephemera

This series contains posters, aprons, and a T-shirt. The posters are oversized and are stored in an oversized envelope.

 3 Aprons, Houston Texas, Feminist Capital of the World, two, undated 3 T-Shirt, Liberté, Egalité, Sororité, undated 4 Women are Not Chicks, poster, 1971 4 NARAL Pro-Choice President, two posters, undated 4 Keep Abortion Legal, poster, undated 4 Republican National Convention, poster,1992