The Women's Studies Program at the University of Houston is an interdisciplinary academic field that analyzes and investigates women's roles, needs, history and contributions to humankind. Women's Studies at UH was established in the summer of 1991. The Program offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate minor and an interdisciplinary graduate certificate - both consist of courses drawn from the humanities, fine arts, law, and social and health sciences. The mission of the Friends of Women’s Studies is to support the University of Houston Women’s Studies Program through campus and community activities, as well as financial and volunteer efforts. The central focus of the Friends is the Women’s Archive and Research Center (WARC), a unique collection of documents from active and historical Houston area women’s organizations and individuals associated with these organizations, as well as local women’s oral histories.
The WARC is housed in the Special Collections Department of the University Libraries, located in M.D. Anderson Library. It opened in October 1996 owing to the unending motivation of the members of Women’s Studies. The WARC has a strong regional identity, focusing on the role of women in the history of Texas in general and Houston in particular. In the late 1980s and 1990s women have made new and significant contributions in Texas and in Houston as mayors, governors, university presidents, to name just a few areas.
Collections in the WARC include those focused on cultural development and social action, philanthropic, civic and professional associations, women’s health issues, violence against women, minority women’s groups, and a professional athletic franchise. The WARC also includes the papers of several prominent Houston women. The collections document the ways that women have united to achieve their goals, the range of their concerns, and the impact they have had on the world around them. The WARC also creates and preserves Texas women’s oral histories through the Living Archives series, which features interviews with notable Houston women. The research center supports significant scholarly work on women’s issues by students, faculty and visiting professors and promotes awareness of women’s contributions to culture through speakers, conferences and other activities.
The Friends of Women’s Studies provides a variety of financial assistance to graduate and undergraduate students and faculty. Scholarships are available to both undergraduates and graduates; UH faculty members may apply for doctoral fellowships and summer fellowships. An annual travel grant is awarded to a Women’s Studies faculty member presenting research at conferences and a Student Essay prize for essays on a women’s studies topic. Long range plans include a conference on Houston women’s history and the endowment of a chair.
The current collection primarily consists of background research done before the opening of the WARC, mainly in the form of magazines, newsletters, newspapers and brochures. Administrative materials such as meeting invitations and agendas, minutes, financial reports, bylaws and events sponsored by the Women’s Studies department make up the rest of the collection. The bulk of the papers are dated between 1993 and 1999, but a few publications and clippings date to 1980s. The most recent papers include invitations to events organized by the Friends of Women’s Studies, such as the annual Table Talk luncheon and events such as the 1999 Women United Conference.
The records are arranged into eleven series: Administration; Background Research; Ephemera; Events; Magazines and Newsletters; Newspapers; Newspaper Clippings; Organizations; Photographs; Publications; and the UH Women’s Studies Department. The arrangement is topical and chronological by year and chronological within each year. Materials from the background research have been sorted by institutions/organizations. Newspaper clippings and articles which may have contributed to the research have been sorted chronologically as those related to the University of Houston and those that are general matters/background information. The administrative materials are arranged topically and then chronologically. The current organization was imposed upon the collection to standardize the various methods of filing, and to integrate the years. In the future, additional material may be added to the end of each series and sub-series.
Terms are either Library of Congress Subject Headings or taken from local sources.
Open for research.
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.
Donations by Women’s Studies Program and Carey Shuart, 2000-2003
Women’s Studies and Friends of Women’s Studies Collection, Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.
Pavan Sirsi, May 2003
This series contains twenty-one folders concerning administrative matters, such as agendas, by-laws, and correspondence, and is arranged alphabetically. The records date from 1992 to 2003, although most of the material dates between 1994 and 1999. Although the board of the Friends of Women’s Studies is composed of various committees, the records of all these committees have been sorted according to the topic/subject. As such, any one of these folders could contain documents pertaining to the different committees.
This series of twenty-seven folders is divided into two sub-series: Background Research of Universities/Institutes and Background Research-Women’s Studies. The first sub-series consists of records obtained from various institutions/universities which either specialize in women’s studies or have a full archival facility. The material has been sorted alphabetically by institution and primarily contains brochures and fliers of that particular institution. There is also a telephone survey conducted by the UH Women Studies department pertaining to some of these institutions. There are nineteen folders under this sub-series dated between 1987 and 1997.; however, most of collection dates from 1993 to 1997. The second sub-series includes documents pertaining to the formation of the Women’s Studies program. The folders are arranged alphabetically and are dated from 1990 to 1997.
This series of fourteen folders consists of material pertaining to events during 1994 to 2003, and is divided into two sub-series: Table Talk and Other Events. The series has been divided into two sub-series. The first one refers to the annual Table Talk luncheons, the fundraiser for the WARC, for 1998 to 2003. The second sub-series includes miscellaneous events such as Women’s Studies and WARC membership kickoff parties, and the 1999 Women United Conference. Items include event planning documents, invitation lists, invitations, fliers, and brochures of events.
This series consists of magazines that focus on women’s issues, and which form a part of the background research done before the opening of the WARC. The eleven folders dating from 1991 to 1994 include Lears Magazine, newsletters, and articles. The series also contains fliers related to women’s health and other topics.
This series of background research for the WARC contains brochures, newsletters, and fliers from various women’s organizations in the Houston area. The series contains seventeen folders dated from 1986 to 2001 and is arranged alphabetically.
This series of sixteen folders contains photographs dated after the opening of the WARC in 1996. The photographs mainly pertain to Table Talk, but include one set in the Living Archives series and other Friends of Women’s Studies events. The series includes negatives and untitled and undated photographs.
This series includes the publications relating to background research for the WARC, dating from 1975 to 1992.
This series relates to the Women’s Studies Department at the University of Houston. The majority of the series is the Women’s Studies newsletter, New Voices, including the preparatory work done in the form of handwritten documents, news articles, layout and formatting of the newsletter. One folder contains newsletters from other UH departments and a few reports and fliers.
This series is arranged alphabetically and contains newspapers that cover background research. The bulk of the series consists of Off Our Backs and The Daily Cougar. There are also two to three copies each of The Chronicle, Sojourner, The OWL Observer, Houston Women, and New Directions for Women, as well as other newspapers. Most of the series is dated in the 1980s.
The series contains newspaper clippings mainly from two major newspapers: the Houston Chronicle and the New York Times. Items in the series focus on women’s issues, with the bulk of the material relating to Hillary Clinton’s visit to the Women’s Conference in China. The series is basically a collection of articles on random topics mostly dated between 1992 and 1995.
The Ephemera series contains badges, bags, a pencil, T-shirts, and a videotape, dating from 1995 to 2000.