University of Houston Women’s Studies Program and Friends of Women’s Studies Collection, 1991-2003


Descriptive Summary
	Creator:	University of Houston Women's Studies Program
	Title:	University of Houston Women’s Studies Program and Friends of Women’s Studies Collection
	Dates:	1991-2003
	Abstract:	The Friends of Women’s Studies supports the University of Houston Women’s Studies department and focuses on the development of the Women’s Archive and Research Center (WARC), which is a repository of documents of women’s organizations in the Houston area.
	Identification:	2000-007
	Quantity:	7 boxes; 9 linear feet
	Repository:	Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries

Historical Note

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.

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Scope and Contents

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.

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Restrictions

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.

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


Subjects (Organizations)

		University of Houston. Women's Studies Program.
		University of Houston Friends of Women's Studies.


Subjects

		Women Societies and clubs -- Texas -- Houston.
		Feminism United States.
		Women United States Social conditions.


Formats

		Records
		Clippings
		Publications
		Pamphlets

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Women’s Studies and Friends of Women’s Studies Collection, Courtesy of Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Donations by Women’s Studies Program and Carey Shuart, 2000-2003

Processed by

Pavan Sirsi, May 2003

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Detailed Description



Administration
	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.
box	folder
1	1	Agendas, 1993-1994
	2	Agendas, 1995-1996
	3	Agendas, 1997-1998
	4	Bylaws, 1995
	5	Collection Development Policy, 1995
	6	Community Outreach Directory, 1993-1998
	7	Correspondence, 1993-1994
	8	Correspondence, 1995-1998
	9	Financial Documents, 1995-2000
	10	Fundraising and Donations, 1996-1997
	11	Grants and Scholarships, 1994, 1996-1997
	12	Living Archives, Lecture Series, 1993-1999
	13	Living Archives, Lecture Series, 2000-2003
	14	Minutes, 1993-1996
	15	Minutes, 1997-June 1998
	16	Minutes, July 1998–1999
	17	Mission Statements, 1991, 1993-1994
	18-20	Women’s Archives and Research Center – Papers, 1994-1999
	21	Women’s Studies Friends Directory, 1994-1998

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Background Research
	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.
		Background Research of Universities/Institutes
box	folder
1	22		A – Alabama; AAUW; Arapahoe; 1991-1998
	23		B – Barnard Center; Boston; Bowling Green; Brown; 1984-1997
	24		B – Bunting Institute and Radcliffe College; 1994
	25		C – California; Cambridge Women’s Center; Clark Atlanta Center for Research on Women; 1989, 1995-1996
	26		D – Duke University, 1989-1994
	27		E – Emory University, 1993
	28		F – Five College Women’s Studies Research Center, 1994
	29		G – General Federation of Women’s Clubs, 1994
	30		H-I – Hampshire; Harvard; Hunter College of CUNY; Hypatia; Indiana University; 1994, 1996
	31		I – Indiana; Indiana University; Purdue University; 1987-1990
	32		M-N – MIT; North Carolina; New York University; 1993-1994
	33		N – Newcomb College Center for Research on Women, 1990-1994
	34		P – Pacific Lutheran University; Penn State; Princeton; 1988, 1993
	35		R-S – Rice; Rutgers; Sarah Lawrence College; Southern Illinois University; Stanford; 1993, 1996
	36		T – Temple University; Texas Women’s University; 1991
	37		U – Universities of: Arkansas; Chicago Press; Cincinnati; Delaware; Florida; Hawaii-Manoa; Houston; 1990-1993
	38		U – Universities of: Illinois at Chicago; Kentucky; 1988-1993
	39		U – Universities of: Michigan; Minnesota-Duluth; Missouri-Columbia; Missouri-St.Louis ; Nevada-Reno; Oklahoma; Oregon; 1988-1989
	40		U-Y – Universities of: Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh; Wisconsin; Yale University; 1987, 1989, 2000
		Background Research – Women’s Studies
box	folder
1	41		Background and Research papers – WARC, 1990, 1997
	42		Carey Shuart’s papers – Planning, 1994, 1995
	43		Members’ Survey, 1994
	44		Oral History, February 1994
	45		Phone Survey, Format and Guidelines, 1994
box	folder
2	1		Readings, undated
	2		Repositories and Bibliography, 1993-1995
	3		UH Financial Situation, 1994

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Events

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.

Table Talk

box

folder

Table Talk, 1998-2000

Table Talk, 2001-2003

Other Events

box

folder

Women’s Studies Membership Party, 1994-2000

Women United Conference, November 1999

Miscellaneous Events, 1984-1994

Miscellaneous Events, 1992-1997

Miscellaneous Events, undated

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Magazines and Newsletters
	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.
box	folder
2	11	Lears, December 1991, January 1993
	12	Lears, June, December 1993
	13	Lears, January, February 1994
	14	Lears, March, April 1994
	15	Women on the Move, July-October 1995
	16	Miscellaneous Magazines, 1984-1997
	17	Newsletters and Articles, 1980-1994
	18	Newsletters and Articles, 1982-1997
	19	Newsletters and Articles, 1995-1999
	20	Fliers – Health Initiatives, 19922000
	21	Fliers –General, 1995-2000

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Organizations
	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.
box	folder
2	22	American Association of University Women, 1994-1997
	23	Association of American Colleges and Universities, 1998
	24	American Business Women’s Association, 1994
	25	Brigid’s Place, Christ Church Cathedral, 1998-2001
box	folder
3	1	Federation of Houston Professional Women, 1997-1999
	2	Greater Houston Area Council on Domestic Violence, 1992
	3	Greater Houston Women’s Foundation, 1995-2001
	4	Houston Area Women’s Center, 1992-1997
	5	Houston Women’s Caucus for Art, 1992-1998
	6	National Council for Negro Women, 1999
	7	National Organization of Women, 1986
	8	National Organization of Women, 1994-1999
	9	National Women’s Studies Association, 1996-2002
	10	Women’s Action for New Directions, 1997
	11	Women’ Caucus for Art, 1982-1995
	12	Young Women’ Christian Association, 1993
	13	Women’s Organizations – Roster, 1996-1997

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Photographs
	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.
box	folder
3	14	Kickoff Party, 1996
	15	Kickoff Party and Table Talk, 1999
	16	Kickoff Party and Table Talk, 2000
	17	Party at Diane Tucker’s, 1999
	18	Scholarship Women, 2000
	19	Table Talk, 1998
	20	Table Talk, 2000-2002
	21	Winter Newsletter, undated
	22	Women and Arts Curators, undated
	23	Women and Money, undated
	24	Women and Television, undated
	25	Women for African National Congress, undated
	26	Women’s Studies party, undated
	27	Women’s Studies newsletter, Spring 1999
	28	Miscellaneous, undated
	29	Negatives, undated

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Publications

This series includes the publications relating to background research for the WARC, dating from 1975 to 1992.

box

folder

Global peace – From vision to reality, 1988

Heresis 23 –A Publication of Women in Politics, undated

Parity 2000, 1991

Pipelines of Progress, 1992

Resources and Information for Women in Government, 1992

The New Women’s Survival Source Book, 1975

box

folder

The New Women’s Survival Source Book – Catalog, 1973

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UH Women’s Studies Department
	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.
box	folder
3	36	New Voices, Spring 1992
	37	New Voices, Fall 1993
	38	New Voices, Spring 1994
box	folder
4	1	New Voices, Fall 1994
	2	New Voices, Summer 1995
	3	New Voices, Winter 1996
	4	New Voices, 1997
	5	New Voices, 1998-2000
	6	UH Newsletters, 1992-1998
	7	UH Fliers, 1992-2000
	8	UH Reports, 1995

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Newspapers
	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.
box	folder
5	--	The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1995
	--	The Daily Cougar, 1997
	--	Demeter, November 1983
	--	Distaff, May 1981
	--	Houston Woman, April 1984, November 1988
	--	In Between, September 1982
	--	Kitchen Table, Catalog 1984
	--	Lesbian Contradiction, Fall 1983
	--	New Directions for Women, 19811985
	--	Off Our Backs, 1985-1987
	--	Older Women’s League – Observer, 1988
	--	The Sojourner, August 1982
	--	Women’s Political Times, 1988

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Newspaper Clippings
	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.
box	folder
6	--	Houston Chronicle, 1980-2001
	--	New York Times, 1988-1996
	--	Danny’s Pretty Face Factor, August 8, 1988
	--	Forum backs off from Complaints, September 4, 1995
	--	Panel’s study cites Job bias for minority women, November 22, 1995
	--	River Oaks monthly, July 1995
	--	Women more pessimistic about work, September 12, 1995

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Ephemera
	The Ephemera series contains badges, bags, a pencil, T-shirts, and a videotape, dating from 1995 to 2000.
box	folder
7	--	Badges: “50 Women/50 Men by 2000, 2020
	--	Bag: University of Houston Honors College, 1995
	--	Bag: Women United Conference, 1999
	--	Bag: Federation of Houston Professional Women, undated
	--	Bag: University of Houston, undated
	--	Bag: Women’s Studies Program, University of Houston, undated
	--	Bag: Friends of Women’s Studies, undated
	--	Pencil
	--	T-shirt: Friends of Women Studies, undated
	--	T-shirt: Women United Conference, 1999
	--	Video: See Jane Run - How Women get Elected, 1996

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