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TABLE OF CONTENTS |
A Guide to the WomanSpace Records, 1982-2007
Historical NoteFirst published as theWomen's Community Journal in February 1986, WomanSpace is the longest continuously published women's community newsletter in San Antonio. TheWomen's Community Journal envisioned itself as an open forum for the women's community to discuss issues affecting women's lives, especially within the lesbian community. Men and women were encouraged to contribute to the newsletter on topics spanning health, politics, religion, art, and social issues. Submissions took the form of articles, letters to the editor, opinions, artwork, poetry, and creative writing. To further enhance communication within the women's community, newsletter staff initiated a regular event known as Tuesday Night for discussing topics affecting women's lives. Topics ranging from real estate law to rape/incest were prepared for each Tuesday session. As ties to related community resources and events increased, the Tuesday Night events were superseded in 1995 by other events and meetings for the lesbian and gay community. In 1987 newsletter staff developed an idea for creating a physical as well as spiritual and intellectual place for women to share ideas, learn, and reinforce one another: a place called WomanSpace. Ultimately WomanSpace was envisioned as a women's community center where women and men could meet, socialize, educate, share poetry, and participate in events. In this spirit, theWomen's Community Journal was renamed and debuted in November 1988 as WomanSpace. By April 1995 WomanSpace became a member of the Esperanza Network, a San Antonio organization dedicated to forming alliances to counteract bigotry and oppression. WomanSpace continues to be written and published by the women's community of San Antonio. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Content NoteThe Records consist mainly of newsletters, but also contain submissions to the newsletter and event planning materials. Collectively, the records document the difficulties and successes in the creation and evolution of a women's newsletter published for and by the women's community in San Antonio. The records also provide insight into topics of interest to women, and document the unique expression of women's thoughts and opinions concerning issues and events confronting them in daily life. WomanSpace is divided into two series. TheWomen's Community Journal series contains six newsletters from 1986-1987 documenting the efforts involved with starting the newsletter, the philosophy behind its creation, and the initial response from readers. Submissions of articles, poems, letters to the editor, and notices of events provide a sense of the type of reader feedback received. Tuesday Night planning material includes recommendations for discussion topics as well as background materials on specific topics, and flyers advertising the events. These materials document topics that women wished to discuss at the time, as well as some of the points of view presented at the meetings. WomanSpace consists of a nearly complete set of WomanSpace newsletters beginning in November 1988 through March 2007. As with its forerunner, WomanSpace documents topics of interest to the women's community and the unique expression of women's thoughts on issues affecting their lives. In particular, articles, advertising of events and community resource listings in WomanSpace show evidence of the increasing awareness of and cooperation with related community resources. Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsAccess RestrictionsThis collection is housed at UTSA's Main Campus and must be accessed via the John Peace Library Special Collections reading room. To request access, please use the Collections Request Form. Usage RestrictionsPermission to publish from Womanspace Records must be obtained from University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections. Return to the Table of Contents
Return to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred Citation[Identification of item]. Womanspace Records, MS 42, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections. Acquisition InformationMaterials originally donated in 1997 (Acc. 1997-002, 2001-037, 2003-084, 2004-003, 2005-001). Newsletters are a continually contributed. Processing InformationProcessed by Toni Jeske, Processing Archivist, September 1998. Return to the Table of Contents Detailed Description of the Collection
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