Washington Area Women's Center records
Scope and Contents note
This collection contains newsletters, correspondence, posters, audio recordings, fliers, programs, meeting minutes, local organization files, reprints, photographs, and handwritten data related to the work performed at the Washington Area Women's Center. The records date from 1868 through 1989 with the bulk of the records falling between 1968-1984.
Dates
- 1966-1989
- Majority of material found within 1968-1984
Creator
- Washington Area Women’s Center (Washington, D.C.) (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Biographical / Historical
The Washington Area Women’s Center developed naturally from the high level of activism in the Washington area related to feminism and women’s rights taking place. Specifically two parallel movements led directly to its formation. First, the Magic Quilt was a coalition of projects and discussion groups. Second, the Women’s Liberation Office, an activist group, rented space that it used for meetings, abortion counseling, a telephone hotline, and an information center. The Women’s Liberation Office held a retreat at which the idea was born to form a center for women. In 1972, the Washington Area Women’s Center formed as a non-profit. Over the years several different management models were attempted including a coordinating council of representatives from different project groups, followed by an elected five-member executive board and finally the group had a core group collective composed of WAWC members who volunteer their time either at the Center or on Center projects.
During its time from 1972 through the late 1980s, the Washington Area Women’s Center served both as a space where women could explore aspects of feminism and work on projects dedicated to furthering feminist theory and also practical work to serve as a clearinghouse of advisors and information to help women in the Metropolitan Area explore all options related to changing their lives and asserting their rights.
In 1979 the Washington Area Women’s Center formed an archives with an understanding that this material would prove extremely useful for the community and protect its history. In 2015 this archives became part of the GW Special Collection Research Center.
Extent
30 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
During its time from 1972 through the late 1980s, the Washington Area Women’s Center served both as a space where women could explore aspects of feminism and work on projects dedicated to furthering feminist theory and also practical work to serve as a clearinghouse of advisors and information to help women in the Metropolitan Area explore all options related to changing their lives and asserting their rights. This collection contains newsletters, correspondence, posters, audio recordings, fliers, programs, meeting minutes, local organization files, reprints, photographs, and handwritten data related to the work performed at the Washington Area Women's Center. The records date from 1868 through 1989 with the bulk of the records falling between 1968-1984.
Arrangement
Organized into 9 series: WAWC records, Organizations, Newsletters, Subject files, Reprints, Audiotapes, T-shirts, Graphics, and Unsorted documents.
Physical Location
Materials are stored off-site, and will require additional retrieval time. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Judith Schwarz, 2015 September 9, (2015.049)
Processing Information note
Approximately 90% of the collection was processed when donated and had been separated into series. The donor provided a spreadsheet for each series that listed the folders found within. These spreadsheets were imported into the collection manaagmeent system and are represented in original order in this finding aid. The final series titled Unsorted documents came unprocessed. At this time only a cursory division into manageable folders with minimal refolder has been done. The folder titles are broadly reflective of the folder contents. It is likely duplication exists both among mateiral in this series and with material found in other series. This final series which represents 8.5 linear feet will take longer to use, but may hold some data relevent to a researcher topic.
Processing Information
This finding aid was revised twice in 2022. Once to address outdated spelling of descriptive language. During that revision, description was not changed or edited, but additional information was provided to add context. A Processing Information Note was added to box 13 folder 11 providing contextual information about the terminology and why staff retained it. This is a version of the finding aid prior to this revision work Pre-revision Feb. 2022 finding aid of Washington Area Women's Center records
And
Also revised to address homophobic descriptive language. During that revision, description was not edited or removed, but additional information was provided to add context. A Processing Information Note was added to Box 33 Folder 37 providing contextual information about the terminology and why staff retained it. This is a version of the finding aid prior to this revision work Pre-revision Feb. 2022 finding aid of Washington Area Women's Center records
- Education Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Feminist theory Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Feminists Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Lesbian feminism Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women -- History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Women's rights Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Guide to the Washington Area Women's Center records, 1868-1989
- Status
- Partially Processed
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Revision Statements
- 2022 March 08: Finding aid revised to include contextual information about the homophobic and outdated descriptive language found within this collection. See the processing note for more information
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University Repository
