Center for Archival Collections News

"Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of the body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day."

March is internationally recognized as Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day has been celebrated on the 8th for over 100 years. The central theme of this year’s celebration was “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures” and worldwide thousands of events will be held this month to support this concept as well as the over-all economic, political and social achievements of women. In this field, few organizations can boast the progress and achievements as the American Association of University Women (MS 89). The purpose of the organization is “to enable college women to continue their own intellectual growth, further the advancement of women, and discharge their responsibility to society.” Indeed, these women have worked tirelessly for over a century at the local, national, and international levels to demonstrate the change, and the good, that the educated voice of women can bring to society. The organization has 5 key areas of interest: education, international relations, community, cultural interests, and of course, women.

In regard to education, the AAUW has worked to ensure greater equality of opportunity for women and minorities on college campuses by increasing representation at all levels, from student body to faculty to administration. Additionally, they have worked to educate women about career opportunities and allow women into previously un-entered areas of the workforce. Internationally the AAUW works with the UN and the International Federation of University Women in non-governmental activities. One of the most popular and crucial programs sponsored is the African Educators Program which began in 1963 and allows “women from various African nations to visit communities in the US and to study local educational institutions.” Culturally, the AAUW has sponsored arts festivals, competitions, museums, book fairs, among many other things. One notable accomplishment was the preservation of the Antelope Valley Indian Museum through a grueling publicity and lobbying campaign for the state to purchase and continue the museum. They also worked to secure funding for educational television and ‘suitable’ prime-time television programming. Within the community the AAUW has worked to improve race relations, like civil rights legislation in the early ’60s, as well as reform in the court system and jails. In 1968 the organization released an official Call To Action pledging “the best efforts of its own members…toward constructive change to facilitate the full and equal participation of all people in the American social, economic, and political system.” They have also worked to combat poverty through legislation such as job and housing bills and school lunch and breakfast programs. Finally, they have worked to help women be elected and hold public office at every level, along with equal pay, and opportunity.

Locally, the Bowling Green chapter of the AAUW has had a number of notable accomplishments since its founding in 1938. In line with the national goals, a number of members hold public office. They’ve also brought countless speakers to help educate and inform the public on the countless issues facing women and minorities. They’ve also held book fairs and helped sponsor countless community events. Finally, they perform the thankless task of keeping women and minority issues in public discussions helping to ensure that our voices will always continue to be heard. The Bowling Green chapter has even gained national recognition for their educational projects such as an Elder Care and Abuse study which won the Public Information Awards Competition in 1980. Other projects since include Assault on Women Prevention and AIDS Prevention in Adolescents.

Ultimately, the organization stands as an epitome for the need of women’s voices in the public sphere. Given equal opportunities and education, women work endlessly to not only better their own lives, and promote pertinent issues, but will work for the general welfare and true equality. As stated in 1953, we all must seek to, “widen your horizons, help build a better community, contribute toward the intelligent solution of national and international problems.”

For more information and history of the Bowling Green chapter of the AAUW come to the Center for Archival Collections to view our holdings:

http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/cac/ms/page43792.html

For more information on International Women’s Day:

http://www.internationalwomensday.com/

A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens is featured in the December CAC exhibit

Holiday-themed books are the subject of the December 2011 exhibit at the CAC.

Featured are a variety of editions of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol produced by several publishers since the late 19th century. The most contemporary, published in 2009, is a facsimile of the prompt book used by Dickens himself to guide his public readings of the popular story.  Brief notes describe each edition, the press that produced it, and its illustrators.

Also on exhibit are a number of holiday or winter-themed books from the Rare Books and Special Collections and the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes.  Featured authors include Ray Bradbury, Jan Wahl, Dylan Thomas, and Washington Irving.  Famed illustrators such as Maxfield Parrish and Randolph Caldecott (for whom the Caldecott Medal is named) decorate these offerings.

“From every quarter have I heard exclamations against masculine women… If it be against the imitation of manly virtues, or, more properly speaking the attainment of those talents and virtues, the exercise of which ennobles the human character, and which raise females in the scale of animal being, when they are comprehensively termed mankind; –all those who view them with a philosophic eye must, wish with me, that they may everyday grow more and more masculine.” –Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792

The Rights of Women was the first published feminist literature, written by Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792, and is available in the Rare Books collection in the Archives. Since it was published, the feminist movement in the United States has worked feverishly to secure equal rights, protection, and opportunities for all women and people. This year, Women for Women International (WfWI) celebrated the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day (March 8th). Thousands of women joined together on bridges around the world to promote the message “Stronger women build bridges of peace” to help raise awareness and gain support for helping women in war-torn areas. WfWI works to provide these women with access to knowledge and resources to enable self-sufficiency and independence.

BGSU’s student chapter of Women for Women was founded in the early 1970’s in response to increasing accounts of rape, gang rape, and assault on campus and to fill the need for a continuous support system for the victims. Although disbanded in the mid-1990’s, throughout its existence, Women for Women sponsored countless concerts, seminars, and other programs to raise awareness and education on women’s issues. In addition to women’s rights, Women for Women helped to co-sponsor LAGA (Lesbian and Gay Alliance) events, had a variety of concentrations such as Women Against Racism and Women Against Nuclear War, and worked with local NARAL (National Abortion Rights Action League) advocates to help ensure Roe v. Wade was not overturned.

Women for Women also held demonstrations outside the Wood County Court House during trials of assault and battery, in solidarity with the victims and to encourage more women to take action against their assailants. Additionally, they petitioned the courts on the sentencing of these cases, encouraging the idea that fines be put toward opening a women’s shelter in Bowling Green or requiring the perpetrators to volunteer at existing shelters. Beyond that, Women for Women held a variety of fundraisers and publicized the need for a shelter in Wood County beginning in the mid-1980’s. Largely due to the initial support and awareness BGSU’s Women for Women raised, the Cocoon Shelter was founded in Wood County in 2005.

Women for Women also played a role in founding the Women’s Center which opened in 1998 and is still active on campus today. Similar to the offerings by Women for Women in the 1970s and 1980s, the Women’s Center also offers a variety of events and programs, such as the Brown Bag series and the Women’s Professional Development series. In 2002, the Center also established the Northwest Ohio Silent Witness Project which is a memorial to honor women who were killed by domestic violence and works to promote awareness on the extent of domestic violence in the area.

To learn more about the Libraries’ rare book holdings, view http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/cac/bib/page39452.html
To learn more about Women’s Studies manuscript collections at the CAC, visit:
http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/cac/bib/page39460.html
To learn more about the history of Women for Women and the Women’s Center, view
http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/cac/uarchives/uainventory/page38214.html
For more information about BGSU’s Women’s Center, current events, and programs visit:
http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/women/index.html
For volunteer opportunities and more information on the Cocoon Shelter visit:
http://www.cocoonshelter.org/
To get involved in Women for Women International:
www.womenforwomen.org>

“The civilized women of the present century, with a few exceptions, are only anxious to inspire love, when they ought to cherish a nobler ambition, and by their abilities and virtues exact respect.” -Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792

–Sarah Gluckin, Student Archival Assistant