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Women's School (Cambridge, Mass.) records

 Collection
Identifier: M023

Overview

The Women's School was established in 1971 by 20 women who were involved with the Women's Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school was founded as an alternative source of feminist education, and its ideologies were based on socialist feminism. The school was operated by a collective and classes were taught by volunteers. All collective members, students and teachers were women. Registration fees were kept low so that all women would be able to participate. In 1973, the collective developed a formal administrative structure. Committees were created to select courses, develop special projects and handle office work and finances. Classes were offered on anti-racism, auto mechanics, growing up female, international women's struggles, lesbianism, Marxism, older women and many other topics. The Women's School closed in 1992. It was the longest running women's school of its type in the United States.



Dates

  • Creation: 1971-1992

Creator

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is unrestricted.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use:

Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the University Archivist.

Historical Note

The Women's School (WS) was established in the Fall of 1971 by 20 women who were involved with the recently formed Women's Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The school was founded as an alternative source of feminist education, and its ideologies were based on socialist-feminism.  The school was operated by a collective, and classes were taught by volunteers. All collective members, students, and teachers were women. Classes were often team taught.  Registration fees were kept low so that all women would be able to participate.

In 1973, the collective developed a formal administrative structure.  Committees were created to select courses, develop special projects, and handle office work and finances.  The number of courses offered continued to grow, and classes on anti-racism, auto mechanics, growing up female, international women's struggles, lesbianism, Marxism, older women, Spanish, and many other topics were offered.

The Women's School closed in 1992.  It was the longest running women's school in the United States.

Extent

6.25 cubic feet (8 containers, 1 tube)

Language

English

System of Arrangement:

Organized into 3 series: 1. Administration; 2. Term Files; and 3. Related Material.

Physical Location

71/1-2, RS11/S2

Bibliography

  • History, 1977, 1978 (M23, Box 1, Folders 39-40)
Title
Finding aid for the Women's School (Cambridge, Mass.) Records
Author
Finding aid prepared by Deborah Richards
Date
July 1998
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Northeastern University Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Snell Library
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston MA 02115 US