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Somerville Women's Educational Center, Inc. records

 Collection
Identifier: M026

Overview

The Somerville Women's Educational Center (SWC) was founded in 1976 and incorporated the following year. It emerged from an idea of the planning group of the Somerville Women's Fair, and in the fall of 1976, 40 women met to form committees to organize the Center. Several groups and projects evolved out of the Center, including the Matching Services Project, the Mothers Group, and the Women's Chorus. One of SWC's largest projects was the Somerville Women Against Rape. A combination of factors, particularly the lack of stable financial backing, led to the Center's closing in 1983.



Dates

  • Creation: 1975-1983
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1977-1981

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 Somerville (Massachusetts) Women's Educational Center, Inc. was founded in 1976 and incorporated the following year.  It emerged from an idea of the planning group of the Somerville Women's Fair, and in the fall of 1976, 40 women meet to form committees to organize the Center. Several groups and projects evolved out of the Center, including the Matching Services Project, the Mothers Group, and the Women's Chorus.  One of SWC's largest projects was Somerville Women Against Rape. The decisions to create these entities were often the result of questionnaires that were given to all women who came into the center and were included in the newsletters.  In addition detailed phone logs were kept by staffers.  The results of these logs and questionnaires were constantly tabulated, in an on-going process to develop programs and activities. From 1977-1979, most of the decision-making was done at monthly general membership meetings.  In 1979 a much smaller Core Group was formed, which made policy decisions; the operational and program decisions of the Center continued to be made at the general meetings.  A combination of factors, particularly the lack of stable financial backing, led to Center closing in 1983.

Extent

2.25 cubic feet (7 containers)

Language

English

System of Arrangement:

Organized into 2 series: 1. Administration; and 2. Subject Files.

Physical Location

71/2

Bibliography

  • History of SWC [M26, Box 3, Folder 41]
  • Minutes [M26, Box 4, Folders 55-60]
Title
Finding aid for the Somerville Women's Educational Center, Inc. Records
Author
Finding aid prepared by Deborah A. 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