Showing Collections: 1 - 13 of 13
Abortion Action Coalition records
Collection
Identifier: M021
Overview
The Abortion Action Coalition, a project of the Women's Educational Center (Cambridge, MA), was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1977 to oppose the Doyle-Flynn anti-abortion amendment, which proposed cutting state funding for abortions. The Coalition organized community activities and held discussion forums and educational meetings. The Coalition also worked with local unions and community groups to create a wider action network. Members spoke at demonstrations, on talk shows, and to...
Dates:
1970-1982
Boston Women's Pentagon Action (Cambridge, Mass.) collection
Collection
Identifier: M143
Overview
Boston Women's Pentagon Action was a local chapter of the Woman's Pentagon Action, a decentralized, national feminist organization focused on anti-military, environmental, and social activism. The Women's Pentagon Action was born out of a 1980 meeting of activist women in the Northeastern United States. Concerned with the threat of nuclear proliferation, the Women's Pentagon Action was formed to organize and lead protests advocating human rights and non-violence. In November of 1980, the...
Dates:
1980-1986
Greater Boston Chapter of the Older Women's League records
Collection
Identifier: M196
Overview
Per its mission shared with the National Older Women's League (OWL), the Greater Boston OWL was a voluntary membership organization that addresses social, economic, and political concerns of midlife and older women through advocacy, education and empowerment. The Older Women's League began as a national organization in 1980 following the White House Mini Conference on Aging in Des Moines, Iowa. The Greater Boston OWL Chapter began with 15 women in the spring of 1982 as a part of the...
Dates:
circa 1983-2010; Majority of material found within 2000-2008
Kelley Ready papers
Collection
Identifier: M088
Overview
Kelley Ready is a human rights activist and anthropology professor. She was especially active in the organization Friends of Committee of Mothers and Relatives of Political Prisoners, Disappeared and Assassinated of El Salvador, Monsignor "Oscar Arnulfo Romero" (CoMadres). This group supports the parent organization CoMadres by writing letters, holding meetings and events to make their struggles known, and providing financial support. The main organization was founded in December 1977 by El...
Dates:
1981-1994; Majority of material found within 1985-1989
Massachusetts Coalition of Battered Women's Service Groups collection
Collection
Identifier: M138
Overview
During the winter of 1978, a group of feminists gathered to discuss forming an organization to support battered women and to combat domestic violence in Massachusetts. The discussion resulted in the formation of the Massachusetts Coalition of Battered Women's Service Groups, a statewide organization that would both finance local organizations and address the needs of battered women across Massachusetts. In its 20 years of activity, the coalition organized fundraising efforts, political...
Dates:
1979-1981
Mobilization for Survival: Feminist Task Force records
Collection
Identifier: M140
Overview
In 1977, a group of activists formed the Boston chapter of Mobilization for Survival, an organization dedicated to nuclear disarmament and peace. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Mobilization for Survival rallied against a variety of anti-military and anti-nuclear causes such as the American presence in Central America and nuclear proliferation. In 1985, a group of feminists in the Boston chapter met to create a Feminist Task Force within the organization to address women's issues...
Dates:
1985-1987
Reproductive Rights National Network records
Collection
Identifier: M137
Overview
The Reproductive Rights National Network was an umbrella organization that connected about 50 feminist affiliates between 1978 and 1984, when it dissolved due to lack of funding. While the national organization collapsed, the Boston affiliate survived until 1995. The Network developed out of a socialist project in Chicago during the late 1970s, when activists took a proactive approach to the abortion debate in the wake of Roe v. Wade. In 1978, Reproductive Rights National Network formed to...
Dates:
1969-1995; Majority of material found within 1980-1995
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...
Dates:
1975-1983; Majority of material found within 1977-1981
Sondra Gayle Stein papers
Collection
Identifier: M093
Overview
Sondra Gayle Stein was a member of several organizations in Boston, Massachusetts that addressed women's rights and concerns, including the Abortion Action Coalition and the Coalition for Women's Safety. The Abortion Action Coalition began in 1977 to oppose the Doyle-Flynn anti-abortion amendment, which would have cut state funding for abortions. The Abortion Action Coalition also focused on issues of birth control, maternity leave, teen pregnancy, and child care. The Abortion Action...
Dates:
1977-1990
The Boston Area Feminist Coalition records
Collection
Identifier: M121
Overview
The Boston Area Feminist Coalition (BAFC) was founded in the summer of 1981 when local feminists became frustrated with the fragmentation they were witnessing in the Women's Movement. The founders of the Feminist Coalition felt that even though many local groups were working toward the same goals, they operated too independently of one another to be successful. BAFC founders, Nancy Wheeler, Diane Raymond, Sara Freedman and Pam Chamberlain, wanted to provide a forum for these separate groups...
Dates:
1981-1983
The Second Wave: A Magazine of the New Feminism records
Collection
Identifier: M019
Overview
The Second Wave: A Magazine for the New Feminism was produced by the Boston-based organization Female Liberation. The magazine was produced solely by women for a female readership. In February 1974, Female Liberation disbanded as a result of conflicts between members who belonged to the Socialist Workers Party and the majority who did not. The Second Wave was the only Female Liberation publication to continue after the parent organization dissolved. The Second Wave was based on ideological...
Dates:
1971-1984
Women Against Violence Against Women records
Collection
Identifier: M025
Overview
The Boston chapter of Women Against Violence Against Women was founded in 1977, a year after the national organization was founded in Los Angeles by anti-pornography activist Marcia Womongold. The Boston chapter was formed in response to a billboard advertisement for "Black and Blue" by the Rolling Stones. Women Against Violence Against Women protested the glorification and acceptance of violence against women as promoted by the film and recording industries. In 1978, the Boston chapter...
Dates:
1972-1985
Women's Action Coalition (Boston, Mass.) records
Collection
Identifier: M060
Overview
The Women's Action Coalition was a national organization of women committed to taking direct action on issues related to the rights of women. Members saw visible, public resistance as a means to achieve economic parity and representation for women; an end to sexism, homophobia, racism, religious prejudice, and violence against women; and recognition of women's rights to health care, child care, housing, and reproductive freedom. The Women's Action Coalition chapter in Boston held its first...
Dates:
1992-1997