Student Life: Women's Center Records, 1971-2002
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
The Women's Resource Center was chartered by the Student Senate in February of 1971 as an umbrella organization to bring together groups and committees on campus concerned with women. The Women's Resource Center is governed by a policy board of five students and three faculty members and a programming board with open membership. Funding comes from the Student Activities Fee. The Center has been located at 124 Woodland Street since March 8, 1998.
The Women's Resource Center operates as a clearinghouse of information on women's concerns on the campus, in the community, and at the national level. It purchases books, subscribes to magazines, and maintains a vertical file of pamphlets, newsletters, and newspapers. The Center keeps track of and posts notices for women's events and provides a place for women to meet in discussion groups. In addition, the Center sponsors and co-sponsors workshops, conferences, seminars, lectures, and film series. The Center also provides a place for students to study and socialize. Future plans include outreach to other campus organizations. According to the group’s 1997 constitution, the goal of the Center is “to serve as a central location for anyone interested in gender issues and concerns pertaining to women. The Center aims to be a source for information, education, support and outreach for the Oberlin College community.”
Sources Consulted
“Women’s Resource Center to Open to the Campus,” by Margo Lipschultz, The Oberlin Review, February 27, 1998.
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative Information
Records of the Women's Center date from 1972 to 1987 and document the Center's role as an umbrella organization and clearinghouse for women and women's organizations on the Oberlin College campus. A charter and statement of purpose describe the structure and functions of the Center, while daily activities are recorded at a minimal level in minutes, correspondence, and financial records dating from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Logbooks serve more as a log of women students' thoughts and feelings than as a record of activities. Other files document campus events for women, attitudes toward rape and sexual harassment, activities of the ERA Action Team, and the written creative efforts of the Women's Center members. These records are divided into eight series:
1. Organizational and Procedural Documents
2. Minutes
3. Correspondence
4. Financial Records
5. Logbooks
6. Campus Events
7. Surveys and Questionnaires
8. General File
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Organizational and Procedural Documents, 1971, 1988, 2002 (1f)
Includes the charter, constitution, statement of purpose, and a procedural document for operating the Resource Library. Arranged chronologically.
Series 2. Minutes, 1974-76, 1980-84 (2f)
Consists of handwritten notes, many not dated, of discussion at meetings of the Women's Center. Topics include activities, events, and allocation of funds. Arranged chronologically.
Series 3. Correspondence, 1970, 1975-77, 1981, 1984, 1987 (1f)
Contains non-personal letters distributed to notify people of upcoming meetings and events and memoranda to and from administrative staff of Oberlin College regarding Women’s Center activities and funding. Arranged chronologically.
Series 4. Financial Records, 1974-1975, 1978-1979 (1f)
Includes handwritten notes on income and expenditures and a chart comparing funding for the Women’s Center to that of other Student Activity Fee funded organizations. Arranged chronologically.
Series 5. Logbooks, 1976-1983 (4f)
Consists of spiral notebooks in which daily activities were occasionally recorded , but which primarily serves a s forum for students to write down whatever was on their minds. Arranged chronologically.
Series 6. Campus Events, 1973, 1975-76, 1980-81, n.d. (1f)
Contains flyers and programs for conferences, seminars, workshops, rallies, and other events for which the Women’s Center was sponsor or co-sponsor. Arranged chronologically.
Series 7. Surveys and Questionnaires, 1976, 1985 (4f)
Includes a list of questions asked and summary data of a questionnaire on rape; completed survey forms on the subject of sexual harassment, along with some handwritten notes that begin to summarize the data. Arranged chronologically.
Series 8. General File, 1972, 1976, 1981, 1986 (6f)
Consists of a variety of records that document activities generated by or closely associated with the Women’s Center, including lists of participants and a daily activities log of the Campus ERA Action Team; evaluations of an EXCO course in which students completed a practicum at a battered women’s shelter; and original drawings, poetry, and other writings. Arranged chronologically.
INVENTORY
Series 1. Organizational and Procedural Documents
Box 1
Organizational and Procedural Documents, 1971, 1988, 2002
Series 2. Minutes
Box 1 (cont.)
Minutes, 1974-76
Minutes, 1980-84
Series 3. Correspondence
Box 1 (cont.)
Correspondence, 1970, 1975-77, 1981, 1984, 1987
Series 4. Financial Records
Box 1 (cont.)
Financial Records, 1974-75, 1978-79
Series 5. Logbooks
Box 1 (cont.)
Logbooks, 1976-81 (3f)
Edited Logbook, 1977-83
Series 6. Campus Events
Box 2
Campus Events, 1973, 1975-76, 1980-81, n.d.
Series 7. Surveys and Questionnaires
Box 2 (cont.)
Rape Questionnaire, May 1976
Sexual harassment, c.1985 (3f)
Series 8. General Files
Box 2 (cont.)
ERA Action Team, 1981
EXCO Course Evaluations, 1986
“Pleiades” Contributions, n.d.
“Separation in the Women’s Center -- An Anthropological Study, “ 1981
“Significant Dates in the History of Ohio Women,” c. 1976
“What the Review Wouldn’t Print,” 1972