CAWHC kicked off its new project with an inaugural program and a standing-room only crowd at the
Chicago History Museum. Over 160 attendees including historians, archivists, movement leaders, organizers,
activists, media professionals, oral interviewers, and many others, participate in a lively discussion about
the new project and unique aspects of Chicago's women's movement. Sara M. Evans, historian, and
Mary Jean Collins, activist, were featured speakers along with Elizabeth Myers, archivist, and Erin McCarthy,
oral historian. A reception, cosponsored by the Veteran Feminists of America, honored movement activists
included in Feminists Who Changed America 1963 - 1965. If you were there, we'd like to know what you thought.
The Project
"Documenting Women's Activism and Leadership in the Chicago Area, 1945-2000" will provide the first comprehensive survey of significant Chicago area personalities, issues, organizations, actions, institutions, legislative initiatives and cultural innovations that contributed to change during this exciting period in the city's history. CAWHC will serve as a central registry for information about resources and as a catalyst for projects undertaken by the community. For more
Basic Elements of the Project
The project will:
- Provide a fully-accessible, online database that will identify information and archival resources for the study of the women's activism in the Chicago area
- Conduct a survey of existing archival resources and encourage private individuals to donate historical papers to permanent repositories
- Conduct oral history interviews with significant movement personalities and those influenced by it
We Need Your Help!
The project embraces women's activism and feminism in all of its diversity and contradictions including advocates of equal rights, equal opportunity, women's liberation, social, radical, lesbian and liberal feminism, and it will take a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial approach to movement issues. It will also consider the work of women artists, theologians, and other cultural leaders who created a revolution in many areas of American life.
As a result we need your help identifying resources and gathering information. If you have materials to share, please fill out and submit one of the forms listed below.
- If you participated in women's movements fpr change and have experiences, information, contacts and/or archival materials that you would like to share please fill out and submit this form.
- If you are an archivist and have relevant resources in your repository, please fill out and
- If you are interested in helping with the project and have experience or skills that you think would be useful, please fill out and submit this form.
