Activist Women's Voices Explained

Activist Women's Voices
Housed At:Mina Rees Library, CUNY Graduate Center

The Activist Women's Voices collection is an oral history project of 35 women activists who worked in community-based organizations in the New York City area. The project covers the period from 1995 to 2000 and was a project of The City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center's Women's Studies Program and Center for the Study of Women. The digitized collection is made up of women from a diverse cross-section of cultural and ethnic social service organizations including activists from Arab-American, Haitian, Hispanic, African-American, and Asian-American communities. It is held at the Mina Rees Library, within the Graduate Center's B. Altman and Company Building.[1] [2]

History

The project began in 1995 under the aegis of the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center's Women's Studies Program and Center for the Study of Women and Society, initially as part of a graduate class "Women, Community, and Public Voice",[3] in which Women's Studies Director Joyce Gelb and Deputy Director Patricia Laurence curated a list of oral history subjects: New York City-based women who were leaders in their communities.[4] [5] The specific focus was on unheralded women from a diverse cross-section of the five boroughs of New York.[6] Although the project was based in the Women's Studies Program, the subjects were not specifically working in organizations that specifically supporting women. The focus was on the women leaders themselves. The last interviews were completed in 1998.

The scope of the project included compiling a list of oral history projects[7] as well as a now-defunct searchable database of oral history collections.[8] [9]

Methods

Graduate students from different concentrations within CUNY Graduate Center completed weekly internships as part of their degree programs, working at the organization that was the focus of the oral history project. Through this process they identified and interviewed leaders in the organization in a fieldwork environment within the metropolitan area of New York City. After receiving training on conducting oral history interviews, the graduate students went into the field and interviewed their subjects.[10]

The main focus of the interviews was on biographical experiences that shaped their community-based work, and on challenges, achievements, motivations, and methodologies used to effect changes within their communities. The project was categorized into a subject map.[11]

Processing

In 2011, a finding aid was completed. In 2013, digitization of the 77 audio cassettes and 2,300 pages of interview transcripts was completed, with clips of some of the oral histories made available online in 2014.[12] There were an additional 80+ press articles on subjects as well as various ephemera included in the collection. Under the guidance of the Chief Librarian, a Reference Librarian, and a Digital Services Librarian, two Special Collections Interns and a Special Collections Volunteer worked on the digitization team portion of the project.[13]

Funding

The Activist Women's Voices oral history project was funded by the following organizations:

Collection

The project included 26 separate activists and three organizations, who each had individual interview subjects. The total number of interviews digitized was 35. The timeframe of the project was 1995–2000. Subject areas are listed below in parentheses. The collection is unique in the diversity of subjects of the oral history interviews and the wide range of subjects covered.

Activists

Executive Director, Weeksville Society (historic museum for the preservation of African-American culture and heritage)[14]

Organizations

Further reading

External links

40.7485°N -73.9836°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Research Projects: The Activist Women's Voices Oral History Project and Archive. CUNY Graduate Center. September 26, 2015.
  2. Book: Gelb. Joyce. Laurence. Patricia Ondek. Activist Women's Voices Oral History Archives. 1995. 55492073.
  3. An Educational Exchange: Teaching Oral History on the Post-Secondary Level. Fong. Timothy P.. Kahn. Ava F.. Oral History Review. Summer–Fall 1998. 25. 1–2 . 9–34. September 30, 2015. 0094-0798. 193192588. 10.1093/ohr/25.1.9.
  4. Web site: Chronicle: Lecture by Professor Joyce Gelb. Lviv Center. September 30, 2015. September 28, 2010.
  5. Book: Nelson. Emmanuel S.. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature. 2005. Greenwood Press. Westport, CT. 978-0-313-33059-9. 1, 308. registration. activist women's voices.. September 30, 2015. 60839325.
  6. Book: Berkin. Carol. Crocco. Margaret. Winslow. Barbara. Clio in the Classroom A Guide for Teaching U.S. Women's History. 2009. Oxford University Press. Oxford. 978-0-199-71776-7. 264. September 30, 2015. 311040200.
  7. Web site: Smith. Kai Alexis. Wayback Links: Women's Oral History Collection Links. Activist Women's Voices, The Graduate Center Library, CUNY: Special Collections. September 26, 2015. March 27, 2013.
  8. Web site: Activist Women's Voices: Consortium. Activist Women's Voices, The Graduate Center Library, CUNY: Special Collections. September 26, 2015. March 2013.
  9. Web site: The Office of the Gender and Women's Studies Librarian. Oral Women's History in the United States. University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. September 26, 2015.
  10. Book: Armitage. Sue. Ritchie. Donald A.. The Oxford Handbook of Oral History. 2011. Oxford University Press. New York. 978-0-195-33955-0. 180–181. https://books.google.com/books?id=gNkL6T8Zx4cC&dq=activist+women%27s+voices&pg=PA180. September 26, 2015. 827753920. The Stages of Women's Oral History.
  11. Web site: Smith. Kai Alexis. Wayback: Subject Map. Activist Women's Voices, The Graduate Center Library, CUNY: Special Collections. September 26, 2015. March 27, 2013.
  12. Book: Handis. Michael W.. Activist Women's Voices Oral History Collection, 1995-2000, Finding Aid (Archives and Special Collections. Paper 2.). May 2011. Mina Rees Library, Graduate Center Library, CUNY. New York, NY. September 26, 2015. 55492073.
  13. Web site: Smith-Cruz. Shawn(ta). April Status Update. Activist Women's Voices, The Graduate Center Library, CUNY: Special Collections. September 26, 2015. April 30, 2013.
  14. Book: Reaven. Marci. Zeitlin. Steven J.. Hidden New York A Guide to Places That Matter.. 2006. Rivergate Books, an imprint of Rutgers University Press. New Brunswick, N.J.. 978-0-813-54124-2. 211; 365. https://books.google.com/books?id=-l0HmH9SPjoC&dq=%22activist+women%27s+voices%22&pg=PA365. September 26, 2015. Art and Music, City Style; Richmond Barthé's Frieze at Kingsborough Houses. 191953101.

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