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COLLECTION Identifier: MC 575: T-97: T-125: Vt-1: Phon-7

Papers of Betty Friedan, 1933-1985

Overview

Papers of Betty Friedan, feminist, activist, and author.

Dates

  • Creation: 1933-1985

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. During the lifetimes of the Friedan children (Daniel, Emily, and Jonathan), all readers must sign a special permission form.

Some folders in Series III (#415-425, 427-429, 431-434, 457, 571-576, 623a-625, 736-738b, 741-752) are unavailable for research while being digitized.

Series I. #63a-65, 113-218, 221at-236, and 246 are closed until January 1, 2029; 219a-220 and 237-245 are closed until January 1, 2040.

Series II. #297a-298c are closed until January 1, 2029.

Series III. Researchers must sign a special form for access to #411, 425, 437, 445, 455, 457, 460, 741-752, 758-765, 787-800, 933, 951-953, 958, 968, 977, 979, and 988 until 80 years from the date of the most recent document in the respective folder. #716-735 are closed for 80 years from the date of the most recent document in the respective folder.

Series IV. Researchers must sign a special form for access to #1106 and 1295 until 80 years from the date of the most recent document in the respective folder.

Series VI. #1611-1614, 1617-1620, and 1622-1626 (membership records) are closed for 50 years in accordance with the Library's agreement with the National Organization for Women (NOW); #1674b is closed until January 1, 2035; #1710-1719, 1721-1722, 1724-1728 and 1730 are restricted in accordance with the Library's agreement with the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC); researchers must sign a special form for access to #1730 until 80 years from the date of the most recent document in the respective folder.

As of 2014, NARAL-related folders in Series VI are no longer restricted.

As of November 2015, access to folders #1473-1546, 1548-1571, 1573-1587, 1589-1605, 1607-1631, 1633, 1635-1637, 1650-1655, 1657-1660, and 1669 no longer requires written permission from the National Organization for Women.

As of June 2017, access to folders #1638-1642, 1644-1646, and 1649 no longer requires written permission from NOW-NYC.

Series VII. Researchers must sign a special form for access to #1787 until 80 years from the date of the most recent document in the respective folder.

Series VIII. #2123f is closed until January 1, 2029.

An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the papers created by Betty Friedan is held by her heirs. Permission to publish must be obtained from Friedan's literary executor. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

78.35 linear feet (167 file boxes, 3 folio boxes, 3 folio+ boxes, 1 oversize box) plus 4 folio+ folders, 2 supersize folders, 52 photograph folders, 4 folio photograph folders, 2 folio+ photograph folders, 2 negative folders, 2 slide folders, 68 audiotapes, 6 videotapes, 2 phonograph records, 2 objects, 1 reel of microfilm (M-62)

These papers of Betty Friedan were previously designated by an accession number range: "71-62--81-M23." They include correspondence, financial and legal documents, research notes and drafts of writings, teaching notes, organizational records, photographs, audiovisual material, and memorabilia. Most of the material dates from the 1950s to the 1970s. The papers arrived in no order; most documents were not in folders. They were roughly sorted and screened so they could be made available for research use. Folder titles were created by the archivist. In 2009, the archivist reboxed the collection, added more description to folder titles and scope and content notes, and intellectually rearranged some folders; the physical arrangement was retained. Basic folder numbers remain the same as in "71-62--81-M23," but for preservation purposes, many overly-full folders have been divided, adding alphabetical designations to the previously assigned numbers (e.g., #149a-149b). File units beginning with #2014 were not previously described. Two later sets of Friedan's papers (MC 576) and (MC 577) are also available at the Schlesinger Library. Cross-references are given below only when deemed essential; they are not indicative of the extensive overlap among all three collections.

Series I, PERSONAL PAPERS, 1933-1984 (#1-246, 547, 2136-2137, Mem.1, Mem.2), includes photographs; resumes; clippings and articles about Friedan; correspondence with family and friends; legal papers; and professional and personal financial material. The majority of the series is CLOSED until 2029, except for #1-62 and 66-112, containing photographs, clippings, awards, etc.

Photographs (#1-59f+, 2136-2137) include snapshots as well as professionally-taken images: Friedan, both portraits and in small groups (#1-25), the Friedan family (#26-45), and photographs (some not used) taken to illustrate Friedan's published articles (#47-52). Biographical information (#61-112c, Mem.1, Mem.2) includes resumes, awards (including honorary degrees), autobiographies and diary-type writings, FBI files, buttons and other memorabilia, and clippings. Reviews of Friedan's books (Series III: #668-670, 1035-1036) include additional press coverage.

Personal correspondence and other personal papers (#113-152) contains letters from family members and friends, and includes the Goldstein family (#113-117): Miriam Goldstein Obendorf (Friedan's mother), Amy Goldstein Adams (Friedan's sister), Harry Goldstein (Freidan's father), and Betty Jolkovsky (Friedan's aunt); letters concerning the Friedan family (#118-130) and correspondence between them; as well as some personal papers of Carl Friedan; financial material and memorabilia; and the school records of the Friedan children. There is also correspondence from classmates and friends (#131-152). Holiday cards with no messages were discarded; lists of the senders can be found in folders along with inscribed cards.

Legal papers (#154-166) include material relating to Betty and Carl Friedan's 1969 divorce. Professional financial papers (#167-178, 183) include royalty statements, lecture earning statements, etc. Some folders include correspondence and contracts with lecture agencies. Personal financial papers (#179-182, 184-218) include bills, canceled checks, bank statements, tax returns, insurance premiums, correspondence regarding tuition, medical appointments and costs, vacation house rentals, etc. Some of this material is also related to her divorce. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Friedan attended a number of psychological institutes and workshops, including Esalen, the Tahoe Institute, and Oasis: Midwest Center for Human Potential. She considered writing a book about her experiences at some of these places, and often interviewed other participants. Folders on these topics (#219a-245, 547) may include brochures, correspondence and interviews with group members, and notes.

Series II, SCHOOL, COLLEGE, AND EARLY CAREER, 1935-1978 (#247v-376, 520, 2014), includes course notes, exams, term papers; poems, short stories, and articles written while a student; writings from Friedan's early career as journalist; and records and notes re: the Community Resources Pool, a school enrichment program in Rockland County, New York.

Peoria High School material (#247v-251) includes some early autobiographical writing. Smith College material (#253-355, 257-318at) includes course notes, exams, term papers, syllabi, etc. These folders are arranged with grades, etc., first, followed by courses listed alphabetically. Of note is writing done at a Highlander Folk School writing workshop in the summer of 1941. For Friedan's 1942 Smith College yearbook, see MC 577. There is also material from Friedan's 1942 summer job at the Psychiatric Institute of Grassland Hospital, in Valhalla, New York (#319); Rorschach tests (#297) are from patients.

Friedan's early writing career was as a labor journalist (#328-345b, 520, 2014). She wrote for the Federated Press news service from 1943 to 1946, and then worked for the newspaper of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, the UE News, from 1946 until 1952. Issues of UE News (#337f+-345af+) contain frequent contributions by Friedan (often unattributed or signed "B.G."). She also wrote for other publications under pen names (see #345bf).

In 1956, the Friedans moved from Queens to the suburbs of Rockland County, New York. In 1958, Friedan helped organize the Intellectual Resources Pool, a school enrichment program which offered extracurricular courses taught by local experts; she was the chair until 1964. In 1960 the organization changed its name to the Community Resources Pool. Included are clippings, grant applications, correspondence, and program promotional material (#346-376).

Series III, WRITING, 1951-1985 (#377a-519, 521-980, 982-1066, 1068-1082, 1177-1178, 1237-1238, 1254a-1260, 1281, 1302, 1656, 2009o, 2015-2041, M-62), includes material related to Friedan's journalistic writings after her work as a labor journalist, as well as her later feminist books and articles. The series begins with articles on urban and suburban ways of living and ends with drafts of her third book, The Second Stage. Folders may include handwritten and typescript notes and drafts, galleys, page proofs and tearsheets, background printed material, correspondence with publishers and readers, and reviews.

Pre-Feminine Mystique writing (#377a-489, 549a-b, 2015, M-62) includes Friedan's articles written between 1951 and 1963. The Friedans lived in Parkway Village, a housing complex in Queens built for United Nations personnel and United States veterans, from 1950 to 1956. Issues of its newsletter, the Parkway Villager, edited by Friedan, as well as an article about its cultural diversity, are included (#380-384). The original responses to the 15th reunion questionnaires from the Smith College Class of 1942 are also here; they are also available on microfilm (M-62). Several articles relating to the questionnaire, as well as one written about Smith College students in 1959, deal with many of the issues Friedan raised in The Feminine Mystique. Undated manuscripts and story outlines are in #463-489.

Papers re: The Feminine Mystique (#490-519, 521-546, 548, 550-737, 1057, 1065, 2016-2034), published in 1963, include research notes and clippings, handwritten and typescript drafts (some with editor's comments), correspondence, proofs, reader response letters, etc. Friedan's notes on her research, some dating from 1957, interviews with women, etc., are in #490-551 and #554-570. Most notes are handwritten; some folders include printed background material. Reader responses to the book are arranged chronologically; some have Friedan's own folder titles in quotation marks. Original reader response letters are closed for 80 years; redacted copies may be used for research. Some reader responses included here are to excerpts or treatments of The Feminine Mystique published in popular magazines like McCall's and TV Guide. See also MC 576 (#216) for more reader responses from the 1970s. Material relating to the 10th anniversary edition of the book, published with a new introduction and postscript, is also included (#672v-678, 1057).

Material for "Jane Crow, the Unfinished Revolution" (#547, 813-905, 1071, 2035-2040) relates to Friedan's unfinished book of this proposed title, which was meant to address the plight of professional women, and the role of government in encouraging women to have paid careers. It is connected to work done by Friedan for a 1964 special issue of Ladies' Home Journal, "Woman: The Fourth Dimension" (#766-797). Friedan interviewed working women in Washington, D.C., and around the country, to find out their working conditions, views on women's work equality, etc. She also talked to men who worked in government, particularly in roles that involved helping women gain employment, and to non-profit organizations that advocated for professional and working women. Folders include background material, clippings, notes, handwritten and typescript drafts, correspondence, and interviews conducted between ca.1963 and 1966.

It Changed My Life, Friedan's 1976 book of her collected essays on the women's movement, is documented in #990-1037. She wrote new introductions for all the pieces, which were generally speeches or previously published articles. See also #162 for correspondence with Random House. Folders may include notes, handwritten and typescript drafts, correspondence, clippings, proofs, etc.

Other writings in this series include The Feminine Mystique excerpts published in McCall's and TV Guide, other articles about working women, and "Betty Friedan's Notebook" (#934-953), a series of columns written for McCall's. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Friedan took several trips around the world (including to India, Iran, Colombia, Eastern and Northern Europe) to attend conferences and report on women's issues. Writings that resulted from these trips are in this series, including an article about Indira Gandhi. Many articles are about specific conferences and political conventions, which Friedan began to report on in 1968. Background and other material about some of these conventions and conferences can also be found in Series IV. Articles and interviews from the 1970s show Friedan's growing frustration with women's liberation and its accomplishments. Early drafts of The Second Stage are at the end of the series (#1051-1052).

Series IV, LECTURES, 1942-1980 (#1067, 1083-1176, 1179-1236, 1239-1253, 1261-1280, 1282-1301, 1303-1317, 1387, 2042-2044), includes itineraries, correspondence, programs, fliers, clippings, etc., relating to Friedan's talks on radio and television as well as her speeches and lectures at conferences. Audiotapes of some of Friedan's speeches are also included. The series is arranged with general correspondence filed first, followed by correspondence filed chronologically by lecture.

Folders of correspondence, arrangements, and itineraries (#1083-1134) document Friedan's lecture schedule, and include general correspondence, most of it with several lecture bureaus. Also included are a few calendars and appointment books; many more of these can be found in MC 576 and MC 577. This section is mainly comprised of incoming letters; some folders have carbons of outgoing letters as well. Folders are arranged chronologically.

Lectures, conferences, and TV and radio talks (#1067, 1135-1176, 1179-1236, 1239-1253, 1261-1280, 1282-1301, 1303-1317, 1387, 2042-2044), are documented by additional correspondence about Friedan's appearances and lecture schedule, generally organized by event. While general files containing correspondence, arrangements, background material on many conferences, conventions, and events are included in this series, Friedan's writings on those events are listed in Series III. Friedan covered the 1968 U.S. presidential conventions as a member of the press, and subsequently wrote an article for Mademoiselle. She attended the 1972 Democratic convention as a delegate for Shirley Chisholm. During the 1976 presidential campaign, Friedan followed the candidates' wives to the conventions and afterwards as a correspondent for Newsday. Sometimes her trips did not result in published articles; she attended the 1974 World Population Conference in Bucharest with the idea of writing an article, but failed to find an interested publication. She covered the 1975 International Woman's Year conference in Mexico City for New York magazine. Titles appearing in quotation marks are generally conferences or titles of television shows. The few speech transcripts are noted after the event listing and date.

Series V, RESEARCH AND TEACHING, 1960-1979 (#1318-1377), includes material relating to courses Friedan taught, workshops she led, and research she undertook. Course material includes correspondence with administrators and students, syllabi, book lists, lecture notes, and some audiotapes of lectures. Also included are grant applications and related correspondence, many concerning the beginnings of Friedan's research for The Fountain of Age.

Series VI, ORGANIZATIONS, ASSOCIATIONS, AND COMMISSIONS, 1943-1980 (#1378-1386, 1388-1655, 1657-1780, 2045), includes minutes, reports, membership cards, correspondence, and program and printed material from groups with which Friedan was involved, in both large and small ways. Large sections of the series involve women's organizations of which she was a founding member: the First Women's Bank in New York City, the National Association to Repeal Abortion Laws (NARAL), the National Organization for Women (NOW), NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (NOW LDEF), and the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC). Several of these organizations experienced name changes; after 1973, NARAL changed its name to the National Abortion Rights Action League, keeping its acronym. A significant amount of material is related to an Economic Think Tank for Women, which Friedan was involved in trying to establish in the early 1970s. It was affiliated with the Center for Policy Reseach, an organization associated with Friedan's friend, sociologist Amitai Etzioni. Some of the records from NOW and NWPC are restricted in accordance with the Library's respective agreements with each organization. The series is arranged alphabetically by organization.

National Organization for Women (NOW) (#1473-1655, 1657-1669, 2045) documentation includes Friedan's files on the organization, which she served as President (1966-1970). Folders are arranged by type of material: correspondence (#1473-1536c, filed alphabetically by major correspondent and then chronologically); founding documents (#1537-1549, 1557); general documents (#1550-1609, 1647-1648, 1650-1655, 1657-1660, 1662, including reports, minutes, etc., filed chronologically); membership files (#1610-1626); chapter information and correspondence (#1627-1646, 1649, 1661); and clippings (#1663-1668). Folders of general correspondence contain a mixture of letters from NOW members, non-members writing for more information re: NOW, and requests to interview Friedan re: NOW. These folders may include copies of letters between other NOW officers (not Friedan) as well as general NOW correspondence with officers and membership. See also #834-837 for Friedan's notes from early NOW meetings.

NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (NOW LDEF) (#1670-1706) documents include memos and correspondence discussing cases to take, projects to pursue, finances, etc. Folders may include agendas, minutes, reports, memos, and correspondence with board members, unless otherwise noted. Folders are arranged chronologically.

Series VII, GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1942-1981 (#981, 1781-1987, 2046-2053), includes political and literary invitations; Friedan's correspondence with the public, literary agents, authors, and publishers; and miscellaneous notes, address lists, and telephone numbers. The bulk of the general correspondence (#1781-1931) includes fan mail, invitations to lecture, notices of and invitations to political events, notes from friends and other feminists, requests for book blurbs, etc. Letters are primarily incoming, but some folders contain replies or inquiries from Friedan or her secretaries. Correspondence is arranged chronologically. The end of the series includes miscellaneous social invitations, address lists and notes.

Editorial correspondence (#1932-1950, 2053) includes correspondence with Friedan's agents and publishers. Folders may include requests to review or write books, contracts, and rejection letters. See also Series III.

Series VIII, AUDIOVISUAL, PRINTED MATERIAL, OVERSIZED, AND MEMORABILIA, 1949-1980 (#1988at-1998at, 1999vt-2004vt, 2005ph-2006ph, 2007f-2008o, 2010-2013f, 2054-2122, 2123f-2127f, 2128f+-2129f+, 2130o-2131o, 2132+, 2133m-2135m) includes audiotapes, videotapes, and phonograph records that were not listed in the previous series. Audiovisual material described here will be more fully cataloged separately as well. Also included are folders of clippings and printed material that were kept by Friedan as subject files or were removed from the above series. Printed material is arranged alphabetically by topic. Some of this material may have been used by Friedan as book or article research. Much of it contains her marginalia or notes. Oversized material and memorabilia listed in this series contains only "catch-all" folders of individual items removed from folders listed in the series above; intact entire folders of oversized material are listed and described in their appropriate series, above.

Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be cataloged in VIA, Harvard University's Visual Information Access database. Others, referred to as "uncataloged" photographs, are not of sufficient research interest to warrant cataloging and are simply treated as part of the documents they accompany; they are marked on the back with an asterisk in square brackets [*].

Audiovisual material has been cataloged separately with more detailed description, see: Audio collection of Betty Friedan, 1963-2007 (T-97, T-125, Phon-7), and Video collection of Betty Friedan, ca.1970-2006 (Vt-1, DVD-34).

BIOGRAPHY

Betty Friedan was born Bettye Goldstein on February 4, 1921, in Peoria, Illinois, the daughter of Harry and Miriam (Horwitz) Goldstein. She attended Peoria public schools and graduated summa cum laude from Smith College in 1942. She continued her studies as a University fellow in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley (1943). In June 1947 she married Carl Friedan, an advertising executive; they had three children (Daniel, Jonathan, and Emily) and were divorced in May 1969.

Friedan was a labor and freelance journalist in the 1940s. In the 1950s she wrote articles for a variety of popular and women's magazines. The design of a reunion questionnaire for her Smith College 15th class reunion (1957) gave her insights into the lives of her contemporaries, and provided data for her first and best-known book, The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963. Her analysis of women's role and status fueled the controversy over women's proper place in society and had a dramatic impact on women in the United States and abroad. Friedan quickly became the leading advocate for change in the status of women and was inundated with requests to lecture and to write. She appeared frequently as a keynote speaker at conferences, and on radio and television.

Friedan's second book, It Changed My Life (1976), was a collection of her essays on the women's movement. The Second Stage (1981) suggested a new direction for women's activism toward embracing family, motherhood, sexuality, etc., and advocated working with men to restructure institutions. The Fountain of Age (1993) was the product of over a decade of research related to aging, how it affects men and women differently, and American society's attitudes toward age. Beyond Gender: The New Politics of Work and Family (1997) was the result of several symposia Friedan led in an attempt to reimagine public policy responses to unresolved women's issues. Friedan published an autobiography, My Life So Far, in 2000.

In 1966, Friedan helped found the National Organization for Women (NOW), a civil rights organization for women. She served as its first president (1966-1970). She was an organizer of the Women's Strike for Equality (1970), a convenor of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC, 1971), an organizer and director of the First Women's Bank (New York), and vice-president of the National Association to Repeal Abortion Laws (NARAL, 1970-1973). In the late 1970s and 1980s Friedan was active in several Jewish organizations, primarily the American Jewish Congress. During the 1980s she was involved in local politics, both in New York City, and in Sag Harbor, New York, where she had a second home.

In addition to her active career as a lecturer, commentator, and author, Friedan taught classes at a variety of universities beginning in the 1970s. While her early classes focused on women's experiences and issues, by the 1990s she had broadened her focus and taught classes in management and leadership style at several business schools. She held research fellowships at Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of Southern California (USC), and the Smithsonian's Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars. She directed a think tank on new dimensions in feminist thought at USC (1987-1993), and her course on "Women, Men and Media" developed into an ongoing national media monitoring project supported by grants from the Gannett Foundation, the Times Mirror Foundation, and others.

Friedan served on advisory boards and boards of directors of a large number of organizations, including NOW LDEF and the Girl Scouts. She received honorary degrees from numerous universities and colleges. Friedan died on February 4, 2006, her 85th birthday, in Washington, D.C.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in eight series:

  1. Series I. Personal papers, 1933-1984 (#1-246, 547, 2136-2137, Mem.1, Mem.2)
  2. Series II. School, college, and early career, 1935-1978 (#247v-376, 520, 2014)
  3. Series III. Writing, 1951-1985 (#377a-519, 521-980, 982-1066, 1068-1082, 1177-1178, 1237-1238, 1254a-1260, 1281, 1302, 1656, 2009o, 2015-2041, M-62)
  4. Series IV. Lectures, 1942-1980 (#1067, 1083-1176, 1179-1236, 1239-1253, 1261-1280, 1282-1301, 1303-1317, 1387, 2042-2044)
  5. Series V. Research and teaching, 1960-1979 (#1318-1377)
  6. Series VI. Organizations, associations, and commissions, 1943-1980 (#1378-1386, 1388-1655, 1657-1780, 2045)
  7. Series VII. General correspondence, 1942-1981 (#981, 1781-1987, 2046-2053)
  8. Series VIII. Audiovisual, printed material, oversized, and memorabilia, 1949-1980 (#1988at-1998at, 1999vt-2004vt, 2005ph-2006ph, 2007f-2008o, 2010-2013f, 2054-2122, 2123f-2127f, 2128f+-2129f+, 2130o-2131o, 2132+, 2133m-2135m)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 71-62, 76-225, 76-313, 77-M105, 78-M18, 79-M66, 80-M250, 81-M23

These papers were purchased from Betty Friedan by the Schlesinger Library in May 1971.

Related Material:

There is additional material at the Schlesinger Library; see Additional papers of Betty Friedan, 1937-1993 (MC 576), and Additional papers of Betty Friedan, 1941-2006 (MC 577).

Audiovisual material has been cataloged separately with more detailed description, see: Audio collection of Betty Friedan, 1963-2007 (T-97, T-125, Phon-7), and Video collection of Betty Friedan, ca.1970-2006 (Vt-1, DVD-34).

CONTAINER LIST

  1. Folders 1-59f+, 2136-2137: FILED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
  2. Box 1: 60-69, 71-75
  3. Box 2: 76-82, 86-87, 92, 110-111, 113-117
  4. Box 3: 118-128
  5. Box 4: 129-138
  6. Box 5: 139-147a
  7. Box 6: 147b-151b
  8. Box 7: 152-161
  9. Box 8: 162-170
  10. Box 9: 171-182
  11. Box 10: 183-191b
  12. Box 11: 192-204
  13. Box 12: 205-220, 236
  14. Box 13: 237-243a
  15. Box 14: 243b-248
  16. Box 15: 249-260a
  17. Box 16: 260b-282
  18. Box 17: 283-287b
  19. Box 18: 288-293
  20. Box 19: 294-298c
  21. Box 20: 299-307
  22. Box 21: 308-311, 313-314
  23. Box 22: 315, 319-328
  24. Box 23: 329-330, 332-336, 345b-348
  25. Box 24: 349-361
  26. Box 25: 362-371
  27. Box 26: 372-382
  28. Box 27: 383-390a
  29. Box 28: 390b-396
  30. Box 29: 397-406b
  31. Box 30: 407-414
  32. Box 31: 415-421a
  33. Box 32: 421b-429
  34. Box 33: 430-440
  35. Box 34: 441-449b
  36. Box 35: 450-459
  37. Box 36: 460-473
  38. Box 37: 474-489
  39. Box 38: 490-512
  40. Box 39: 513-521
  41. Box 40: 522a-529b
  42. Box 41: 530-542
  43. Box 42: 543-551
  44. Box 43: 552-569
  45. Box 44: 570-580
  46. Box 45: 581-588a
  47. Box 46: 588b-600
  48. Box 47: 601-616
  49. Box 48: 617-623b
  50. Box 49: 624a-628
  51. Box 50: 629-638
  52. Box 51: 639a-646
  53. Box 52: 647-657a
  54. Box 53: 657b-664
  55. Box 54: 665-673
  56. Box 55: 674-684
  57. Box 56: 685-696
  58. Box 57: 697-715
  59. Box 58: 716-722
  60. Box 59: 723-731
  61. Box 60: 732-745
  62. Box 61: 746-757
  63. Box 62: 758-771
  64. Box 63: 772-779
  65. Box 64: 780-793
  66. Box 65: 794-803
  67. Box 66: 804-812b
  68. Box 67: 813-818
  69. Box 68: 819-826a
  70. Box 69: 826b-828c
  71. Box 70: 828d-834
  72. Box 71: 835-840
  73. Box 72: 841a-844
  74. Box 73: 845a-851
  75. Box 74: 852-866
  76. Box 75: 867-873
  77. Box 76: 874-890
  78. Box 77: 891-904
  79. Box 78: 905-911c
  80. Box 79: 912a-914
  81. Box 80: 915-920a
  82. Box 81: 920b-932
  83. Box 82: 933-944
  84. Box 83: 945-956
  85. Box 84: 957-970
  86. Box 85: 971-983
  87. Box 86: 984-992
  88. Box 87: 993-1000
  89. Box 88: 1001-1017
  90. Box 89: 1018-1033a
  91. Box 90: 1033b-1034b
  92. Box 91: 1034c-1041
  93. Box 92: 1042-1051
  94. Box 93: 1052-1053, 1055-1058, 1061-1073
  95. Box 94: 1074-1084
  96. Box 95: 1085-1100
  97. Box 96: 1101-1111a
  98. Box 97: 1111b-1119
  99. Box 98: 1120-1131
  100. Box 99: 1132-1138, 1140-1144
  101. Box 100: 1145-1147, 1149-1157
  102. Box 101: 1158-1159, 1161-1171
  103. Box 102: 1172-1181
  104. Box 103: 1182-1193, 1196-1205
  105. Box 104: 1206-1208, 1210-1223
  106. Box 105: 1224-1230a
  107. Box 106: 1230b-1238
  108. Box 107: 1239-1241, 1243-1254a
  109. Box 108: 1254b-1262
  110. Box 109: 1263-1272
  111. Box 110: 1273-1275, 1277-1283b
  112. Box 111: 1284-1291, 1294-1295, 1297-1299
  113. Box 112: 1300-1305, 1308-1310, 1312-1321
  114. Box 113: 1329-1334, 1359-1372
  115. Box 114: 1373-1391a
  116. Box 115: 1391b-1403
  117. Box 116: 1404-1418b
  118. Box 117: 1419, 1424-1433a
  119. Box 118: 1433b-1441
  120. Box 119: 1442-1445
  121. Box 120: 1446a-1463
  122. Box 121: 1464-1482
  123. Box 122: 1483-1498
  124. Box 123: 1499-1506a
  125. Box 124: 1506b-1517
  126. Box 125: 1518-1528
  127. Box 126: 1529-1548
  128. Box 127: 1549-1565
  129. Box 128: 1566-1586
  130. Box 129: 1587, 1589-1605
  131. Box 130: 1606-1622
  132. Box 131: 1623-1640
  133. Box 132: 1641-1642, 1644-1658b
  134. Box 133: 1659-1674b
  135. Box 134: 1675-1681a
  136. Box 135: 1681b-1688
  137. Box 136: 1689-1697
  138. Box 137: 1698-1709
  139. Box 138: 1710-1719
  140. Box 139: 1720-1730
  141. Box 140: 1731-1751
  142. Box 141: 1752-1766
  143. Box 142: 1767-1785
  144. Box 143: 1786-1801
  145. Box 144: 1802-1815
  146. Box 145: 1816-1834
  147. Box 146: 1835-1846
  148. Box 147: 1847-1870
  149. Box 148: 1871-1881
  150. Box 149: 1882-1889
  151. Box 150: 1890-1896
  152. Box 151: 1897-1904
  153. Box 152: 1905-1914
  154. Box 153: 1915-1925
  155. Box 154: 1926-1938
  156. Box 155: 1939-1954
  157. Box 156: 1955-1962a
  158. Box 157: 1962b-1977
  159. Box 158: 1978a-1987
  160. Box 159: 2010, 2014-2029
  161. Box 160: 2030-2038
  162. Box 161: 2039-2048
  163. Box 162: 2049-2065
  164. Box 163: 2066-2074
  165. Box 164: 2075-2086
  166. Box 165: 2087-2099
  167. Box 166: 2100-2114
  168. Box 167: 2115-2122, 2133-2135, 112a-c
  169. Folio Box 168: 70f, 88f, 89f, 90af-90bf, 91af-91bf, 93af-93bf, 94f, 95af, 96af, 97f
  170. Folio Box 169: 99f, 101f, 103af-103bf, 104af, 105af-105bf, 106af, 107f-109f
  171. Folio Box 170: 1054af-1054bf, 1059f-1060f, 2007f, 2013f, 2123f-2127f
  172. Folio+ Box 171: 83f+, 90cf+, 91cf+, 100f+, 109f+, 312f+, 331af+-ff+
  173. Folio+ Box 172: 331gf+, 337f+, 338f+, 339f+, 340f+, 341f+
  174. Folio+ Box 173: 342f+-345af+, 1054f+
  175. Oversize Box 174: 84o, 93co, 95bo, 96bo, 98o, 102o, 103co, 104bo, 105co, 106bo, 2130o-2131o

Processing Information

Preliminary inventory: January 1986

By: Jane S. Knowles, Katherine Gray Kraft, Faith Adiele, Lucy Thoma, Adelaide Kennedy

Updated: 2009

By: Jenny Gotwals, with assistance from Joëlle Burdette

Updated: 2014

By: Jenny Gotwals

Title
Friedan, Betty. Papers of Betty Friedan, 1933-1985: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch00059

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

Contact:
3 James St.
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
617-495-8540