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COLLECTION Identifier: T-126

Audiotapes of the Women's Equity Action League, 1973-1987

Overview

These audiotapes were culled from the records of the Women's Equity Action League and include board meetings from both WEAL and WEAL Fund, conferences, and recordings from programs on women in the military, and women and employment, among other topics.

Dates

  • Creation: 1973-1987

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

TERMS OF USE

Access. The agreement between the Library and WEAL was signed in 1974, and revised in 1978 and 1981; the agreement between the Library and the WEAL Fund was signed in 1979 and revised in 1980. Most of the restrictions on research use have now expired; however, access to the meetings of the WEAL Fund Board and Executive Committee (#5-7 and 12-14) is restricted for 50 years from date of creation to those past national officers, board members, and executive directors who sign a special permission form; after the expiration of the 50-year restriction, the special permission form remains in use for an additional 20 years. Individual items with access limitations are so marked in the finding aid.

An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in records created by WEAL is to be determined. Copyright in other items in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

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

Extent

51 audiotapes

This collection contains audiotapes from WEAL and WEAL Fund Board and Executive Committee meetings, conferences, and workshops. In many cases, these tapes do not represent entire meetings or conference sessions, but excerpts of a meeting or session. Much of this collection is directly related to the WEAL Records (MC 500), and in such cases, references to the WEAL records are noted. In addition to documenting meetings and conference sessions, this collection also has some material on the specific projects WEAL undertook to address sexism and inequality in specific arenas. Represented here are the projects on Women in the Military, the Intern Program, Women and Employment and a Project on Sex Stereotyping in Education, possibly funded by the Women's Education Equity Act Program. With the exception of the Project on Sex Stereotyping in Education, the sound quality is generally poor for most items.

HISTORY

WEAL was founded in 1968 by a group of professional women, mostly lawyers, in Cleveland, Ohio, who originally hoped to begin a NOW (National Organization for Women) chapter. Realizing NOW's agenda would not garner widespread support in Cleveland, they began their own group and limited their concerns to education, legislation, and the economic rights of women. WEAL challenged sex discrimination on college campuses, in the military, and in the work place. The WEAL Fund was established in 1972 as the tax deductible arm of WEAL; the two organizations merged in 1981. WEAL ceased to exist in 1989. For more historical information, see the finding aids for the WEAL Records, MC 500 and MC 311.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in three series:

  1. Series I. WEAL and WEAL Fund Board and Executive Committee and Meetings.
  2. Series II. Conferences and Workshops
  3. ___Subseries A. WEAL National Conference, 1979: May 4-6
  4. ___Subseries B. Sessions from WEAL and Other National Conferences
  5. Series III.WEAL Projects
  6. ___Subseries A. Women in the Military
  7. ___Subseries B. Intern Program
  8. ___Subseries C. Women and Employment
  9. ___Subseries D. Project on Sex Stereotyping in Education

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 80-M16, 82-M90, 82-M117, 85-M220

These audiotapes were given to the Schlesinger Library by the Women's Equity Action League and Vilma Hunt, between January 1980 and October 1985.

Related Material:

There is related material at the Schlesinger Library; see Records of the Women's Equity Action League, 1966-1979 (MC 311) and Records of the Women's Equity Action League, 1967-1990 (MC 500).

Processing Information

Processed: March 2005

By: Joanne Donovan

Title
Women's Equity Action League. Audiotapes of the Women's Equity Action League, 1973-1987: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
Sponsor
This collection was processed in conjunction with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
EAD ID
sch00335

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.

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