WOMEN at the CENTER Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library
Issue 14, Fall 2008 The Joy of Asking a Good Question: The Life’s Work of Two Duke Women Sara M. Evans, one of the ter’s degrees from Duke in the foremost historians of women 1960s, and then pursued her in America, said “You need to Ph.D. in women’s history be learn the joy of asking a good fore it was a recognized field of question and find ways to the study. In this pioneering work answerthat will lead you to and throughout her academic your life's work.” Evans, the and activist careers, Evans has recently retired University Re pursued the question, “Where gents Professor at the Univer are the women and what are sity of Minnesota, is the author they doing?” The Sallie Bing and editor of seven books, in ham Center is fortunate to cluding her groundbreaking have recently acquired 23 linear 1979 volume, Personal Politics. In this work, feet of papers documenting over 40 years she reflects on the origins of the modern of Evans's teaching, writing, research, and women's movement in the civil rights and activism in pursuit of this and other antiwar movements, in all of which she questions that have defined her life’s herself was a participant and leader. work. Evans received bachelor’s and mas (Continued on page 3) Primary Documents in the Classroom
Inside this issue: Every semester the Bingham Center ette Pathy Allen to the personal papers of helps undergraduate students use primary Dawn Langley Simmons, as well as pre The Joy of Asking a 1 sources in research across a broad range scriptive literature which attempts to de Good Question of disciplines. This fall we have engaged fine appropriate gender appearance and Primary Documents 1 with a number of different classes and behavior for men and women in America. in the Classroom explored new methods of incorporating After their initial visit to the Special Conference Talks 2 original materials into their coursework. Collections Library, the students wrote a Around the Country Keith Wilhite’s Writing 20 course on reaction paper based on the item they se the topic of “Writing Sex and Gender” lected for closer review. Later in the se New Acquisitions 23 uses Jeffrey Eugenides novel Middlesex as mester, the class will return to the reading the core text to explore gender identity room to spend more time using the mate Staff and Scholar Teas 3 and expression. During the class’s visit to rials to write a more indepth paper. the Biddle Rare Book Room, the students Professor Jonna Eagle’s course Highlights from Our 4 used a range of materials exploring these “Feminism in Historical Context” is an 20th Anniversary themes, from the photography of Mari (Continued on page 2)
http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/bingham
New Acquisitions Conference Talks Around the Country
18th and 19th c. This past year, Bingham Center staff Fiction by members have given talks at a number of British Women conferences across the United States. In May, Laura Micham and Jodi Berkowitz presented on a panel at the second GLBT Archives, Libraries, Museums, and Special Collections conference in New York. Dur ing the panel “Less Process/Less Privacy? Implications of Minimal Processing for GLBT Collections,” Laura and Jodi gave their perspectives as collector and proces sor, respectively. Minnie Bruce Pratt, who placed her papers at the Bingham Center, Kathryn Jacob, Danelle Moon, Glenna Matthews, and Heather Murray, a past Mary Lily grant and Kelly Wooten at the SAA annual meeting recipient and lecturer at the University of Amy Levy research. Kelly was also elected as cochair Ottawa, also spoke. of the Women’s Collections Roundtable. At the Society of American Archivists In October, Kelly Wooten attended a meeting in San Francisco this August, Southern Connecticut State University Kelly Wooten presented a talk on docu conference on “Girls' Culture & Girls' menting the third wave of feminism. The Studies: Surviving, Reviving, Celebrating panel “Documenting a Revolution: Second Girlhood.” She participated in a panel Wave Feminism and Beyond!” also in called “Grrrls in the Library: Document cluded Kathryn Jacob, who spoke about ing Third Wave Feminist Activism through acquiring the papers of 20th and 21st Zines” with Jenna Freedman, Barnard Col century feminists at Harvard’s Schlesinger lege zine librarian, and Kate Eichhorn, as Library, and Glenna Matthews, a historian sistant professor at The New School of Eliza Lynn Linton at the University of California at Berkeley, Eugene Lang College. who discussed her own women’s history The collection com prises 130 titles, most of Primary Documents in the Classroom (continued from page 1) which are not available in digital form. It in obvious match for the Bingham Center’s real to students in a new way, opening up cludes many of the 3 rich collections documenting the history of more nuanced and thoughtful explorations and 4 volume novels feminist theory and activism. We intro of feminism’s pasts as well as its futures.” typical of the period, duced the Bingham Center by taking a Beth Holmgren’s course on document spans a broad range of literary genres, and in slideshow to their classroom. Later the ing Russian feminism prompted students cludes works by Mary class came to Perkins Library to work with to incorporate documents from the U.S. Braddon, Amy Levy, materials first hand. women’s liberation movement into a docu Eliza Lynn Linton, Mary Professor Eagle writes of this experi mentary produced by the instructor and Shelley, and many oth ence, “Engagement with primary sources students. ers. Many of the vol brings depth and texture to students’ in In addition to these classes, students umes, "silverfork" nov quiry into the history of feminism, animat from Marie Hicks’ course “Gender and els, or novels of fashion ing their critical analysis both of this his Sexual Politics in the Modern West,” Ra able highlife, were cen tory and of the secondary source material chel Seidman’s public policy course tral in establishing the which documents it. The passions and “Women as Leaders,” and Deborah Pope’s tripledecker as an insti paradoxes of women’s movements of the “Studies in Women’s Fiction” also at tution in Victorian cul nineteenth and twentieth centuries become tended instruction sessions. ture.
2 WOMEN at the CENTER Staff and Scholar Teas: Cookies and Conversation New Acquisitions Throughout the semester, the Bing ham Center invites recipients of Mary Lily 19th c. American Romance Novels Research Grants to share their discoveries with the Duke community at Staff and This collection of 73 Scholar Tea events. During these pro volumes in original grams, faculty, staff, and students learn decorated covers in how materials from our collections are cludes examples from being used and have the opportunity to many series such as ask questions or even offer suggestions New Eagle, Seaside for further inquiry. Library, and Sweet University of Manchester lecturer heart Library. With David Brown discussed his interest in us titles like Led Astray, What is Life Without ing the collections to research the overlap David Brown chats with Jodi Berkowitz and Love, and Even this Sac Elizabeth Dunn following his talk of race, class, and gender during the Civil rifice, these melodra War. As he noted, these are all important used the papers of Alix Kates Shulman, matic romances depict dimensions in telling the story of non Irene Peslikis, and Sara Evans to further innocent young hero slave owning whites in the South. her research. ines beset by dangers Jessica Lee, a graduate student at the Ronald D. Lankford, independent which are far removed University of Washington, presented her scholar, used the zine collections for re from the encounters findings for work on her dissertation on search on a book about feminist issues in of adult women char the role of women in higher education in the music of women singersongwriters in acters in contempo second wave feminist movement. She rock during the 1990s. rary romances.
http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/bingham/grants
The Joy of Asking a Good Question (continued from page 1)
Margaret Taylor Smith, author, social two Detroit hospitals, a medical school, activist, and chair emerita of the Kresge Michigan Women’s Foundation, and Foundation, also knows the joy of asking many other academic, civic, and social good questions especially as they pertain justice organizations, some of which she to her particular passions, “philanthropy, also helped to create. In 1986 Smith co ethics, volunteerism, and leadership.” A authored the book, Mother, I Have Some Woman’s College graduate, Smith has had thing to Tell You, a major work on the a long career at Duke, receiving numerous stages of adaptation mothers go through awards, holding many positions, such as in adjusting to the untraditional lifestyles member of the Founder’s Society and the their children choose. This work speaks Executive Group of the 1980s Capital to another of Smith’s passions, Campaign, chair of the Trinity College of “dilemmas, paradoxes, and inconsisten Visitors, and recipient of the Distin cies” because she says that “very little in guished Alumni Award. In the middle life is simply black or white. It’s much 1990’s Smith led the drive that culminated more complicated than that.” Smith re in the creation of the Margaret Taylor cently donated 21 linear feet of papers Smith Endowed Directorship of the documenting her wonderfully compli Women’s Studies Program. cated life from her college days at Duke In addition to her work on behalf of to the present. Duke, Smith has served on the boards of
Issue 14, Fall 2008 3 Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture
Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library Box 90185 Duke University Durham, NC 277080185
Laura Micham, Director Kelly Wooten, Research Services and Collection Development Librarian Jodi Berkowitz, Technical Services Archivist Phone: 9196605967 Fax: 9196605934 Email: [email protected] http://library.duke.edu/specialcollections/bingham/
Highlights from Our 20th Anniversary Celebration
Above: Noted authors, feminists, and Bingham Above, from L to R: Sallie Bingham, Paula Burger,
Deborah Jakubs, Janie Morris, Jeanette Stokes, Center donors, Minnie Bruce Pratt and Sallie Robert Byrd, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Jean O’Barr
Bingham share stories. Former Bingham Center librarians, current donors, Duke community members and other supporters Left: Duke leaders Jean gathered on October 23 to celebrate twenty years of O’Barr, Donna Lisker, documenting women’s lives. and Janie Long chat dur ing the reception.
See more photos from the event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbcwhc