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University of Delaware Women's Studies oral history collection
Notifications
Held at: University of Delaware Library Special Collections [Contact Us]181 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19717-5267
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the University of Delaware Library Special Collections. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
In 2011, the University of Delaware Department of Women and Gender Studies initiated the project Women at the Center, created to document the early history of the creation of Women's Studies program at the university. This project was created to provide essential documentation for situating the University of Delaware's leadership in the academic feminist movement in the United States. The University of Delaware's Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program was one of the first programs of its kind in the United States. It was formalized in 1973, shortly after the first women's studies interdisciplinary programs developed in New York and California in 1970. Several nationally renowned scholars who helped shape the field of women's studies in the 1970s led UD's program in the early years. The University of Delaware was a creative center for the development of women's studies as a discipline, due to a critical mass of feminist scholars associated with the emerging program. Faculty collaboration and the newly designed classes made the University of Delaware a center of research and teaching.
Several of these key scholars started their careers at the University of Delaware. They include Akasha (Gloria) Hull, who pioneered research in African American women's literature, and worked to recover the history of African American writers in Delaware; Sandra G. Harding, who was and continues to be a central figure in bringing feminist perspectives to the study of science; Bonnie Kime Scott, a key figure in the study of feminist perspectives in Irish and British literature, especially the work of James Joyce; Margaret L. Anderson, whose work in the sociology of gender is nationally renowned and whose book
Thinking about women and rethinking sociology is an important text in the field; Barbara Kelly, who promoted gender equity in women's sports; and Barbara Timms Gates, a central figure in bringing eco-feminist perspectives to the study of women's writing, especially the writing of female naturalists.The Women at the Center project also includes interviews with several key administrators and staff who were essential to the foundation of Women's Studies, such as Mae Riedy Carter, chair in the early 1970s of both the Commission on the Status of Women as well as the Women's Studies Committee, which helped establish the earliest Women's Studies classes on campus. In addition to their research, these scholars and administrators worked to establish the foundation on which the current Women's Studies Department was built. The project included interviewing key actors (faculty, administrators, and staff) in the formation of the Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program, as it was first known, at the University of Delaware. Professor Marie Laberge, faculty in the Department of Women's Studies and an expert in oral history data collection and analysis, collected these stories and conducted archival research at the University of Delaware Library. Professor Laberge collected both the historical memory and actual historical record of this history. This initial effort was supplemented by the WOMS 2012 Capstone graduate class in feminist oral history.
The project gathered essential primary sources on the history and origins of the 20th century academic feminist movement, otherwise unavailable to the University of Delaware community and the United States at large. The project also recorded the significant role that the faculty, administrators and staff played in the development of Women's Studies.
Historical information provided by the donor.
This collection consists of oral history interviews with faculty from the University of Delaware Department of Women and Gender Studies, conducted as part of the 2011 "Women at the Center" project. The interviews, mainly conducted by Professor Marie Laberge of the Women and Gender Studies Department, discuss various topics relating to the creation and development of the Women's Studies program at the University of Delaware as well as the personal experiences of each interviewee. The collection also features interviews with students from the 2012 graduating class of Women's Studies who were in Professor Laberge's Spring 2012 semester Senior Capstone class and additional interviews conducted by Professor Laberge in 2014. Each interview is accompanied by a tape log, which summarizes the topics discussed by the participants.
These unedited oral history interviews document the formation of the Women's Studies Department at the University of Delaware and record the activities of the faculty, staff, and administrators who worked to create the Department. In addition to the challenges of creating a Women's Studies program, the topics discussed by the interviewees include educational backgrounds, professional histories and achievements, personal projects, global/national developments in the Women's movement, and future goals. Interviews were also conducted with members of the Spring 2012 semester Women's Studies capstone class taught by Marie Laberge. The students discuss their reasons for becoming Women's Studies majors and the effect it has had on their lives.
All interviews are accompanied by a tape log, which features a brief biography of the interviewees, location of the interview, and general summary of the topics discussed. More detailed topic summaries are given along with a time stamp, denoting where in the interview (minute and seconds) the topics are discussed. The interviews with the Spring 2012 semester Senior Capstone class are accompanied by a transcript rather than a tape log.
Although the majority of the oral history interviews were conducted by Professor Marie Laberge, there are several which were conducted by Women's Studies students (Kenneth Adams, Anna Asher, Elise Wolpert, Emily Bonistall, and Sarah Foster).
Oral history interviews are arranged alphabetically by last name.
Access streaming video and transcripts of the oral histories by following the links in the finding aid. The digitized video files are available in Artstor Public Collections. Transcripts for most recordings can be accessed in the University of Delaware Institutional Repository.
An 18 minute, 46 second video consisting of edited interviews from the Women at the Center project is available on YouTube.
Gift of Marie Laberge, 2013. Additional gift from Marie Laberge, June 2018.
Processed and encoded by E. Evan Echols, September 2013. Additional processing by Danielle Emerling, Tammi Kim and John Caldwell.
People
- Andersen, Margaret L.
- Carter, Mae R.
- Cherrin, Suzanne
- Gates, Barbara T., 1936-
- Golinkoff, Roberta M.
- Harding, Sandra G.
- Hull, Gloria T.
- Kelly, Barbara J.
- Laberge, Marie
- Palley, Marian Lief, 1939-
- Schiffman, Jessica R.
- Scott, Bonnie Kime, 1944-
- Settles, Barbara H.
- Shafi, Monika
- Stetz, Margaret D. (Margaret Diane), 1953-
- Boylan, Anne M., 1947-
- Conway-Turner, Kate
Organization
Subject
- Feminism and higher education--United States--History--20th century
- Feminism and higher education--United States--History--21st century
- Women's studies--United States--History--20th century
- Women's studies--United States--History--21st century
Place
Occupation
- Publisher
- University of Delaware Library Special Collections
- Finding Aid Author
- University of Delaware Library, Special Collections
- Finding Aid Date
- 2013 October 3
- Access Restrictions
-
The collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, http://library.udel.edu/spec/askspec/
Collection Inventory
These interviews were conducted with several members of the 2012 Graduating Class of Women's Studies who were in Dr. Marie Laberge's Senior capstone class in the Spring 2012 semester.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 1 hr., 39 min., 20s.
Dr. Margaret Andersen is a Professor of Sociology and Women's Studies at the University of Delaware. She is also executive director of the University of Delaware President's Diversity Initiative and co-chair of the Diversity and Equity Commission. She served as Chair of Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program from 1981 to 1985.
Interviewed by Kenneth Adams. Running time 28 mins., 17s.
Shakuntla Bhaya is a lawyer with the Delaware law firm of Doroshow, Pasquale, Krawitz, & Bhaya. At the time of the interview, she was a Women 's Studies minor as an undergraduate, entering Women's Studies as a freshman.
Interviewed by Sarah Foster. Running time 1 hr., 12 min., 39s.
Dr. Anne Boylan is Professor of History with a joint appointment with the Women and Gender Studies Department at the University of Delaware. Retired now, she was at UD from 1986 until 2015.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 1 hour, 27 min, 22 sec.
Interview posted to the University of Delaware institutional repository has been edited for sound quality.
Pascha Bueno-Hansen is an Assistant Professor, Women and Gender Studies, with joint appointments in Latin American Studies, and Political Science. She began teaching Women's studies at UD since 2009.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 51min., 15s.
Mae Carter helped initiate and chair the Committee on Women's Studies which led to the creation of the Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program in the early 1970s. As Special Advisor to the University of Delaware President's Office, she also led the Commission on the Status of Women at UD and was instrumental in the creation of the Office of Women's Affairs.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 1hr., 17min., 50s.
Dr. Suzanne J. Cherrin is an Assistant Professor of Women and Gender Studies and has a core faculty appointment in the Latin American and Iberian Studies Program. She began teaching Women's Studies at UD since 1986.
Interviewed by Emily Bonistall. Running time 55min., 28s.
Dr. Kate Conway-Turner is Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Hood College in Frederick MD. She has served in a variety of leadership and administrative positions and as a Professor of Psychology at five universities. She was the Director of the University of Delaware Women's Studies Program from 1993 to 1996.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 1 hour, 15 min, 20 sec.
Interview posted to the University of Delaware institutional repository has been edited for sound quality.
Barbara T. Gates is Alumni Distinguished Professor of English and Women'ʹs Studies at the University of Delaware. She served as Chair of the UD Women's Studies interdisciplinary Program in 1992.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 34min., 13s.
Roberta M. Golinkoff holds the H. Rodney Sharp Chair in the School of Education at the University of Delaware and is also a member of the Departments of Psychology and Linguistics. She was active in helping to found Women's studies.
Interviewed by Kenneth Adams. Running time 37 min., 29s.
Sandra Harding is Professor of Social Sciences & Comparative Education and Gender Studies at the University of Los Angeles. She served as Director of Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program at UD from 1985-1989 and 1990 to 1992.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 1hr., 41 min., 47s.
Emily Hayworth served as the Women Studies Interdisciplinary Program Office administrator for fifteen years.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 32 min., 11s.
Barbara Hebner served as Office Coordinator in the Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 52 min., 24s.
Akasha Hull is a writer, critic, lecturer and professor who has published widely in African American Literature and women's studies. She helped organize women's studies at UD in its early years and served as Director.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 1 hr., 43min., 18s.
Retired now, Dr. Barbara J. Kelly was a driving force in the formation and development of women's athletics at the University of Delaware. She served as Chair of the Department of Women's Physical Education in the late 1960s and in various positions with the College of Physical Education, Athletics, and Recreation. She was active in the early development of Women's Studies and served on Committee on Women's Studies as well as the Commission on the status of Women.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 53 min., 3s.
Dr. Marie Laberge is an Assistant Professor in the Women and Gender Studies Department at the University of Delaware.
Interviewed by Anna Asher. Running time 33 min., 50s.
Janet Louise is a retired after 25 years of service as an instructor at the English Language Institute (ELI) at the University of Delaware. She served as the first office administrator in Women's Studies in 1975.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 42 min., 59s.
Dr. Jennifer Naccarelli is Assistant Professor and Associate Chair of the University of Delaware Women and Gender Studies Department. She has been at UD full time since 2011.
interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 35 min., 48s.
Marian Palley is Professor Emerita, UD Department of Political Science and International Relations. She served as Chair of the Women's Studies interdisciplinary Program from 1980-1990 and 1999 to 2005.
Interviewed by Emily Bonistall. Running time 54 min., 26s.
Dr. Jessica Schiffman is retired Assistant Professor and Assistant Director of the Women and Gender Studies Department at UD.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 1 hr., 34 min., 11s.
Professor Bonnie Scott is Professor Emerita at San Diego State University. She served as a professor of English at the University of Delaware and as Coordinator of Women's Studies in 1980-1981.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 43 min., 6s.
Dr. Barbara Settles of the University of Delaware is Professor of Human Development and Family Studies. She was active in the founding of Women's Studies and served on the Commission on the Status of Women.
Interviewed by Elise Wolpert. Running time 1 hr., 48 min., 48s.
Monika Shafi is the Elias Ahuja Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature. She has served as chairperson for the Department of Women and Gender Studies from 2005-2012 and from 2001 to the present.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 31 min., 9s.
Margaret D. Stetz is the Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and Professor of Humanities at the University of Delaware, with secondary appointments in English and in Material Culture Studies. She has taught Women's Studies at UD since 2002.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 54 min., 18s.
Kathleen Turkel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Women and Gender Studies.
Interviewed by Marie Laberge. Running time 55 min., 58s.