Finding Aid for the California State University, Long Beach, Center for Women's Studies records, 1973-2008
Processed by Yasmin Damshenas in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Lilace Hatayama,
December 2011; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/
© 2012
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: California State University, Long Beach, Center for Women's Studies records
Date (inclusive): 1973-2008
Collection number: 1817
Creator:
California State University, Long Beach, Center for Women's Studies
Extent:
4 boxes (2 linear ft.)
Abstract: In the early 1970s a Women's Studies Program began at California State University Long Beach. The program was considered a
controversial presence and complaints led to the firing of two faculty directors. This collection contains files covering
the Women's Studies Program from its beginnings to the 1982 ACLU lawsuit against CSULB for the violation of rights. Materials
include memoranda, letters, reports, and newspaper clippings.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Wendy Griffin, August 7, 2008.
Processing Note
Processed by Yasmin Damshenas in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Lilace Hatayama,
December 2011.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], California State University, Long Beach, Center for Women's Studies records (Collection Number 1817).
UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
History
The first Women's Studies courses were taught at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) in the early 1970s. In 1974
the Center for Women's Studies was formed by faculty and students with the goal of developing an interdisciplinary minor within
American Studies and to develop a women's resource center on the CSULB campus. Around this same time, the Associated Students
opened a student-run Women's Referral Center in the Student Union. The presence of feminism the CSULB campus was a controversial
issue in terms of some of the course content, as well as whether the referral center should be limited to referrals or become
a women's resource center. In 1982 right-wing activists targeted the center and the program director, Dr. Sondra Hale, and
Women's Center director, Denise Wheeler, were fired. In response 13 faculty member and three students filed a lawsuit with
the ACLU against CSULB, charging the University with violations of the First and Fourth Amendments.
Scope and Content
This collection contains files covering the Women's Studies Program at CSULB from its beginnings to a 1982 lawsuit against
the university. Materials include memoranda, letters, reports, and newspaper clippings.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Women's Studies Program history
- Women's Resource Center
- Lawsuit against CSULB
Given the close relationship between the Program, the Resource Center and the lawsuit that emerged when both entities were
facing dissolution, there is some slight overlap in the collection with certain press clippings or memoranda sometimes appearing
more than once, in different series. For the most part these three series reflect the way the files were originally organized,
though within each series documents have been ordered chronologically.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
California State University, Long Beach. Center for Women's Studies --Archives.
California State University, Long Beach. Women's Resource Center.
Women's studies --California --Long Beach --Archival resources.
Removed or Separated Material
Folder of payroll transaction forms removed.
Container List
Women's Studies Program history
Box 1, Folder 1
Program proposals and recommendations
Ca. 1970-1972
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda and reports
Box 1, Folder 2
Women's Studies Association constitution, bylaws and charter
Ca. 1972
Scope and Content Note
Mimeographed copies
Box 1, Folder 3
"Womenpeople" newsletters
1973-1977
Box 1, Folder 4
Committee Against Sexism in Employment (C.A.S.E.) written materials
1974
Scope and Content Note
Response to KTTV presentation on CSULB hiring issue, bill of demands, letter from Department of
Health, Education and Welfare concerning alleged sex discrimination, fact sheet, directory and memoranda
Box 1, Folder 5
Betty Brooks dismissal
1974-1975
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda, petition signatures, clippings, press releases concerning the dismissal of physical
education instructor Betty Brooks. See also, series 3, box 4, folder 1 for additional materials re: her employment.
Box 1, Folder 6
Linda Shaw reappointment
1974-1975
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda concerning instructor Linda Shaw and her decision to exclude male students from a self-
gynecological exam presentation.
Box 1, Folder 7
Memoranda concerning complaints
1974-1980
Scope and Content Note
Concerns complaints against the department as well as complaints by the department. Includes
issues such as harassment of an instructor, exclusion of male students, use of pornography in a fraternity rush flyer.
Box 1, Folder 8
Affirmative Action materials
1975
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda, newsletters, clippings, meeting minutes, letters and notes. Includes materials about
Women's Studies College at SUNY, copy of interim affirmative action plan for CSULB, academic senate statement and a
1974 ethnic survey.
Box 1, Folder 9
Women's Studies College at SUNY Buffalo statements
1975
Scope and Content Note
Mimeographed statements by the Women's College re: their abolishment.
Box 1, Folder 10
Women's Studies minor approval
1975
Scope and Content Note
Chancellor's letter and academic planning memo regarding the creation of a Women's Studies minor
at CSULB.
Box 1, Folder 11
Women's Studies special major checklist and written objectives
1976
Scope and Content Note
A student's files containing checksheets, a letter, and written objectives regarding the study of
women and Christianity.
Box 1, Folder 12
Program self study reports
1976, 1984, 1988-1989
Box 1, Folder 13
Announcements re: National Women's Studies Association founding convention in San Francisco
1977
Box 1, Folder 14
Evaluation materials
1977-1980
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda, advisory board update, program review, faculty evaluation, external evaluation report,
enrollment numbers for 1977-1979.
Box 1, Folder 15
Grant Proposal for campus wide support system for the non-traditional female student
1979
Box 1, Folder 16
University Women's Center memoranda and appraisal
1979-1982
Box 1, Folder 17
Pacific Southwest Women's Studies Association (PSWSA) publications and memorandum
1978-1982
Box 1, Folder 18
Research topics
1978-1979
Scope and Content Note
Research proposal, bibliography and call for papers.
Box 1, Folder 20
Memoranda re: Teaching Service Areas in Women's Studies
1980-1981
Box 2, Folder 1
Course offerings
1975-1995
Scope and Content Note
Syllabi, memoranda and approval request for courses. Also a proposal for bachelor of arts degree in
Women's Studies.
Box 2, Folder 2
Course 102 course and administrative materials
1988-1999
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda, approval requests, catalog description, syllabus, exam.
Box 2, Folder 3
Newsletters
1979-1985
Scope and Content Note
Includes "Friends of Women's Studies," " News from the Front," "Women's Studies Program: A
Newsletter," and "West Coast Association of Women Historians."
Box 2, Folder 4
Press clippings
1979-1986
Scope and Content Note
Includes clippings, photo-copied articles, editions of the "Daily Forty-Niner" and "Union Daily."
Box 2, Folder 5
Communications and press regarding controversy
1981-1985
Scope and Content Note
Letters, memoranda, press clippings concerning opposition from critics of the program including a
complaint filed by Jessica Shaver
Box 2, Folder 6
Ad Hoc Committee memoranda and report
1982
Scope and Content Note
From Ad Hoc Committee on School Programs and Structures concerning recommendations re:
Women's Studies Program.
Box 2, Folder 7
Drafts of Women's Studies Constitution
1982-1983
Scope and Content Note
Includes drafts of constitution, memoranda and May 4, 1982 edition of "Union Daily."
Box 2, Folder 8
Staffing issues and employee relations
1982-1983
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda re: tenure track positions, academic freedom, staffing for Fall 1982. Also, copy of
policies from scheduling office.
Box 2, Folder 9
"At Home" calendar of events
1983
Scope and Content Note
"At Home" was a celebration of feminist art in Southern California from 1970-1983
Box 2, Folder 10
Center for Continuing Education of Women (C.C.E.W.)
1983-1985
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda, summary of goals and activities, flyer, calendar, copy of "CSULB Network" newsletter,
edition of "Forty Niner". Includes Women's Studies Student Association's letter of no support.
Box 2, Folder 11
Flyers and announcements
1983-2008
Scope and Content Note
For various events including a large selection of flyers for the annual Women's Recognition Banquet
Box 2, Folder 12
Communications re: support for CSULB Women's Studies
1984
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda, letters and mailers. Includes resolutions from the Associated Students Senate and
materials related to the formation of "Friends of Women's Studies."
Box 3, Folder 1
Copy of poems from "Of Power and Dreams" Women's Studies poetry reading
1988 December
Box 3, Folder 2
Self-study report guidelines
1997
Box 3, Folder 3
Copy of university institution codes
Undated
Box 3, Folder 4
Questionnaires
Ca. 1974-1977
Scope and Content Note
Questionnaires for academic programs, subsector planning and women's center workshop.
Box 3, Folder 5
Women's Resource Center staff training materials
Ca. 1975-1976
Scope and Content Note
Workshop schedules and agendas, job descriptions.
Box 3, Folder 6
Friends of Women's Referral Center
1976-1977
Scope and Content Note
Notes, organization application form, memoranda, pre-application for federal assistance, letters,
outline of the program, steering committee update.
Box 3, Folder 7
Research materials
1976-1977
Scope and Content Note
Career Planning Center brochures, press clipping on self-examination, mailing re: Tay-Sachs
disease, flyer for "Voice of the People" performance for United Farm Workers, announcement re: state conference, list
of fellowships.
Box 3, Folder 8
Goals and activities
1976-1980
Scope and Content Note
Memoranda, proposals, and outlines of goals and activities.
Box 3, Folder 9
Women's Center and Women's Referral Center organization and structure
1976-1982
Scope and Content Note
Letters and memoranda. Note: Women's Center and Women's Referral Center were two separate
entities and one proposal was to merge them.
Box 3, Folder 10
Press clippings
1976-1984
Scope and Content Note
Clippings, photocopies of articles and edition of "University Review."
Box 3, Folder 11
Program review for Center for Women's Studies
1978
Box 3, Folder 12
University Women's Center Reports
1979-1982
Box 3, Folder 13
Meeting minutes and agendas
1982
Scope and Content Note
Minutes and agendas for organizations like University Women's Center Advisory Board Meeting and
Student Academic Services.
Box 3, Folder 14
Pamphlets and programs
1982
Scope and Content Note
Includes "University Women's Center: Final Edition," issued before close of the Women's Center in
1982.
Box 3, Folder 15
Staff evaluations
1982
Scope and Content Note
Memorandum and letter.
Box 3, Folder 16
Constitution for Center of Women's Studies
Undated
Box 3, Folder 17
Handwritten notes and photographs
Undated
Box 4, Folder 1
Betty Brooks teaching appointment materials
1976-1984
Scope and Content Note
Evaluations, copies of curriculum vita, recommendation letters, teaching appointment and copy of
grievance filed by Brooks
Box 4, Folder 2
Legal files
Ca. 1982-1986
Scope and Content Note
Includes complaints, order of dismissal, arbitrator's opinion and reward, post-hearing brief.
Box 4, Folder 3
Memoranda and announcements
1982-1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes arbitration decision re: Betty Brooks, requests for contributions to defense fund, flyers and
CSULB memoranda re: conflict with Women's Studies Department. Also, CSULB memorandum and report for response
phase of program review.
Box 4, Folder 4
Press clippings
1982-1991
