Second Wave in the Valley
NEWS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: 6/2/11
CONTACT: LESLIE SCHALER, COMMUNICATION PROGRAM COORDINATOR, (413) 545-0162
UMASS AMHERST LIBRARIES HOST
Exhibit: Second Wave in The Valley:
Reflections of the Valley Women's History Collaborative Collections
Amherst, MA - The UMass Amherst Libraries host an exhibit “Second Wave in the Valley: Reflections of the Valley Women’s History Collaborative Collections,” through August 30, 2011, on the Lower Level, Du Bois Library, UMass Amherst. The theme of the exhibit is based on the Valley Women’s History Collaborative, formed in 1998 by UMass Amherst history professor Joyce Berkman, Hampshire College professor Susan Tracy, and community activist Kaymarion Raymond, to document and preserve progressive women’s activism in the Pioneer Valley. A reception will be held on Friday, June 10, from noon to 2 p.m. The exhibit will coincide with the Berkshire Conference of Women’s Historians, at UMass Amherst from June 9-12, 2011.
The Valley Women’s History Collaborative Collection (1971-2008) is housed in Special Collections and University Archives in the Du Bois Library. The Collection includes organizational papers from a variety of groups; including the Springfield Women’s Center, Mudpie Childcare Cooperative, and the Valley Women’s Union. It also includes the records of the Mary Vazquez Women's Softball League, a women’s modified fast-pitch softball league, formed in 1976 and based in Northampton.
During the early phases of second wave feminism (1968-1978), the Pioneer Valley served as a center for lesbian and feminist activity in western Massachusetts, and was home to over 400 hundred, often ad hoc, groups, such as the Abortion and Birth Control (ABC) Committee, ISIS Women’s Center, the Mudpie Childcare Cooperative, and the Springfield Women’s Center.
The records of the Valley Women’s History Collaborative document the activities of these groups as well as the efforts of the founders of the Women Studies program and department at UMass Amherst to preserve this history. Of particular value are the many oral histories conducted by the collaborative that record the history of women’s activism in the Pioneer Valley, especially as it relates to reproductive rights.
For more information, contact: Anne Moore (413-545-6888, amoore@library.umass.edu), or Sarah Hutton (413-545-6740, shutton@library.umass.edu). For more information on the Berkshire Conference of Women’s Historians: http://berksconference.org/.
Image credit: Collage by Fahra Caldwell, PhD, Afro-American Studies Department, UMass Amherst, for the Creative Economies Grant of the Valley Women’s History Collaborative. For more information contact Laura Lovett, Creative Economies Grant (lovett@history.umass.edu).
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Last Edited: 13 June 2011
