By Finding aid prepared by Karen Tockman and Aimee Hisey
Title: Women's Center Records, 1970-2015
Predominant Dates: 1972-2012
ID: RG 243
Primary Creator: Oregon State University. Women's Center
Extent: 13.0 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: Series 1: Administration (1972-2015); Series 2: Subject Files (1972-2014); Series 3: Publications (1973-2012); Series 4: Scrapbooks (1975-2012); Series 5: Audio Visual (1988-2000); Series 6: Artifacts (1970-2005); Series 7: Photographs (1980s-2015); Series 8: Posters (Undated, c. 2000s)
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Women's Center Records document the Center's roles at Oregon State University. The Women's Center serves as a resource and information clearinghouse and offers advocacy, support, and other services to women and men, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. This collection includes artifacts, scrapbooks, reports and publications, correspondence, committee records, surveys, course records, conference and workshop records, subject files, photographs, and videotapes. The Women's Center was established at Oregon State University in 1972 and today is part of the Office of Diversity and Cultural Engagement at OSU.
Reference access to born-digital materials in this collection is available upon patron request.
The Women's Center Records document the Center's educational, research, and advocacy roles at Oregon State University. This collection consists of documentation including: reports and publications, correspondence, committee records, surveys, conference and workshop materials, and subject files. Also included in the collection are scrapbooks, photographs and albums, artifacts, Women's Center publications and posters, and student-authored papers.
These records provide information on a variety of topics, including but not limited to: feminism, sexual assault prevention and awareness, equity for LGBTQ students, ethnic, cultural and racial diversity, and the campus climate. This collection documents interactions between the Women's Center and other OSU offices and organizations, including the President's Commission on the Status of Women, Faculty Women's Network; Student Affairs, Difference, Power, and Discrimination Program, and Intercultural Student Services. The Center's administration of the Women of Achievement Awards for OSU are documented as well.
Photographs include digital files and photographic prints and negatives, which document Women's Center events including: the Clothesline Project and 'Take Back the Night'. Artifacts include guestbooks, songbooks, historic memorabilia, and teaching materials. Publications from Women's Center staff and students also feature prominently in this collection.
Reference access to born-digital materials in this collection is available upon patron request.
The Women's Center at Oregon State University began in 1972 as a study group of Oregon State faculty led by Economics Professor Jeanne Dost. In addition to teaching a course on contemporary women's issues, the group wanted to create a place on campus for the open study and discussion of feminist issues by students and outside speakers. The new Women's Center, which was established in 1973, offered counseling, support groups, tutoring, and developmental programs to both women and men. The Center began receiving University funding in 1974 as a program of the Memorial Union and Student Activities. The Women's Center is located in the Benton Annex, a small building constructed in 1892 as the Station Building, which was slated for destruction in the early 1970s.
Directors and Supervisors of the Women's Center: Jeanne Dost (1973-1980) Nancy Vanderpool (1981-1993) Beth Rietveld (1993-2011) Whitney Archer (2014-present)
Accruals: Additions to the collection are expected.
More Extent Information: 14 boxes, including 2 oversize boxes and 1 map folder; 150 print photographs and over 700 digital photographs; 2.93 Gbytes
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: The bulk of the materials were transferred from the Women's Center; the records were received in multiple accessions from 1996 through 2011. The collection was expanded with numerous additions in 2016.
Related Materials: Additional materials pertaining to the Women's Center are part of the President's Commission on the Status of Women Records (RG 159), Associated Students of Oregon State University (ASOSU) Records RG 011), and the OSU Memorabilia Collection (MSS MC). The Special Collections and Archives Research Center holdings include many collections documenting women's roles as students, faculty, and administrators at Oregon State University, including the Associated Women Students Scrapbook (MSS AWS), Dean of Women's Office Records (RG 057), Dean of Women's Office Photographs (P 097); papers of women faculty; and records of women's organizations.
Preferred Citation: Women's Center Records (RG 243), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Finding Aid Revision History: The preliminary guide created in 2011 has been enhanced with full description and additions in 2017.
Oregon State University. Women's Center
Dost, Jeanne
Rietveld, Elizabeth A.
Campus-based child care--Oregon--Corvallis.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Gay college students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Minority college students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Oregon State University--Students.
Oregon State University. President's Commission on the Status of Women
Oregon State University. Women's Center
Sexual harassment in universities and colleges--Oregon--Corvallis.
Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History
Women--Education (Higher)--Oregon--Corvallis.
Born digital.
Photograph albums.
Photographic prints.
Scrapbooks.
Sound recordings.
Video recordings (physical artifacts)