Fall 2008

Voices

 

 

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“Telling Our Herstory” 2007 NCA Convention Program Marlene Fine, Simmons College

A small group of young and no longer young women gathered in Chicago at last year’s NCA Convention to tell the herstory of the Women’s Caucus and Feminist and Women Studies Division.  Session planner, and very early Women’s Caucus member, Marlene Fine created a time line of the herstory using information available from NCA programs, past issues of the WC/FWS newsletter, and WC/FWS members.  Students from Simmons College Department of Communications in-house consulting group, Studio Five, created an eight panel visual timeline, which was displayed on easels in the room.  Those who attended the session added more information to the panels and wrote personal memories on them, thus creating a permanent record for WC/FWS.  After everyone had a chance to write on the panels, the group sat together sharing stories about the early days of the Women’s Caucus.   Christine Oravec, who couldn’t be at the convention last year, sent her memories about the origins of the Women’s Caucus:  “The impetus was the old placement system that identified job openings in Spectra only by number.  Since women were not part of the old boys’ network we didn’t know what positions were where, and therefore what departments were woman-friendly, free of harassment, etc.  The Caucus was formed to get SCA to change the listings and they did.”  Marlene Fine talked about being brought to an early WC meeting (1970 or 1971) by Sandra Purnell and Ruth Goldfarb, who had been her college debate coaches in the late 1960s.  She also remembered being “amazed” by Judi Trent’s stiletto heels!  Judi, who was at the session, laughed the loudest and pointed to the stilettos she was wearing that day.  Lois Self recounted being brought by Margaret Wood, who insisted that Lois wear an “ensemble” to the meeting.   There were, of course, more serious memories.  Several women talked about the NCA panel in the mid-1980s where Marsha Houston challenged Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and Julia Wood over the exclusion of the voices of women of color in their (and others’) analyses of feminist work in rhetoric and communication.  Victoria Newsom reminded everyone that sexism is alive in the profession; she said that in 2000, her graduate school mentor suggested that she get involved in the FWS, but not in the WC.   Everyone at the session agreed that we should continue to uncover/recover and document our herstory.  Some suggestions were to put the timeline on the WC/FWS website and allow members to add their memories and to produce oral herstories from early members of the WC and FWS.   On a sad note, Bonnie Ritter, a founder of the Women’s Caucus, died a few days after the program.  Her death is a reminder of the importance of our continuing to document our "herstory."

If you have photos to share, please e- mail your editors.   Editor’s Comment: Two years ago, Voices did an interview with Anita Taylor that included questions on the history and founding of the Division and Caucus. Click here to read more herstory from that interview. If you have memories to add to our herstory, please e-mail your editors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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