Items

• BCWO Goals, Letter to Pat Withner

  In the early 1970s before the founding of the Women's Studies Program, the Brooklyn College Women's Organization (BCWO) addressed several concerns of women faculty and students at the college. Historian and co-founder Renate Bridenthal notifies the office of College Relations of BCWO's formation and outlines their goals to investigate and dismantle institutional sexism and structural gender inequality at the college in the following areas: day care, gender imbalances in offices and departments throughout the university, equal employment in pay, rank, and tenure, maternity leave, academic and career counseling that resulted in tracking of women students, and sex discrimination.
• "Pressure and Popularity Spur Variety In College Women's Studies Courses"

  This New York Times article chronicles the advent of the establishment of women's studies programs at universities across the country in the 1970s, featuring the newly established double major at Brooklyn College. Program co-founder and co-coordinator Renate Bridenthal (History) was interviewed: "Two years ago, Professor Bridenthal recalled, students began collecting signatures on petitions and lobbying the departmental chairmen, the student women's liberation group, and the Brooklyn College Women's Organization (BCWO) fought to get the major program approved." However, the article gives the last word to the male dean of faculty at Columbia University, reinforcing the climate of sexism within the academy: "The real question is 'whether or not this really represents an academic or intellectual discipline.'" This article demonstrates the frequent efforts to delegitimize women's studies that organizers faced, which reinforced their evidence for the importance and need for their work.
• City Council Press Release on Sex Discrimination

  This press release from the New York City Council Office of Public Information announces Councilmember Carol Greitzer's accusation that the Board of Education "discriminated against thousands of women employees at a financial loss running into the millions of dollars." Though not named in this release, the women who formed the Brooklyn College Women's Organization (BWCO) including Lilia Melani and Renate Bridenthal spearheaded the class action suit, documenting, organizing, and gathering evidence for discrimination in hiring, pay and tenure among CUNY-wide faculty, in addition to pregnancy discrimination. A champion for women's rights, Councilmember Greitzer cites two particularly egregious examples from women faculty at Brooklyn College, and linked the discrimination to a larger pattern of institutionalized sexism in the city. Greitzer cites that only two women deans existed out of over seventy at fourteen board institutions, that there were only two women board members out of twenty one, all fourteen officers at CUNY "from the chancellor on down" are male, and only one woman was president (Jaqueline Wexler of Hunter College) out of nine universities and eight community colleges. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare investigated women workers' claims, saying "the weight of evidence...supports the complaint's (sic) allegation of sex discrimination." Greitzer's pledge to take the battle to Washington if necessary highlights the political alliances feminist organizers at Brooklyn College made to bolster their fight for gender parity.
• Congresswoman Chisholm Letter to President Kneller on Sex Discrimination

  The Brooklyn College Women's Organization (BCWO) was organized in the early 1970s by an interdisciplinary group of faculty across departments to address sex discrimination other issues facing women on campus. This letter from BCWO notifies the Brooklyn College President's Office that the issue of sex discrimination at Brooklyn College is on the radar of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. The first African American woman elected to US congress, she was also an alumni of Brooklyn College who went on to fight for equal employment opportunities for black Americans and women. By notifying the President of Chisholm's interest in the sex discrimination cases at Brooklyn College, organizers strategically leveraged Chisholm's promise to hold a press conference on the issue should it not be addressed.
• Letter from Brooklyn College Dean of Social Sciences

  This letter from Nathan Schmukler, Dean of Social Sciences at Brooklyn College welcomes the transfer of the interdisciplinary program in Women's Studies to the College of Social Sciences. The Women's Studies steering committee had advocated for the move from Humanities to Social Sciences in order to realize the program's goals of more co-taught courses and a broader scope of interdisciplinary content.
• Letter to Jane Gould, Barnard Women's College

  This letter from Brooklyn College Women's Studies Program co-founder Renate Bridenthal to the director of the Women's Center at Barnard College demonstrates the inter-institutional collaboration within academic feminist activism, and the co-development of the field of Women's Studies. Writing after attending a women's studies faculty conference at Barnard, Bridenthal is eager to address issues facing women's centers and women's studies programs in academic institutions around the country. The issues presented here are emblematic of the issues facing the field as a whole, including: departmental homes for women's studies programs, homophobia as a barrier to students's access to resources, a lack of feminist consciousness in the student body, and lack of funding, staffing, and legitimacy for programs. Bridenthal lists ideas for professional support that attendants brainstormed for moving "beyond survival," including alumni associations for women's studies graduates, funding opportunities, broadening research on women of low-income and in developing countries, dealing with administrators, and the development of an outcomes-based evaluation metric for the effects of a women's studies curriculum on the student body,
• Summer Institute Grant Proposal

  After establishing both a Women's Studies baccalaureate and a Women's Center at Brooklyn College, faculty organizers turned their attention to broadening the field. With support from the New York Women's Studies Association they prepared to submit a joint proposal to develop a summer teacher training program. The proposed institute would increase women's studies offerings across post-secondary educational institutions in New York and New Jersey. Using a feminist methodology of collaborative input for course development, the creators of this proposal solicited input from women's studies educators via this letter and questionnaire in order to gather information on the status of regional programs, and make sure that the training institute aligned with principles outlined in the constitution of the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA). Their collaborative outreach and detailed survey demonstrated that "while we share these principles, we all experience difficulty in fully realizing them."
• Women's Studies Program General Meeting Minutes

  The minutes of this meeting of the Women's Studies Program reflect the pedagogical considerations and the feminist methodologies used to build course curriculum within the program. Proposals for new courses from new faculty across disciplines are invited, and faculty discuss the inclusion of topics and sources for future syllabi from students who have previously taken courses in the program. The solicitation of student input for course planning points to the collaborative nature of curriculum building within Brooklyn College's Women's Studies Program.
• Brooklyn College Women's Union Meeting

  The Women's Union at Brooklyn College was an organization comprised of many faculty and staff from the Women's Studies Program, but existed as a separate entity that would tackle political and administrative issues affecting women at the college. These notes from their inaugural meeting reflect the types of advocacy they tackled, from fighting for courses that explored lesbian sexuality to addressing cuts to student financial aid, welfare, and TAP, sexual harassment and safety on campus, and the ways that married women could be excluded from financial assistance.
• Periodic Review Report to Commission on Higher Education

  Six years after the Women's Studies Program began offering a joint BA from Brooklyn College's Schools of Social Sciences & Humanities, the program issued this progress report outlining their accomplishments and concerns to the Commission of Higher Education. This document provides a comprehensive overview of the structure used to steer and co-govern the program, pedagogical considerations such as co-taught courses (including descriptions), and participation in helping develop women's studies as a field in national professional associations, as well as in high schools. The section on Project CHANCE describes the program and grant that enabled the establishment of the Women's Center at Brooklyn College, providing re-entry courses and support for 100 non-traditional returning women students in its second year. Proposals for new courses focused on women and violence, lesbian experience, women in arts and music, and gendered political economies of power are also included. The course on lesbian experience would prove to be quite controversial, where obtaining approval became a lengthy process. Finally, by providing proof of increasing enrollment in program courses, the report authors make the case for faculty tenure and a new process for departmental approval for faculty releases to teach women's studies courses.
• Letter to the Editor, New York Times Magazine

  As women's studies programs began to emerge in colleges around the country, faculty had to fight to legitimize the field of academic inquiry and interdisciplinary framing. Furthermore, several programs had to fend off homophobic and misogynist attempts to delegitimize the field, from both within their institutions and the broader public. This letter, penned by Women's Studies Program co-founder and historian Renate Bridenthal, was sent to the New York Times Magazine editor after they ran a story about Sarah Lawrence's women's studies program in which the journalist pandered to fears of faculty spreading lesbianism amongst students. Bridenthal's firm reply calls out the tactic for what she called an attempt to "subvert the women's movement in general and Women's Studies in particular," and shows a broad kinship with and commitment to the field of women's studies.
• Paying More, Getting Less

  "Paying More, Getting Less," produced by Labor at The Crossroads, also known as Labor X, explores the 1995 CUNY budget cuts from both historical and activist perspectives. Janine Jackson, program director and host at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), is in conversation with Sandi E. Cooper, CUNY Faculty Senator and Blanche Wiesen Cook, professor of history at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. They discuss the past, present and future of CUNY as it faced a 25% budget cut. They argued that the budget cuts would result in the defunding of programs and tuition hikes for students. From 1989 to 1995, Labor X was a cable TV program which was committed to placing the voices, faces and issues of working people on television. It screened on both CUNY TV Channel 75 and Manhattan Neighborhood Network Channel 34.
• "City's Personnel Policies Called Biased"

  This New York Times article outlines charges against the city that alleged discrimination against women and racial minorities in hiring and promotions at CUNY. Women's Studies Program co-coordinators and Brooklyn College Women's Organization members were heavily involved with organizing the lawsuit, principally Lilia Melani (English), and Renate Bridenthal (History). The lawsuit, which became known as the Melani Case, was formally filed two years later in 1973 by 25 women at 17 of CUNY colleges. Thirteen years later, in March 1983, the class action suit was finally won in a ruling by a federal judge. Thousands of CUNY faculty members were affected by the decision, winning back pay and raises.
• Women's Studies Program Office

  The Women's Studies Program at Brooklyn College, founded in 1971, was one of the first such programs in the country. Taken in 1982, this is one of the few photographs of the Women's Studies office located at 2157 Boylan Hall and features Pat Quercia (right) and Renate Bridenthal in the inner office. Pat Quercia served as office administrator since the founding of the program, and historian Renate Bridenthal served as the program's co-coordinator and helped convene the Brooklyn College Women's Organization, the group that preceded the program and fought for its inception. In the outer office are Claudette Charbonneau, instructor of Women's Studies, and Pat Lander (right) from the Anthropology Department, who also co-coordinated the program.
• "York Kids March on City Hall, Call It a 'Class' Fight"

  This Daily News article details a May 1968 march by York College students in protest against what they considered inadequate campus facilities. York, the newest of the CUNY schools at the time, relied on temporary space within Queensborough Community College from 1968 to 1971. While there was much discussion over where the permanent campus ought to be placed (Jamaica), many felt little regard was given to the school's facilities in the interim.
• "York Students Back Jamaica"

  This Long Island Press article discusses the York College Student Council's decision to support the Board of Higher Education's selection of Jamaica, Queens as the permanent location for the college. At the time of the article's printing, the school had relied on temporary space within Queensborough Community College in Bayside and many on the Student Council previously supported remaining in that neighborhood. The college would remain in Bayside until 1971 before relocating to Jamaica. Even in Jamaica, they would again rely on temporary space until construction was completed on their main new building in 1985.
• "'Jamaica Center' Envisaged As Mini-Midtown Manhattan"

  This April 22, 1968 article from the Daily News discusses the plans of city officials to develop the "long awaited...Jamaica Center" in the heart of South Jamaica, Queens. Intended to help reverse the neighborhood's "decay," the project was expected to provide great benefit to the area's largely black population. A significant part of the development plan, as noted in the article, was the creation of York College, CUNY's commitment to a four-year school in the underserved community. While the school moved into the neighborhood in the early 1970s, it would not be until 1985 that their permanent campus opened for classes.
• Letter to Brooklyn College President John Kneller on Budget Cuts and Faculty Tenure

  During the 1970s, CUNY experienced a fiscal crisis resulting in faculty and staff layoffs, increased tuition, as well as cutbacks in open enrollment. As a result, the coordinators of the Brooklyn College Women's Studies Program drafted this letter to Brooklyn College President John Kneller stressing their program's high student enrollment despite lack of faculty reappointments. Of specific concern was the request to reappoint untenured faculty member Tucker Pamella Farley. Farley helped found the program and was in her third year as program co-coordinator. The letter's authors appealed to the President to retain Farley as essential to the success of the groundbreaking Women's Studies Program.
• Tucker Pamella Farley's Women and Literature Class

  This photograph shows Tucker Pamella Farley (left) teaching her popular Women and Literature course in a discussion circle with her students. Farley taught at Brooklyn College from 1970 to 2005, where she was central to developing the Women’s Studies Program as program co-founder, and taught English and Women’s Studies courses. She fought for and secured funding for the first Women’s Center on campus, creating Project Chance for returning women students. The Women's Center is still running today as one of the oldest college women's centers in the country.
• "Jamaica NAACP Chief Looks Ahead"

  This short article from the Daily News profiles Richard Hansen, the newly appointed president of the Jamaica branch of the NAACP. Shown with his wife and two smiling children, the article describes Hansen's hopes for the future of Jamaica, Queens and its residents. Of particular interest, the new president states "We're glad to have York College built in Jamaica," adding "higher education belongs in Jamaica."CUNY's commitment to housing a four-year college in Jamaica, Queens in New York City offered great promise for many in the often overlooked neighborhood. Throughout the 1970s, the college struggled to build a permanent campus due to the economic downturn of the decade. Until 1986, the college relied on temporary and rented spaces throughout Jamaica before settling into their new and present home.
• Winter Soldiers, Selection #7: James Egleson

  James Egleson, an American WPA artist, created this illustration for inclusion in the 1941 book, Winter Soldiers: The Story of a Conspiracy Against Schools. The book, published by the Committee for Defense of Public Education, tells the story of the Rapp-Coudert hearings and New York State’s efforts to rid its public schools and colleges of "subversive influences" and persons, particularly those with communist ties. Egleson was supported under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the government-funded Federal Art Project that hired hundreds of artists. The Project was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression.
• Winter Soldiers, Selection #6: Harry Gottlieb

  Harry Gottlieb, a social realist graphic artist, employed by the WPA, became a leader and active member of the Artists Union and the Artists Congress. A life-long member of the Communist Party, Gottleib created this illustration for inclusion in the 1941 book, Winter Soldiers: The Story of a Conspiracy Against Schools. The image features CCNY instructor William Canning, an ex-Communist Party member who disclosed the names of over fifty active party members to state officials.The book, published by the Committee for Defense of Public Education, tells the story of the Rapp-Coudert hearings and New York State’s efforts to rid its public schools and colleges of "subversive influences" and persons, particularly those with communist ties. Gottleib was supported under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the government-funded Federal Art Project that hired hundreds of artists. The Project was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's  New Deal during the Great Depression.
• Winter Soldiers, Selection #5: Art Young

  Art Young, a socially conscious cartoonist and writer, created this cartoon for inclusion in the 1941 book, Winter Soldiers: The Story of a Conspiracy Against Schools. The book, published by the Committee for Defense of Public Education, tells the story of the Rapp-Coudert hearings and New York State’s efforts to rid its public schools and colleges of "subversive influences" and persons, particularly those with communist ties.
• Winter Soldiers, Selection #4: Marston Hamlin

  Marston Hamlin created this illustration for inclusion in the 1941 book, Winter Soldiers: The Story of a Conspiracy Against Schools. The book, published by the Committee for Defense of Public Education, tells the story of the Rapp-Coudert hearings and New York State’s efforts to rid its public schools and colleges of "subversive influences" and persons, particularly those with communist ties.
• Winter Soldiers, Selection #3: Sylvia Wald

  Sylvia Wald, a politically and socially conscious artist, created this illustration for inclusion in the 1941 book, Winter Soldiers: The Story of a Conspiracy Against Schools. The book, published by the Committee for Defense of Public Education, tells the story of the Rapp-Coudert hearings and New York State’s efforts to rid its public schools and colleges of "subversive influences" and persons, particularly those with communist ties.