This collection, donated by Marjorie Randal, documents the National Women's Conference held in Houston in November 1977. The collection includes clippings, brochures, flyers, newsletters, invitations, correspondence, and publications. Materials in the collection date from 1974-1982, with the bulk of the collection dated 1977. The collection was originally in two large binders labeled Events and Opinions. The materials in those binders have been removed to facilitate handling of the items and placed in folders and boxes.
The collection is organized into four series, based on the organization of the collection when it was donated. The series are Events, Opinions, Publications, and Marjorie Randal - Personal. Much of the material in the first three series is "gate literature" from the National Women's Conference and from groups that attended the conference, including the National Council of Women of the United States and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. The fourth series in this collection includes material of Marjorie Randal's that does not concern the National Women's Conference. This material was added to the collection after the initial processing was completed and, as it differs in subject matter and in time from the bulk of the collection, it has been given its own series.
Two publications have been removed from this collection for cataloging as part of the Women's Archive and Research Center. These are the N.O.W. News (call number HQ 1101.N682), the newsletter for the Bay Area chapter of the National Organization for Women, which dates from July 1973-October 1990, and the Houston Breakthrough (call number HQ 1101.B74), a feminist newspaper for the Houston area, which dates from January 1976-January 1981. For preservation reasons, a number of newspaper pages and large newspaper articles have been placed in Box 3, an oversize box. Separation sheets in the relevant folders indicate where a newspaper or article has been removed. The oversize box also contains a placard from the National Women's Conference.
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The National Women's Conference was held on November 18-22, 1977 in Houston, Texas. The conference, which was part of a larger effort to study and report on the status of women in the United States, was sponsored by the United States government (Congress appropriated $5 million for the entire study). This study occurred in response to the International Women's Year, which was held in Mexico City in 1975, sponsored by the United Nations.
Almost 2,000 women attended the National Women's Conference as official delegates or alternates. Each state sent delegates who had been elected at state meetings held earlier in the year. The purpose of the conference was to discuss and vote upon a National Plan of Action, which would provide the U.S. government with a plan for improving the status of women in all areas of their lives.
Sources:
The Spirit of Houston: The First National Women's Conference. Washington, D.C.: National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, 1978.
"National Women's Conference." Lisa Tuttle. Encyclopedia of Feminism. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File, 1986.
Biographical Information:
Marjorie Randal has been an active supporter of women's rights in the Galveston and Houston areas. She was instrumental in establishing the Bay Area chapter of the National Organization for Women and has held a variety of offices in that organization. She also worked as a volunteer at the National Women's Conference in Houston. She testified repeatedly before the Texas Board of Education to identify and oppose discrimination based on gender in student textbooks.
Acquisition Information
Donation by Marjorie Randal, 1996
Digitized Materials
Selections from this collection have been digitized and are available in the UH Digital Library. See http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/1996_007
Separated Materials:
N.O.W. News (call number HQ 1101.N682), July 1973-October 1990.
Houston Breakthrough (call number HQ 1101.B74), January 1976-January 1981.
Contact:
University of Houston Libraries Special Collections MD Anderson Library 4333 University Drive
HoustonTX77204-2000USA
713-743-9750
Collection organization
Citation
Marjorie Randal National Women’s Conference Collection. Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries. To cite a specific item from this collection, please consult the most recent edition of your style manual for the proper formatting. See the Citing Special Collections Materials page for more information. https://findingaids.lib.uh.edu/repositories/2/resources/27 Accessed April 05, 2020.
