A PBS program designed to stimulate public participation and understanding by focusing on realistic choices that must be made in the future, by having both sides of the question presented, and by demonstrating the interest which public officials have in both reasoned arguments and the views of their constituents. Program topics varied depending on current news and concerns of the public. The program ran from October 5, 1969 through May 23, 1974; then again bi-weekly from January 26, 1978 through September 9, 1979.
Mrs. Benedict spent many years working to improve the status of women at Vanderbilt. She was instrumental in the fund drive to raise money to build a women's dormitory and to secure the first Dean of Women, Ada Bell Stapleton. Over the years she also devoted her organizational skills and fund raising abilities to helping Scarritt College, the West End Methodist Church, and the Red Cross.
Lucy Gage served as professor of elementary education at Western State Teachers College in Kalamazoo, Michigan (1907-1920) and at George Peabody College for Teachers in Nashville, Tennessee (1920-1942). This collection contains papers written by Miss Gage in manuscript, typescript and carbon copy. Among them is a small autograph book made up at the time of her retirement from Peabody College in 1942; newspaper clippings (some undated); a biographical paper with a vivid account of Gage’s pioneering efforts in early childhood education and legislation in Oklahoma in 1902; and other related material.
Mrs. Susie Daniel Kirtland Green (1887-1967), an associate of Margaret Sanger, operated the first birth control clinic in Tennessee at 2204 21st Avenue, South, Nashville, Tennessee, from 1932 to about 1941. In 1941 she began to sell Fem-A-Gyn contraceptive suppositories, which she developed from a recipe that Margaret Sanger included in her “Family Limitation” pamphlet. The collection documents her professional life as a birth control advocate.
Nancy Hendrix, a Vanderbilt alumna was active in the establishment and development of the Nashville women’s movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Topics covered in the collection include articles and clipping on the national women’s movement as well as other socio-political issues of the time period including southern history issues and the Vietnam War.
Long, Everett
Everett Long was a member of the Southern Students Organizing Committee. This collections consists primarily of newsletters and publications relating to women’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, and civil rights.
Peabody Dames [small collection]
The Peabody Dames was organized in 1915 with its object being “the promotion of sociability among its members and the discussion of current interests, and such other forms of self-improvement as shall be designated from time to time.” The first minutes from the meetings of the Peabody Dames date from 1917 and are entered in a notebook that also contains some reports of the Treasurer and rolls of membership. Membership included students, wives of students, faculty, wives of faculty, administrative staff, mothers of students, and any woman officially connected to Peabody. The organization shut down in the 1970’s.
The collection covers the years 1917 to 1974 and includes correspondence, bylaws, reports, yearbooks, programs, and scrapbooks.
Smith, Mary Anne Downey
A longtime social and political activist, Mary Anne Smith has been active in a variety of different causes including nuclear weapons freeze and multiple women’s issues. Her collection includes posters, buttons and pins, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and information packets and pamphlets.
Thrasher, Martha Sue
Martha Sue Thrasher is a human rights activist who was worked with groups such as labor unions, civil rights, workers’ rights, women’s liberation, Southern Students Organizing Committee (SSOC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the National Democratic Coalition. This 19 linear feet collection contains correspondence, minutes, manuscripts for books, newsletters, oral histories, research notes, audio tapes, and photographs which range in date from 1967 to 1996.
Todd, Mary (Molly) K.
Molly Todd was a political and social activist in Nashville, Tennessee. As a social reformer and leading mid-20th century women’s rights activist, her papers contain invaluable insights into the aspirations of these organizations. She worked with the ACLU, Church Women United, Democratic National Committee, Environmental Foreign Policy, Housing, Human/Race Relations, League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood, Public Welfare, United Nations, and the YWCA. This 60 linear feet collection contains correspondence, broadsides, pamphlets, newspapers, newsletters, and other ephemeral items and range in date from 1943-1993.
Vann, Elizabeth Denny
Elizabeth Denny Vann received her B.A. (1904) and M.A. (1905) degrees from Vanderbilt University. She achieved notice as a teacher; a leader in community, civic, governmental and church affairs; and for public service. She worked with the Belgian Relief Mission group in Palo Alto; the censorship office in New York City; the International Red Cross in Rio; and helped organize the Bergen County Women’s Democratic Club in Leonia, New Jersey. During the 1930’s, she headed the New Jersey Women’s and Professional Division of the WPA. Her papers include correspondence; materials relating to West Side School, Wallace University School, and Vanderbilt University; materials relating to the WPA; diaries; and autobiographical notes.
The photographs in this collection were taken by Victoria Webb, and donated to Vanderbilt University on July 4, 2002. They were taken as the result of her involvement with the women’s liberation movement in Nashville, during the 1970s, and the publication titled, “Women’s Free Express.”
Werthen, Mary Jane
An alumna of Vanderbilt and the first woman to serve on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust, Mrs. Mary Jane (Lowenheim) Werthen received her B.A. in 1929 and her M.A. in 1935. She also served on the Alumni Board of Directors as well as a number of Nashville area educational and social welfare organizations. Her collection of papers includes newspaper clippings, programs and invitations to civic events, and photographs relating to her committee and Board of Trust activities.
The Women at Vanderbilt Collection is comprised of the reading assignments and seminar papers prepared in the Fall of 1981 by students in History 295/2, a course in historiography taught by Professor Barbara Weinstein. The seminar papers are listed alphabetically by author following a folder containing assignments and selected readings.
Women’s Organizations at Vanderbilt
Miscellaneous materials relating to the following women’s organizations at Vanderbilt: Nashville University Women’s Council; Southeastern Women’s Studies Association; Staff Women’s Association; Vanderbilt Professional Women; Vanderbilt Women’s Faculty Organization; Women’s Center; and Women’s Concerns Exploration Group. Coverage for each organization varies but includes some of the following: newsletters, by-laws, membership applications, meeting minutes, surveys, and other material.