WMNS 490/690: Feminist Analysis and Practices

Getting Started

• “Voices from Eau Claire: Some Perspectives on Women and the Campus.”  Box 1, Folder 10.  Sarah Harder Papers, 1970-2000. AS586. Special Collections & Archives, McIntyre Library, University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire. Eau Claire, WI.

Oral History: Methods and Forms

• Tiffany Gerber's Oral History Presentation
  
  
• Consent Form
• Interview Confirmation Letter
• Artifact and Archival Inventory Form
• Thank You Letter

Model Oral History Interviews

Feeling unsure about what a good oral history interview sounds like? Listen to an interview or two from the collections below:

• Documenting the American South: Oral Histories of the South
• Kentuckiana Digital Library Oral History Collection

Put Your Interviewee in Context

• National / International Context

• Use the McIntyre Library Catalog, the Universal Borrowing Catalog, and WorldCat to find scholarly books and contemporaneous popular books on the women's movement, feminism, and other relevant social currents and ideologies. Helpful search terms / subject headings include:
  
  

  • Feminism -- United States
  • Women's Rights -- United States
  • African American Women
  • Feminism and literature -- United States
  • Women - Wisconsin
  • Hmong American Women
  • Homosexuality
  • Lesbians
  • Women - Social Conditions
    
    
    
• Find full-text scholarly articles on the same subjects in JSTOR ("Feminist and Women's Studies" Journals), Project Muse ("Women's Studies" Journals), and citations to scholarly articles in Women's Studies International.
  
  
• Find articles from the popular feminist press in GenderWatch (PQ)
  
  
• Find articles from the mainstream press at The New York Times Web site (don't pay for the articles, though -- get them on microfilm at the library) and ProQuest Newspapers.

• Regional / Local Context
  
  
• Remember that regional / local context may or may not be the Chippewa Valley! It depends on your interviewee's life history.
  
  
• Newspapers:
  • In McIntyre Library, on 2nd floor on microfilm: All Eau Claire newspapers, the Spectator, Milwaukee Journal / Sentinel.
  • Other Wisconsin and some out of state newspapers may be requested from Wisconsin Historical Society through Interlibrary Loan.
    
    
• Wisconsin Government Documents
  • Legislative histories
  • Statistical reports
    

• Special Collections & Archives:
  • Search the McIntyre Library Catalog for historical university records. Particularly helpful records include:
    
    
    
  • Historical UWEC publications, including the university catalog, course schedules, and yearbooks (through 1995).
  • Records of university governing bodies (University Senate, Student Senate).
  • Records of the Women's Studies program at UWEC.
  • Records on the implementation of Title IX at UWEC.
  • Chancellor's correspondence and subject file.
  • Records of local women's organizations, including NOW and Women in Higher Education.
  • Photograph collections (University photos at UWEC, regional photos at Chippewa Valley Museum).
    
    
• Wisconsin Historical Society Collections
  • Search ArCat to locate archival collections and state records on women and feminism in Wisconsin.

Specific suggestions for interviewees

• Sarah Harder
  
  Sarah Harder's papers are housed at both UWEC and Wisconsin Historical Society. UWEC materials include biographical files and administrative files, while the WHS materials document her activism at the regional, national, and international level. Sarah Harder was prolific and donated over 100 feet of material to the archives. Talk with Colleen before diving in!
  
  
• Rose-Marie Avin
  
  Early records (1984-1990) of the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua (WCCN),an organization in which Avin is active are housed at Wisconsin Historical Society and may be transfered up to Eau Claire for research.
  
  
• Kaying Xiong
  
  The Jack O'Connell Hmong collections at UWEC documents the early history of the Hmong immigration to Wisconsin from the perspective of educational and social service agencies in the Chippewa Valley. Also, the Chippewa Valley Museum has a rich collection of oral histories with members of the local Hmong community.
  
  
• Susan Turell
  
  Records of the Wisconsin Coalition against Domestic Violence, 1977-1999, are housed at Wisconsin Historical Society. WCADV collaborates with the Wisconsin Coalition against Sexual Assault on issues affecting the GLBT community. The Alternative Press Index might also be a good source of contextual information on sexual assault and abuse issues among gays and lesbians
  
  
• David Jones

Seek out regional and national African American newspapers for information on contemporary black feminism within African American culture. Alternative Press Index provides full text access to African American and other ethnic / minority news publications. A prominent mainstream African American newspaper, Chicago Defender / Chicago Daily Defender, is available through Interlibrary Loan from the Wisconsin Historical Society.