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Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley Collection
URB.CFSFV
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley Collection
Creator:
Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley
Identifier/Call Number: URB.CFSFV
Extent:
7.04 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1983-2003
Date (bulk): 1989-2003
Abstract: In the early 1970s, one of the leading
national Chicana activist organizations, Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional (CFMN), was
created in Southern California. The focus of CFMN was to raise awareness of political and
social issues that affected Latina women on a national level. CFMN felt that the role and
well-being of Latinas were being left out of discussions taking place from the wider context
of the Chicano movement. The
Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley
Collection
consists of correspondence, financial records, flyers, meeting agendas
and minutes, membership rosters, newsletters, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, photographs,
posters, reports, and videocassettes that relate to their chapter history and
activities.
Language of Material: English
In the early 1970s, one of the leading national Chicana activist organizations, Comisión
Femenil Mexicana Nacional (CFMN), was created in Southern California. The focus of CFMN was
to raise awareness of political and social issues that affected Latina women on a national
level. CFMN felt that the role and well-being of Latinas were being left out of discussions
taking place from the wider context of the Chicano movement. By 1985, CFMN had organized
twenty-four chapters across the country and Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley (CFSFV)
became one of the first chapters to join the national organization.
CFSFV has its roots in an organization named Mujeres de la Raza that was started by a
group of Latina staff and faculty at California State University, Northridge in the early
1970s. This founding group of women began to recruit other Latina professionals from the
community who were also interested in promoting the success of young Latinas. In 1991,
Mujeres de la Raza formally changed its name to Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley.
Although the national organization has been inactive for several years, CFSFV continues to
operate.
CFSFV is a non-profit, community service organization that serves the Latina community by
providing educational, professional, and personal development opportunities through
activities, programs, and its membership. The focus of CFSFV has been to reach out and
empower young Latina women in the San Fernando Valley. This has been done through sponsoring
various events and programs. Some of their events are held annually and target Latina
students from San Fernando Valley high schools. One of their primary events is the annual
Adelante Mujer Latina Conference that is attended by 300 to 400 hundred of these students.
Similar conferences have been sponsored by other chapters in their respective communities.
The First Adelante Mujer Hispana Conference that was held at CSUN took place on April 28,
1990 and was sponsored by CFMN. The following year, CFSFV sponsored the Second Adelante
Mujer Hispana Conference at CSUN and has held the event almost every year since. The
conferences have been regularly held at CSUN except in 1992 and 1995 when it was held at Los
Angeles Valley Community College. The full-day conferences offer a variety of workshops that
are conducted by women who represent fields such as medicine, law, media, education,
business, political science, and engineering. In 1996, CFSFV changed the conference name
from Adelante Mujer Hispana to Adelante Mujer Latina.
Another annual program that CFSFV has conducted is their student scholarship competition.
CFSFV held its first scholarship competition in 1992, which recognized eight female students
from different San Fernando Valley high schools and gave out a total of $650.00 to the
winners. Since then, the scholarship competition has grown in the number of applicants and
in the amount of the awards given out.
CFSFV also sponsors the
Viva la Mujer! event, an annual gala
in which Latinas are recognized for having distinguished themselves in their profession and
have made significant contributions to their community. Among some of the noted women to
receive this honor include Dr. Gloria Romero, the first Latina elected for the L.A.
Community College District Board of Trustees, Teresa Sanchez-Gordon, a California Superior
Court Judge for Los Angeles County, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers,
Laura Diaz, television news anchor, and Diane Medina, Director of Diversity Programs at Walt
Disney and named one of 100 most influential Latinos in 1999 by
Hispanic Business Magazine.
Many of the events and programs that CFSFV has conducted have been supported by donations
and grants from entities such as the Los Angeles Unified School District (L.A.U.S.D.),
California State Department of Education, Career Equity Services Office, Pacific Bell,
Kaiser Permanente, City Councilpersons Richard Alarcon and Alex Padilla, Congressman Howard
Berman and many more. CFSFV also raises funds through their annual membership dues and other
fundraising events such as their Annual Gala.
The
Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley Collection (CFSFV)
consists of correspondence, financial records, flyers, meeting agendas and minutes,
membership rosters, newsletters, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, photographs, posters,
reports, and videocassettes that relate to their chapter history and activities. The CFSFV
Collection also contains some board meeting minutes, correspondence, flyers, and newsletters
that pertain to the Comisión Femenil Los Angeles Chapter and to Comisión Femenil Mexicana
Nacional, the national chapter of the organization. The collection has been divided into
five major series:
Administrative Records (1983-2002),
Financial Records (1990-2002),
Sponsored
Programs
(1983-2003),
Affiliated Comisión Femenil
Organizations
(1985-2002), and
Audio-Visual Materials
(1990-2001).
Series I,
Administrative Records, contains documents that show
the organizational and governing structure of CFSFV, which includes their annual election
ballots, board and chapter meeting agendas and minutes, by-laws and incorporation materials.
Of particular interest is a draft report of the Task Force on Mexican-Origin Issues of the
Latino Children's Issues Project. The files are first arranged in alphabetical order by
subject and thereafter arranged chronologically. Because CFSFV operated on a fiscal
calendar, July 1 to June 30, the files are arranged accordingly.
Series II,
Financial Records, consists of correspondence that
relates to financial matters including expense reports, lists of donors and sponsors of
CFSFV activities/ events, projected budgets and treasurer's reports. The files are first
arranged in alphabetical order by subject and thereafter arranged chronologically. The
treasurer's reports are chronologically arranged in a manner to reflect the fiscal calendar,
July 1 to June 30.
Series III,
Sponsored Programs, includes records documenting
events and programs organized and sponsored by CFSFV, some of which have been held annually
and some of which have been held periodically. This series has been further divided into six
subseries:
Adelante Mujer Hispana / Latina Conference
(1991-1999),
Celebration of Books (1999-2000),
16 de Septiembre / Annual Gala (1994-2001),
Mary
Helen Ponce Literary Contest
(1997-2001),
Student Scholarship/
Awards
(1992-2003), and
Special Events (1983-2001). Each
subseries consist of documents that pertain to one specific program or event except the
last, which contains folders from various events that have been held more sporadically.
Series IV,
Affiliated Comisión Femenil Organizations, consists
of two subseries: Subseries A,
Comisión Femenil Los Angeles
(CFLA) (1989-1999), includes a calendar of events, flyers and invitations to sponsored
events, and three newsletters that pertain directly to CFLA. Subseries B,
Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional (CFMN) (1985-2002), consists of
materials that document the first Adelante Mujer Hispana Conference held in 1990 at CSUN,
which was organized primarily by CFMN. In the consecutive years, CFSFV took over and
organized the Adelante Mujer Conferences that were held at various locations in the San
Fernando Valley.
Series V,
Audio-Visual Materials, includes photographs dating
from 1990-2001 and videocassettes dating from 1992. The CFSFV photograph collection consists
of 415 images that capture a variety of the different programs and events that the
organization has sponsored and participated in. The photographs are contained within two
photograph albums and are arranged chronologically by event. Ten videocassettes document
various workshops held at the 2nd Annual Adelante Mujer Hispana Conference at CSUN, such as
preparing for careers in the medical field, law, and business.
Series I: Administrative Records, 1983-2002
Series II: Financial Records, 1990-2002
Series III: Sponsored Programs, 1983-2003
Subseries A: Adelante Mujer Hispana / Latina Conference, 1991-1999
Subseries B: Celebration of Books, 1999-2000
Subseries C: 16 de Septiembre / Annual Gala, 1994-2001
Subseries D: Mary Helen Ponce Literary Contest, 1997-2001
Subseries E: Student Scholarship / Awards, 1992-2003
Subseries F: Special Events, 1983-2001
Series IV: Affiliated Comisión Femenil Organizations, 1985-2002
Subseries A: Comisión Femenil Los Angeles, CFLA, 1989-1999
Subseries B: Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional, CFMN, 1985-2002
Series V: Audio-Visual Materials, 1990-2001
Digital reproductions of selected items in this collection are available electronically as
a part of the
Latina(o) Cultural Heritage Archives
project.
Other Information:
This collection was processed in part under a U.S. Department of Education Title V
Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Grant.
The collection is open for research use.
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley. 06/2003.
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Robert G. Marshall, Rebecca S. Graff, Yvette Maria Bocz, Blanca Valencia, 2004
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents
Photographs
Audiovisual materials