Black Women Stirring the Waters Collection, 1982-1997, bulk (bulk 1994-1997)

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Summary

Creators:
Black Women Stirring the Waters (Oakland, Calif.) and Butler, Mary Ellen, 1940-
Abstract:
The Black Women Stirring the Waters Collection includes contributing authors’ manuscripts and correspondence, history and records of the group, and audio recordings. The collection documents the creation of the organization’s 1997 publication, Black Women Stirring the Waters .
Extent:
.75 linear feet (2 boxes)
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English
Preferred citation:

Black Women Stirring the Waters collection, MS 152, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The Black Women Stirring the Waters Collection includes contributing authors’ manuscripts and correspondence, history and records of the group, and audio recordings. The collection documents the creation of the organization’s 1997 publication, Black Women Stirring the Waters . Records include each author’s original manuscript and drafts for the publication, including any correspondence between the authors and Mary Ellen Butler, compiler and editor of the book. Documents include a conference agenda from the group’s inception and newspaper clippings publicizing the book’s release. The collection is arranged into four series: 1) Author manuscripts and correspondence, 2) organization history and records, 3) audiocassettes, and 4) published material.

Biographical / historical:

Black Women Stirring the Waters is a black women’s discussion group founded in 1984 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The group was conceived by Clara Stanton Jones, the first African American to head the public library of a major city and the first African American president of the American Library Association, and Aileen Clarke Hernandez, activist, and former President of the National Organization for Women (NOW). The group was organized with no formal structure, no taboo subjects, and no requirements for membership other than an interest in the dialog. Black Women Stirring the Waters takes its name from a quote attributed to the 19th century abolitionist, Sojourner Truth. The group has a large roster of members from six Bay Area counties ranging in age from mid-twenties to mid-nineties; bi-monthly meetings are held to discuss the perspectives of black women on a multitude of subjects. In 1997, forty-four members of the group published a collection of autobiographical memoirs discussing ways they have dealt with obstacles and have grown in their lives and careers.

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated to the African American Museum Library at Oakland on February 23, 2004 by Mary Ellen Butler.
Processing information:

Processed by Jennifer Pickens, May 21, 2014.

Arrangement:

Series I. Author manuscripts and correspondence Series II. Organization history and records Series III. Audiocassettes Series IV. Published material

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.

Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish from the Black Women Stirring the Waters Collection must be obtained from the African American Museum & Library at Oakland.

Preferred citation:

Black Women Stirring the Waters collection, MS 152, African American Museum & Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.

Location of this collection:
659 14th Street
Oakland, CA 94612, US
Contact:
(510) 637-0198
aamlo@oaklandlibrary.org
Website