Marjorie Greenfield correspondence on archaic headings, 1974-1991

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Summary

Creators:
Greenfield, Marjorie and Ulrich, Otto H.
Abstract:
Correspondence related to the successful effort to remove "homosexuality" from archaic and disparaging headings in the National Library of Medicine's classification systems, 1974-1978, and the World Health Organization's International Classification of Disease, 1985-1991. The projects were championed by Marjorie Greenfield, a lesbian woman, Philadelphia Metropolitan Hospital librarian, and member of the Gay and Lesbian Task Force of the American Library Association.
Extent:
0.1 Linear Feet 1 folder
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Item] Marjorie Greenfield Correspondence on Archaic Headings, Coll2014-064, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of copies of Marjorie Greenfield's out-going correspondence and replies from Otto H. Ulrich, Michael McConnell, Clifford A Bachrach, Emilie V. Wiggins, Lillian R. Kozuma, Cal Gough, Andy Elliott, Sanford Berman, James A. Paulsen, and Peggy Hanley-Hackenbruck. The exchange of correspondence, 1974-1978, relates to the successful effort to remove "Homosexuality" from archaic and disparaging headings in the National Library of Medicine's classification systems. The later exchange of correspondence, 1985-1991, refers to the successful effort to remove "Homosexuality" from disparaging headings in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Disease.

Biographical / historical:

Marjorie Greenfield was a medical librarian at Philadelphia Metropolitan Hospital. She was active in the lesbian and feminist movements and wrote under the pseudonym Marjorie Morgan. In the mid-1970s she worked to have the subject heading "homosexuality" removed from hierarchies that placed it under "Perversion," "Sickness," etc. Along with Otto Ulrich, other medical librarians, and health professionals, their campaign succeeded. The National Library of Medicine, an international authority on medical cataloging and classification, updated the cataloging of "Homosexuality," removing it from disparaging hierarchies. In the 1990s she worked to update the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases. Greenfield was also a member of the American Library Association Gay and Lesbian Task Force where she collected and preserved correspondence that included personal stories and letters of thanks for the Task Force's efforts.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Marjorie Greenfield, August 13, 1991.
Processing information:

Collection processed by Michael C. Oliveira, September 2014.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

[Item] Marjorie Greenfield Correspondence on Archaic Headings, Coll2014-064, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

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