National Women's History Project Collection, 1977-2023

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Summary

Title:
National women's history project collection
Dates:
1977-2023
Creators:
National Women's History Project
Abstract:
Compilation of organizational records, promotional materials, lesson plans, correspondence, publications, photographs, posters and more generated by the NWHP and educational institutions of all grade levels, and from other organizations representing all 50 states in the USA, Guam, Puerto Rico; several foreign countries and U.S. military, governmental agencies and religious organizations.
Extent:
124 boxes
Language:
Preferred citation:

National Women's History Project Collection. Special Collections, University Library, Sonoma State University

Background

Scope and content:

The materials are organized into 124 boxes and 31 Record Groups

Biographical / historical:

The National Women’s History Project (NWHP) grew out of a women’s history class project assigned by Professor Alice Wexler at what was then Sonoma State College in the early 1970s. Students in the class, Molly Murphy MacGregor and Bette Morgan created a slideshow using photographs taken from books, magazines and posters, calling it “We, The Women,” that they shared with schools and local women’s groups. The creation of this traveling slideshow coincided with the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women’s 1976 Educational Task Force’s efforts to determine how to implement recent federal legislation known as Title 9, an amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1965. The new law required that all schools receiving federal funds must give equal treatment to males and females in all school and extracurricular activities. The Sonoma County Women's History Week Parade, sponsored by the Commission on the Status of Women and the Women's Support Network, took place in March 1979. That same summer, while Molly Murphy MacGregor and others representing a wide range of national women’s organizations, attended the Women's History Institute at Sarah Lawrence College in New York a resolution to establish a National Women's History Week was passed. Through an enthusiastic and coordinated lobbying effort, this group mobilized their extensive networks and, together with numerous history organizations, urged local, state, and national elected officials to lend their support. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Message designating the week of March 8th as National Women's History Week. In 1985, NWHP co-founders Molly Murphy MacGregor, Paula Hammett, Mary Ruthsdotter, Maria Cuevas, and Bette Morgan filed articles of incorporation, establishing the organization as a nonprofit public benefit corporation. Its stated purpose was to build an educational network dedicated to the "instruction in and dissemination of educational materials" relating to the lives of women — past, present, and future — through publications, lectures, conferences, and other means. In 2018, the NWHP changed its name to the National Women’s History Alliance.

Processing information:

The collection was processed by Katherine J. Rinehart. The finding aid and inventory were completed by Katherine J. Rinehart in May 2026.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by Sonoma State University Library staff.
Date Prepared:
May 15, 2026, 1:15 p.m.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on May 15, 2026, 1:15 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research by appointment.

Terms of access:

The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimant to literary property.

Preferred citation:

National Women's History Project Collection. Special Collections, University Library, Sonoma State University

Location of this collection:
Special Collections
1801 E. Cotati Avenue
Rohnert Park, CA 94928, US
Contact:
(707) 664-4152
specialcollections@sonoma.edu
Website