Description
Survey records, meeting minutes, newsletter editorial material, photographs, negatives, correspondence, financial records,
event programs, press releases, manuscripts, promotional material, and other material documenting the activities of Southern
California Women for Understanding (SCWU), 1975-1998. Founded in 1976, SCWU was an organization of women "dedicated to creating
an atmosphere of understanding of Lesbian issues within both the homosexual and heterosexual communities." Notably, this
collection includes numerous photographs and textual content used in the publication of the SCWU newsletter, as well as a
1988 survey of 1000 lesbian women.
Background
Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) was founded in 1976 to create "an atmosphere of understanding of Lesbian
issues within both the homosexual and heterosexual communities." Betty Berzon, a lesbian board member of the predominantly
male Whitman-Radclyffe Foundation, took hold of the idea to form an all woman support group in Southern California. Twenty
women attended the first meeting in a private home, and ten decided to start a women's group.
Restrictions
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.