Irene Bernice Wolt was a life-long activist and writer in the Los Angeles area who was involved in a diverse range of political, environmental, and social causes such as the anti-war war movement of the 1970s, redevelopment in Santa Monica, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights. She was the co-author of Thinking Big: The Story of the Los Angeles Times, Its Publishers, and Their Influence on Southern California (1977). She co-founded Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica non-profit environmental agency in 1985 and was also board president of the June Mazer Archives from 1995-1996. The collection contains materials from her personal and professional life, including journals, correspondence, photographs, audio recordings, personal materials, organizational files, writings, and subject files. The bulk of material dates from 1945 to 2009.

Irene Bernice Wolt was born in Newark, New Jersey, on October 9, 1945. She graduated from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, in 1968 with a B.A. in Psychology after having studied abroad in Mexico, England, and France. She worked in printing collectives in the late 1960s and early 1970s in New York and Wisconsin and moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1971 with her then-husband Paul Becker, where she volunteered for the People's Action Union for Peace and Justice (PAUPJ) and was closely involved with political activism. From 1971-1972, she worked as the general manager of the Peace Press, an alternative progressive print shop in Los Angeles which created posters, flyers and leaflets for clients including the Black Panther Party, Chicano Moratorium, Earth Day Committee, The Pentagon Papers Defense Committee, the United Farm Workers and American Indian Movement, among others. During this time, she devoted herself to causes such as the Anti-Vietnam War movement, the Tucson Grand Jury case, as well as the Pentagon Papers Peace Project which educated the public about The Pentagon Papers trial and its surrounding issues.

30.2 linear ft. (70 document boxes, 2 half document boxes, 4 shoeboxes, 1 flat box)

Copyright of this collection has been assigned to UCLA Library Special Collections. The library can grant permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish or quote must be submitted in writing to UCLA Library Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: © [date] The Regents of the University of California on behalf of UCLA Library Special Collections.

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information. Journals in Subseries 1.1 are restricted until 2037.