This collection documents the growth and activities of the National Writing Project, a nationwide professional development network for teachers of writing, from its inception as the Bay Area Writing Project in 1974 to its programs in 2014. Collection material includes correspondence; funding and financial documentation; program files generated by its national programs and initiatives; production files for its major publications; administrative files for its national networks of sites, as well as review and survey processes; legislative material; and material documenting the activities of the national leadership. Also included are materials from the early days of the Project, the papers of founding director James Gray, and the records of an early affiliate, The Center for the Study of Writing. The collection also contains photographs and audiovisual material relating to the activities of the Project.

The National Writing Project began in 1974 in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley, where James Gray and his colleagues established a university-based program for K–16 teachers called the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP).

136.5 linear feet (109 cartons, 3 boxes)

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Collection is open for research, with the exception of unprocessed digital materials.