Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer Papers
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Edith "Edie" Windsor was a computer programmer, LGBTQ+ activist, and also known as the lead plaintiff in the landmark United States Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor, which overturned Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013. In 1965, Windsor began a relationship with clinical psychologist Thea Spyer. As activists, they were involved in several New York City area LGBTQ+ organizations and were longtime attendees and participants in the New York City Gay Pride Parade. The Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer Papers (1888–2024) document the personal lives, professional careers, and LGBTQ+ activism of Windsor and Spyer. The collection includes materials from their early formative years into their adulthood through photographs, correspondence, school material, and family records. Their decades-long partnership is illustrated through extensive personal photographs, correspondence, and household files, with a particular emphasis on their identity as a lesbian couple, and their struggles with Spyer's multiple sclerosis. Their desire to marry is documented in planning files, photographs, and digital video recording of the 2007 ceremony. Windsor's professional career as a computer programmer, and Spyer's work as a clinical psychologist are documented through resumes, correspondence, newsletters, and published articles. Event files and organizational records dating from the 1980s to the 2020s document a variety of LGBTQ+ organizations in which Windsor and Spyer were involved throughout their lifetimes. Windsor's pivotal role in United States v. Windsor is documented through her legal files, correspondence, press coverage, and photographs.
Biographical Note on Edith "Edie" Windsor
Edith "Edie" Windsor (Schlain) (1929–2017) was a computer engineer and LGBTQ+ activist best known for her role as the lead plaintiff in the landmark 2013 Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor, which struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Windsor worked for IBM from the late 1950s through the 1980s, and later founded her own software consulting firm, PC Classics, Inc., which assisted many LGBTQ+ organizations in modernizing their mailing and membership systems.
In 1965, Windsor began a lifelong relationship with Thea Spyer. The couple became engaged in 1967, with the hope that same-sex marriage would eventally become legal in the United States. In the 1970s, Spyer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and as her condition worsened, Windsor chose to take early retirement from IBM in 1975 in order to become her full-time caregiver. The couple entered into a domestic partnership in 1993 and eventually married in Canada in 2007 when it became legal to do so there.
After Spyer's death in 2009, Windsor sought the federal estate tax exemption available to surviving spouses but was denied under DOMA. This led her to challenge the law, resulting in the United States Supreme Court 2013 decision in United States v. Windsor, a historic victory for marriage equality.
As an activist, Windsor worked closely with a number of LGBTQ+ organizations including the East End Gay Organization (EEGO), Services and Advocacy for LGBT Elders (SAGE), and Old Lesbians Organizing for Change (OLOC). She was also a longtime attendee and participant in the New York City Gay Pride Parade.
Following the Supreme Court decision, Windsor's profile as a public figure grew significantly. She became a celebrated LGBTQ+ advocate, receiving widespread recognition and numerous awards for her contributions to civil rights and social justice. Windsor married Judith Kasen in 2016. After her death in 2017, Windsor's legacy is carried on through her wife Judith Kasen-Windsor, as well as through various organizations including the Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer Foundation; The Stonybrook Southampton Edie Windsor Healthcare Center; and the Edie Windsor Visitor Center at Hetrick-Martin Institute.
Biographical Note on Thea Spyer
Thea Spyer (1931–2009) was a clinical psychologist and LGBTQ+ activist. Born in Amsterdam, she and her family emigrated to the United States in the 1940s. After earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Adelphi University, Spyer moved to New York City and served as Director of the Psychiatric Clinic at the International Center for the Disabled and then as a Clinical Consultant in Rehabilitation at St. Vincent's Hospital in Westchester. She eventually started her own private practice, continuing to see patients until her death in 2009.
In 1965, Spyer began a relationship with Edie Windsor which lasted over 40 years. The couple became engaged in 1967, entered a domestic partnership in 1993, and married in Toronto, Canada, in 2007. Spyer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the mid-1970s and eventually needed full-time care and used a wheelchair.
After Spyer's death, her wife Edie was denied the federal estate tax exemption for surviving spouses under the Defense of Marriage Act. Windsor's legal challenge led to the 2013 decision on the United States Supreme Court case United States v. Windsor.
Spyer's work in the mental health field, especially related to the LGBTQ+ community, is commemorated through the Thea Spyer Center at the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and the Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer Foundation.
Arrangement
Organized into three series, with each further divided into subseries:
Series I. Personal
Subseries I.A. Edie Windsor
Subseries I.B. Thea Spyer
Subseries I.C. Household
Series II. Professional
Subseries II.A. Edie Windsor
Subseries II.B. Thea Spyer
Series III. Activism
Subseries III.A. Events and Appearances
Subseries III.B. Organizations
Subseries III.C. United States v. Windsor
Material within each series is arranged alphabetically and grouped by subject, with the exception of Subseries III.A. and III.C. which are arranged in chronological order.
Scope and Contents
This collection chronicles the more than forty-year relationship and marriage of Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer, providing a unique perspective on LGBTQ+ life and community from the late 20th century into the early 21st century. It also highlights their shared activism and Windsor's later emergence as a cultural icon through her landmark United States Supreme Court Case, United States v. Windsor, which struck down key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
Material related to Edie and Thea's early lives as children and young adults offers a clearer understanding of them as individuals before they became a couple in 1965. The impact of World War II and post-War culture on both of their early lives is represented in this collection through Windsor's photographs, school ephemera, and correspondence, documenting her life growing up in Philadelphia, going to college, and working summers in Atlantic City. Contrasting this with Thea's experience being born in the Netherlands in the 1930s and, because her family was Jewish, fleeing the country and eventually moving to the United States in the early 1940s. This collection contains Thea's photographs, correspondence, citizenship documentation, and family ephmera.
Edie and Thea's life together is documented through images and materials that illustrate their vibrant social life centered within the LGBTQ+ community, featuring decades of gatherings, vacations, beach days, celebrations, and their 2007 wedding. Thea's diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in the mid-1970s also impacted their lives, especially as her MS progressed through the years, with her eventually requiring full time caregiving and use of a wheelchair. Their gradual adjustments through the years to providing Thea with more accessibility in their living spaces and beyond are evident in images, correspondence, travel documents, and in apartment and house renovation plans. Planning files, photographs, and a digital video recording of their 2007 wedding in Toronto, Canada, document a same-sex couple whose commitment to marriage required traveling abroad, due to legal restrictions in the U.S. These materials also reflect the challenges they faced as elderly individuals with chronic illnesses, underscoring the deep personal significance of their decision to marry.
Work files in this collection for both Edie and Thea provide insight into the lives of women working during the 1950s through 1980s, specifically in predominantly male-dominated fields. Windsor worked as a computer programmer for IBM and as a consultant, where not only was she one of the only women, but she was also not out as a lesbian to her co-workers. Her programming source code, consulting business client files, and involvement in various professional groups also provides documentation on the developing role of computers and programming for work and home during this time.
This collection also follows Edie and Thea's activism in a variety of LGBTQ+ community organizations, many of which had specific focuses that appealed to them, including geographic location such as NFWFW (North Fork Women for Women) or EEGO (East End Gay Organization), or SAGE (Services and Advocacy for LGBT Elders) and OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change), both organizations concenered with the care and rights of elderly gay people. Event and appearance files within this collection document how Edie and Thea's social lives and activism were intertwined, and in later years reflect the increased social demands on Windsor after her United States Supreme Court decision in 2013, which made her a highly sought after personality for appearances. Additionally, this collection contains documentation on Windsor's United State Supreme Court Case, United States v. Windsor which struck down key parts of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). This material accumulated by Windsor includes correspondence, press conference talking points, photographs, press clippings, and legal documentation.
Subjects
Organizations
People
Topics
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer Papers; MSS 642; box number; folder number or item identifier; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Judith Kasen-Windsor, Edie Windsor's widow, in June 2024; the accession number associated with this gift is 2024.032. Kasen-Windsor donated an accretion of paper and electronic records in December 2024; the accession number associated with this gift is 2024.055.
Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures
Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted. An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.
Appraisal
The following items were removed from the collection during processing: 39 born-digital carriers (blank; commercial; and duplicate material); 1 audiocassette; 2 commercial DVDs (exterior covers of documentary films were retained as objects); 12 cartons of duplicate print material and out of scope correspondence; and 5 cartons of empty slide carousels and their storage boxes. Three cartons of images were separated from the collection using the following directives: blurry/out of focus; children pictured alone (e.g., children of friends); portraits or candids of individual friends without context; home improvement (e.g., close-up images of pipes, drywall, and tools); repetitive yard images without context; and close-up images of decor without context.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of accessioning in August 2024, materials were left in their original order and rehoused in archival boxes. Loose materials were rehoused in folders in their existing order. Born-digital materials on physical carriers were identified, physically separated, inventoried, and forensically imaged. New York University Libraries follow professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the content.
In 2025, paper material was placed in acid-free folders and manuscript boxes. Oversized material was foldered and housed appropriately according to its size. Duplicate material including event programs, organizational promotional brochures and booklets, and press clippings and articles were removed from the collection, keeping only one copy of each. The covers were retained for two commercially available DVDs related to documentaries on Edie and Thea and the discs were removed from the collection.
One copy of each photograph was retained, unless copies were included within an object, such as an album. Photographic material was physically separated from the rest of the collection and the files were stored together, grouped by format/size when possible, and listed intellectually within the finding aid inventory. Archival object titles containing folders for both paper and images were nested separately in the inventory under a common title. Negatives were kept with their corresponding prints, but stored behind a paper barrier. Loose negatives without corresponding prints were grouped together in shared folders. Albums containing loose prints had their pages photocopied and photographs were removed from their pages and placed in envelopes for storage. Slides previously stored in carousel projector boxes were removed and placed in appropriate sleeves, including any written notations from the outside of the box.
Select creator-supplied titles containing ableist language were identified in this collection, but have been retained to convey important contextual information regarding the time and place in which the documents and titles were created. The description and inventory contains multiple different acronyms referring to LGBTQ+ individuals and communities; these have been retained in order to accurately represent how the groups identify themselves.
70 born-digital carriers were forensically imaged and analyzed. The 30 carriers retained in the collection were arranged and described. An unsuccessful attempt was made to image a disk containing a program created by Edie (FA_MSS_642_70); however, this disk was kept as an object in the collection.
The processing archivist used AI tools to assist in writing some of the scope and contents notes. They used chatgpt.com to edit series and subseries scope and note drafts, asking it to improve grammar and clarity. They used some, but not all, of chatgpt's suggestions.
