Laura Shaw Murra collection on feminism

Call Number

MS 3142

Date

circa 1968-2018? (bulk 1969-1990s), inclusive

Creator

X., Laura

Extent

2.5 Linear feet in one document box and one oversize folder

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The collection includes flyers, pamphlets, news articles, posters, and other documents related to the feminist activist Laura Shaw Murra (also known as Laura X) and the three organizations she formed in 1969 and the 1970s: the Women's History Library, Women's History Research Center, and the National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape (NCMDR).

Biographical / Historical

Laura Shaw Murra, an activist on feminist issues, was born Laura Rand Orthwein, Jr. in St. Louis, Missouri in 1940; she changed her name legally in 1962. In 1969, Murra adopted the pen name Laura X "to symbolize the anonymity of women's history and the concept that women are legally owned by their fathers and husbands" (see chronology in box 1, folder 1). Murra arrived in Berkeley, California, in 1963, eventually graduating from the university there.

A professor's denigrating comments reflecting his perception of the unimportance of women's history and of women in history led Laura X and others to publish a pamphlet about women in world history. That resource, eventually named "Herstory Synopsis," would lead other women to send narratives and documents of their own to Laura X, resulting in an ever-growing accumulation named the Women's History Library. The Library formed the core resource of the Women's History Research Center, an incorporated tax-exempt foundation created at least in part to help financially support the Library. Nevertheless, by 1974 the cost of maintaining a library was too great and the contents were dispersed to the University of Wyoming, Northwestern University, and elsewhere. However, much, perhaps all, of the holdings had been microfilmed in the early 1970s for widespread use and for sale to support the Center, and the microfilm continued to be sold to libraries. The microfilm was available in three topical sets: Women and Health/Mental Health (14 reels), Women and Law (40 reels), and Herstory (90 reels). By 1986 the microfilm was held in over 300 libraries in 14 countries.

Although by the mid-1970s the Library no longer existed, the Women's History Research Center continued, in part to distribute the microfilm and act as a clearinghouse for information. Meanwhile during the mid-1970s, Laura X became increasingly aware of marital rape and the fact that it was not a crime in the United States. In turn, her activism on this matter provided a new focus for the Women's History Research Center. In 1980, Laura X launched a charter membership drive to form the National Clearinghouse on Marital Rape (later retitled to refer to both marital and date rape to take in additional forms of acquaintance rape). From this organizational platform, Laura X and others provided research, education, advocacy, and other forms of activism in an effort to have marital and other forms of acquaintance rape recognized and criminalized on the same basis as rape committed by someone who was unknown to the victim. The Clearinghouse closed in the early 2000s, though Laura X continued her work through a new organization, the Laura X - Laura Rand Orthwein, Jr. World Institute.

(The above note was based on various on-line sources and documents in the collection.)

Arrangement

The collection is arranged primarily by format with topical files followed by a few pins and a medallion and then posters. The posters are arranged chronologically and listed individually.

The topical files were received from the donor in two folders, labeled "rape" and "non-rape." The contents of the "rape" folder appear in the container list labeled as "marital and date rape," though the processing archivist did move some documents into the "non-rape" folder and vice versa. The contents of the "non-rape" folder were sorted by the processing archivist into perceived subject categories and appear in the container list accordingly.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes various items representative of the three organizations formed by Laura X/Laura Shaw Murra to advance feminist causes, especially with regard to advocating for the legal recognition of marital and date rape. These three organizations were the Women's History Library, Women's History Research Center, and the National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape (NCMDR). The collection holds flyers, publicity pamphlets, two of the thirty issues of the newsletter SPAZM issued by Laura X in 1969, information about the Library's resources and related microfilm product, internship descriptions, news articles on marital rape, chronologies of Laura X's and NCMDR's work, and a memoir of Laura Murra's trip to the Soviet Union (1968?). There are also 15 posters (most are laminated), primarily from the 1990s, mostly highlighting accomplished and historically significant women. Two posters are from a public service campaign with date rape awareness messages.

Subjects

Titles

SPAZM

Conditions Governing Access

Open to qualified researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.) This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the Laura Shaw Murra Collection on Feminism, MS 3142, New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Laura Shaw Murra, also known as Laura X, 2019.

Collection processed by

Larry Weimer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:49:03 -0400.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

The collection was processed by archivist Larry Weimer in September 2019.

Repository

New-York Historical Society

View Inventory

Biographical Documents, 1968?, 1980s, 1994, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Holds Murra's 1968(?) reflections of, mostly, her trip to the Soviet Union in 1967(?); her curriculum vitae (circa 1988); and a clipping with a color photo of her (1994).

SPAZM Newsletters, 1969, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 2 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Holds copies of the November 26 and December 7 issues. Also holds a photocopy of Murra's article "Queen Christina" as published in Ann Forfreedom (ed.) "Women Out of History: A Herstory Anthology" (1972), originally printed in the May 1969 issue of SPAZM.

Women's Liberation Programs, 1969, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 3 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Holds 3 documents: April 25 newsletter listing Women's Liberation Workshops, June 15 list headed with relevant programs on KQED-TV and including other events and resources, and a flyer for an open house on November 1 at Berkeley Women's Liberation's new office.

Women's History Research Resources (2 folders), circa 1971, 1974, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 4-5 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Essay "Male Supremacy" by Lynn O'Connor, issued by "The Women's Page" publication in San Francisco (circa 1971), song lyrics, and book "Female Artists, Past and Present" published by the Women's History Research Center (1974).

Women's History Research Center: Background and Collections, 1971-1979, 2018?, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 6 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Lists of periodicals held and not held by the Center's Library (1971), descriptions of the Women's History Library (with a hand-drawn map of the Library's lay-out) and collections, and American Library Association resolution (1972) recognizing the Center's community contributions. Also a self-published booklet "Laura X Social Movements Archives" (2018?) with a history of the Library/Archives and its dispersal, with photographs of collection highlights.

Publicity, Fundraising, Microfilm Sales, circa 1981-circa 2012, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 7 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Flyers and brochures for sales of the Library's microfilm sets, general financial support, and for donations of additional materials documenting women's lives. Also a flyer (circa 2012) for benefit concerts in connection with the Laura X Institute.

Women's History Research Center Internships/Volunteers, 1980s?, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 8 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Position descriptions

Other Resources, 1968, 1990s-2005, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 9 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Holds a copy of page 64) from the book by Eleanor Flexner "The Women's Rights Movement in the United States (1968); essay "A Perspective on 'The Crucible'" by Melissa Hillman (1995); publicity flyers for three items (book, movie, theatre) concerning women; and the program for the 23rd National Conference on Women & the Law (1998).

Marital and Date Rape (3 folders), 1970s-1990s, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 10-12 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Holds publicity and other flyers concerning the National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape (NCMDR) and its programs (including a 2.5 hour program presented by Laura X), a chronology of NCMDR and Laura X's activism from 1968-1998, photocopies of news articles and other reference material on the topic, and descriptions of internship positions at the NCMDR.

Pins and Medallion, undated, inclusive

Box: 1, Folder: 13 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Contents

Holds a set of four pins with quotations from Gloria Steinem in connection with her book "Gloria: A Life" and two pins and one medallion from the Dred Scott Heritage Foundation.