The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the University of Chicago Committee of the Council of the University Senate, Committee on University Women Records 1969-1978
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| Title: | University of Chicago. Committee of the Council of the University Senate. Committee on University Women. Records |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1969-1978 |
| Size: | 3.25 linear feet (7 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | The Committee on University Women (COUW or CUW) was established in 1969 to investigate "the status and opportunities open to academic women" at the University of Chicago. It was an appointed subcommittee of the Committee of the Council of the University Senate. This collection covers the chairmanships of Bernice Neugarten (1969-1970), Erica Reiner (1970-1974), and Janice Spofford (1974-1978). Materials include clippings, correspondence, statistical data, interviews and questionnaires, memoranda, publications, and reports. |
Series III: Restricted, contains GRE scores and student stipend information, restricted until 2049.
The remainder of the collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: University of Chicago. Committee of the Council of the University Senate. Committee on University Women. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
The Committee on University Women was appointed in 1969 to investigate "the status and opportunities open to academic women" on the University of Chicago campus. A subcommittee of the Committee of the Council of the University Senate, the COUW (also known as CUW) was established in response to controversy over the Department of Sociology's refusal to renew the contract of Assistant Professor Marlene Dixon.
Students claiming Dixon's politics and gender had prevented her reappointment staged a week-long sit-in at the administration buildings, but a review committee under the direction of Hanna Gray (later University President, 1978-1993) failed to reverse the decision. The administration sought to ease tensions on campus by appointing another committee, chaired by Bernice Neugarten of the Behavioral Science Department. After gathering extensive data from hearings, interviews, and surveys of both faculty and students, the Neugarten Committee published its report in May 1970. Their conclusions suggested the University of Chicago was no longer a place which encouraged female students or faculty, and called for a more intensive effort to recruit and retain women. The report disappointed some feminists on campus, who felt it a lukewarm effort to combat what they considered the entrenched sexist practices of University life.
After the Neugarten Report, the COUW continued its work under the direction of Erica Reiner of the Oriental Institute. She was succeeded in 1974 by Janice Spofford of the Biology Department. These committees continued to gather evidence, publish reports, and raise awareness about the issues facing women in the workforce.
This collection is divided into three series:
Series I: Neugarten Committee, 1969-1970, details the process of gathering data for the COUW's 1970 report on the status of women at the University of Chicago, produced under the direction of Bernice Neugarten. It contains clippings, correspondence, data, as well as interviews and questionnaires with responses. It includes copies and drafts of the 1970 report, and critiques of the report.
Series II: Reiner and Spofford Committees, 1970-1978, contains accounts, correspondence, data, publications, and reports generated and collected by the COUW. It covers the chairmanships of Erica Reiner (1970-1974) and Janice Spofford (1974-1978).
Series III: Restricted, contains GRE scores and student stipend information.
Neugarten, Bernice. Papers
Series I: Neugarten Committee, 1969-1970 |
This series details the process of gathering data for the COUW's 1970 report on the status of women at the University of Chicago, produced under the direction of Bernice Neugarten. It contains clippings, correspondence, data, as well as interviews and questionnaires with responses. It includes copies and drafts of the 1970 report, and critiques of the report. Of note are the responses given by female faculty to the Committee's inquiry about the central issues faced by women in academia. Also of note is a petition drafted by Sophonisba Breckenridge in the early 1920s, confronting the administration's record on employing women and awarding fellowships to female students.
| Box 1 Folder 1-5 | Admissions and enrollment questionnaires and data, 1969-1970 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Breckenridge, Sophonisba, "Petition to the President of the University," circa 1924-1925 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Chicago Maroon, clippings and correspondence, 1970 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | COUW, memoranda, 1969-1970 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | COUW, minutes, 1969 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Council of the University Senate, minutes, 1970 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Critiques of the COUW, undated |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Deans and department chairmen questionnaire, 1969 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Interviews, responses, and data, female faculty, 1969 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Interviews, responses, and data, female students, 1969 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Neugarten, Bernice, copy of the 1970 report with marginalia, circa 1970 |
| Box 2 Folder 6-7 | Neugarten, Bernice, correspondence, 1969-1971 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | New University Conference, "In the Belly of the Monster: A Critique of the Neugarten Report," 1970 |
| Box 3 Folder 2-3 | Student questionnaires and responses, 1969-1970 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Women in academia, clippings, 1969-1971 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | "Women in the University of Chicago: Report of the Committee on University Women," 1970 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | "Women in the University of Chicago: Report of the Committee on University Women," draft, 1970 |
Series II: Reiner and Spofford Committees, 1970-1978 |
This series contains accounts, correspondence, data, publications, and reports generated and collected by the COUW. It covers the chairmanships of Erica Reiner (1970-1974) and Janice Spofford (1974-1978).
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Campus women's organizations, newsletters and notices, 1977-1978 |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | Chicago Maroon, clippings, 1975-1978 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | COUW, agendas and minutes, 1974-1978 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | COUW, correspondence and memoranda, 1974-1977 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | COUW, invoices and receipts, circa 1977 |
| Box 4 Folder 4-5 | COUW, reports, 1970-1972, 1974, 1977 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Comptroller's Office, expense accounts, 1974-1978 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Connecticut Law Review, 1973 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | "Equal Opportunity in Higher Education," conference proceedings, 1976 |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | Equity needs assessment questionnaire and job questionnaire, undated |
| Box 4 Folder 10 | Harvard University, "Report on the Status of Women in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences," 1971 |
| Box 4 Folder 11 | Kreinberg, Nancy, "Comments About Their Work by Women in Science and Engineering," 1977 |
| Box 5 Folder 1-2 | List of female staff at the University of Chicago, circa 1972-1978 |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Luncheon invitations, undated |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Michigan State University, anti-discrimination policy, 1970-1971 |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | National Academy of Sciences, "Research Issues in the Employment of Women," 1974 |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | National women's organizations, correspondence, 1974-1976 |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | Project on the Education and Status of Women, newsletters, 1974 -1977 |
| Box 5 Folder 8-9 | Spofford, Janice, incoming correspondence, 1972-1977 |
| Box 5 Folder 10 | Spofford, Janice, notes, undated |
| Box 5 Folder 11 | Student members, correspondence, 1975 |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | University of Chicago School Review, "Women and Education" issue, 1972 |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | Women at the University of Chicago, statistical data, 1970-1977 |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | Women in academia, news and statistics, 1978 |
Series III: Restricted |
This series contains GRE scores and student stipends that are restricted.
| Box 7 Folder 1 | GRE scores and student stipends, 1969 |