We spent this week searching through the papers of Kathryn “Kay” Clarenbach at the University of Wisconsin in Madison thanks to a grant from UCF. The papers were in the University Archives at the Steenboch Library. Her files were extensive – there was a 94-page finding guide. We made hundreds of copies.

We found some wonderful material. There were references to several women’s page editors, including Dorothy Jurney and Vivian Castleberry. There were informative letters between Kay and feminist leader Catherine East. (We went through East’s papers at Harvard University a few years ago.)

We also found the background material that we had been searching for regarding the NOW-initiated lawsuits that forced the newspapers to stop dividing their help-wanted ads into sex-segregated columns.

The first area I plan to work on is Kay’s work with the Wisconsin Commission on the Status of Women. She oversaw the group for 15 years and fought publicly with Gov. Dreyfus to keep the Commission going. She ultimately lost that battle despite newspaper editorials that supported her work.

I am hoping this material results in a few articles and a book project.

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We spent this week searching through the papers of Kathryn “Kay” Clarenbach at the University of Wisconsin in Madison thanks to a grant from UCF. The papers were in the University Archives at the Steenboch Library. Her files were extensive – there was a 94-page finding guide. We made hundreds of copies.

We found some wonderful material. There were references to several women’s page editors, including Dorothy Jurney and Vivian Castleberry. There were informative letters between Kay and feminist leader Catherine East. (We went through East’s papers at Harvard University a few years ago.)

We also found the background material that we had been searching for regarding the NOW-initiated lawsuits that forced the newspapers to stop dividing their help-wanted ads into sex-segregated columns.

The first area I plan to work on is Kay’s work with the Wisconsin Commission on the Status of Women. She oversaw the group for 15 years and fought publicly with Gov. Dreyfus to keep the Commission going. She ultimately lost that battle despite newspaper editorials that supported her work.

I am hoping this material results in a few articles and a book project.

Please follow and like us: