Archive of 1960s–1980s Second-wave Feminist Material Mainly from New York City Activist Groups Belonging to an Employee of Mother Courage, the First Feminist Restaurant, with Material on Women’s Film, Performance, and Health

United States, 1980. Approximately 170 pieces; see below for full inventory. Conditions vary; generally very good to excellent.. An archive of material belonging to Rosemary Gaffney (?–2024). Gaffney lived in the New York City area with her partner, Joyce Vinson; the two were involved in a number of feminist activist organizations including the New York Radical Feminists (NYRF), the National Organization for Women (NOW-NYC), and the Women’s Liberation Center. Gaffney was a performer, involved in filmmaking with Women Make Movies (WMM), and an employee at Mother Courage for the entire duration that the restaurant was in business, from 1972 to 1977. She also collected feminist literature and material from across the country.

The collection spans several decades and includes numerous publications, event flyers, and behind-the-scenes notes from feminist groups. It is highlighted by collections of material related to WMM—particularly the 1976 short Healthcaring: From Our End of the Speculum—women’s theater and performance, and women’s health. The film and performing arts material records the efforts women put in to carve out a space for their own work in creative fields that were then disproportionately composed of men, while the women’s health material documents some of the early organizing around issues that arose from the similar underrepresentation of women and their issues in healthcare. Interestingly, the two topics intersect in the archive, particularly in Healthcaring but also in projects like the “Mental Prisoners Liberation” screening at the Kitchen, which suggests a connection to the psychiatric survivors movement. These materials are of interest to researchers not just of feminist history but also the history of women in film and the arts; working, both in performance and healthcare; and in patient activism.

The following description begins with these materials before turning to the remainder of the collection: Other Original and Unpublished Material; NYRF; Women’s Strike for Equality; NOW; The Women’s Liberation Center; Mother Courage Restaurant; Other Events and Organizations; and Other Publications.

Women Make Movies (WMM)

Founded in 1969 by Ariel Dougherty, Sheila Paige, and Dolores Bargowski, Women Make Movies is a non-profit feminist film organization based in New York City. It started as a workshop to teach local women to make films, and expanded to include screenings and film distribution. Today, WMM distributes films from nearly thirty countries, and its films have played at Sundance and Cannes. Though generally not found in OCLC, some items offered here may appear in WMM collections at the MoMA and the Academy Film Archive, or in the Ariel Dougherty collection at Harvard University. The present collection includes a significant amount of material on Denise Bostrom and Jane Warrenbrand’s 1976 short film Healthcaring: From Our End of the Speculum, which is listed in its own section. Items presented in alphabetical order.
• Blank WMM letterhead, 8 ½ x 11 inches.
• Copy of a letter from the IRS to WMM. The letter, which addresses the group as “Gentlemen”, approves its 501(c)(3) status. 8 ½ x 11 inch photocopy. Very good minus.
• Grant application materials [two pieces]. November 1974 materials sent to Youthgrants for creating the film The Women’s Movement: The Past Seven Years, by Carol Clement, Ariel Dougherty, and Sheila Paige. Five pages, 8 ½ x 11 inches. With large packet of grant-writing material.
• Manuscript notes about a film relating to a women’s bank in Bethesda.
• MENTAL « PRISONERS » LIBERATION / VIDEOTAPES at the kitchen. A flyer for a screening at the avant-garde Chelsea performance space The Kitchen, co-sponsored by The Kitchen and WMM. Titles include He Lives Alone (dir. Dixie Beckham, N.d.); Chelsea Infants of the Martial Arts (dir. Jane Warrenbrand, N.d.); and Career Women (dir. Lisa Methfessel, N.d.). The flyer reads in part, “The Mental ‘Patient’ Movement / Radical Alternatives / Social Rejection, Stigmas” and “Violence and Psychiatry / The Myth of ‘Mental Illness’ / Poetry and Music”, indicating a connection with the psychiatric survivors movement. Sheet measuring 11 x 18 inches, folded in half. Some damage to edges. Very good.
• MOVIES / international ♀’s day / SATURDAY MARCH 8TH 1975 / after the march. A flyer for two screenings at Washington Square Methodist Church, with proceeds going to the International Women’s Day Coalition. Titles include “Fear & Domestic Tranquility” and “The Emerging Woman”. Double-sided 8 ½ x 11 inch sheet. Excellent.
• Photograph of the WMM c. 1970s (photocopy).
• “the problem” and “a solution”. Promotional material for the films Superwoman (dir. Anne Sandys), Men’s Film (no director), The Women’s Martial Arts Center Teaches (no director), and The Betrayed Daughter (dir. Isabel Castellano, Carmen Colon, and Toni Santiago). Two sheets, 8 ½ x 11 inches. Very good.
• WMM Newsletter. Fourteen-page newsletter, 8 ½ x 11 inches. Excellent.
• “women make movies is women making history” [1973?]. A flyer advertising WMM and several of its films, including Domestic Tranquility (dir. Harriet Kriegel, 1973); Fear (dir. Jean Shaw, 1973); and The Women’s Happy Tine Commune (dir. Sheila Paige, 1972). Sheet measuring 8 ½ x 13 ¾ inches, folded in half. Small fold to one corner, else Near Fine.
Feminist film conference materials. Several pieces concern a 1975 event, the Conference of Feminist Film & Video Organizations in Womanhattan, which does not appear to have been documented.
• “An Ongoing Manifesto”. Single 8 ½ x 11 inch sheet. Very good.
• “Conference of Feminist Film & Video Organizations in Womanhattan”. Eleven-page stapled conference information packet, 8 x ½ x 11 inches. Excellent.
• “Policy on Freelance Work”, written at the conference. Single 8 ½ x 11 inch sheet. Very good.

Healthcaring: From Our End of the Speculum. A documentary short film directed by Denise Bostrom and Jane Warrenbrand, the film discusses women’s experiences as patients with primarily male practitioners, especially in obstetrics and gynecology.
• Copy of a letter to Lucille Goodman of Brooklyn (1974). A letter asking for financial support for Healthcaring, with a short proposal. Two pages, 8 ½ x 11 inches. Very good.
• Grant application materials from Healthcaring and an untitled film on street harassment (possibly A Film on Street Harassment, dir. Sheila Paige, 1977). These date to early in Healthcaring’s production, when it had the earlier title