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Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], West Virginia University, Women's Studies Center, Records, A&M 5052, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transfer from WVU. Women's Studies Center. Howe, Barbara, 2000 July 25.

Biographical / Historical

The Center for Women's and Gender Studies (CWGS) is an academic unit within West Virginia University's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences that offers a central location for discourse relative to the field of women's and gender studies. CWGS finds its origins in an informal Caucus for Women's Concerns formed in 1972 within West Viginia University (WVU) to "achieve equitable treatment of women." In 1977, the Caucus submitted recommendations to then-WVU President Gene Budig regarding the establishment of a women's studies program and an advisory council on women's concerns. In response to these recommendations, the Caucus was officially accepted by the university as the Council for Women's Concerns (CWC), which included a Women's Studies Subcommittee formed to research and help facilitate a formal women's studies program.

The first proposal for a women's studies program was submitted to the CWC by Renata Pore in 1978, upon which a search committee headed by Dr. Enid Portnoy of the English Department was established. In 1980, the Women's Studies Program (WSP) was officially established as an interdisciplinary program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Judith Stitzel, a founding member of the CWC, was selected to serve as the first part-time coordinator of the WSP.

Under Stitzel's direction, the WSP developed an undergraduate Certificate Program in Women's Studies to be first offered in 1984. Simultaneously, the Center for Women's Studies (CWS) was established in the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research to provide a collective space for students to gather. Judith Stitzel was made the founding director of the center, a position she would hold until 1992, making her the longest consecutive director of the center. The CWS would become affiliated with the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences in 1993.

The first undergraduate Certificates in Women's Studies at WVU were awarded to six students in 1986, the same year the first Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS) graduated in Women's Studies. The Carrie Koeteurius Scholarship, which is still offered as of 2024, was first awarded to Deborah Gregory Eck and Lilo Ast in 1987.

One of the early major projects of the CWC, the Women's Centenary, "Excellence Through Equity" began planning in 1987 with Dr. Lillian Waugh being chosen as the research coordinator. After several years of planning and research, the Women's Centenary commenced in September 1989 on the 100-year anniversary of the first group of women to be admitted to WVU as degree candidates. Events were held over a two-year period, including lecture series, galas, building rededications, historical tours, exhibits, time capsule creations, and county-wide engagements. The Women's Centenary culminated with a convocation in 1991 on the 100-year anniversary of the first woman to graduate from WVU, Harriet Lyon.

In 1992, Judith Stitzel stepped down as director of the CWC, and the position was taken up by Helen Bannan from 1994 to 1998. Under Barbara Howe's directorship from 1998 to 2007, a BA and undergraduate minor in women's studies was established to coexist with the Certificate in Women's Studies. The first WVU women's studies major, Jamie Lynn Baxter, graduated in December 2003.

Janice Spleth served as interim director between 2008 and 2009, before Ann Oberhauser took directorship in 2009. Under her leadership in 2012, the CWC was renamed the Center for Women's and Gender Studies to incorporate a larger scale of classes and topics. After Oberhauser stepped down in 2013, Jennifer Orlikoff took directorship until 2016. Between 2016 and 2019, Cari Carpenter and Kasi Jackson served as interim directors, during which the LGBTQ+ Center was opened. In 2019, Sharon Bird became director, a position she still holds as of October 2024. In 2021, the Center for Women's and Gender Studies moved into its home in the Hodges Hall, Suite 505.

Scope and Contents

The collection contains materials from West Virginia University's (WVU) Women's Studies Center, renamed the Center for Women's and Gender Studies in 2012. It primarly consists of records and recordings created about the various West Virignia University (WVU) women's organizations between 1972 and 2000, including the Caucus for Women's Concerns (CWC), the Council for Women's Concerns (CWC),the Women's Information Center (WIC), the Center for Women's Studies, and the Center for Women's and Gender Studies. Also found are materials from non-WVU women's organizations such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), the Lorraine Morment Defense Committee, Sisterspace, and the West Virginia Women's Commission. Prominent topics include health education, employment, women's rights, and women's studies.

Materials include reports, newsletters, proposals, correspondence, minutes, slideshows, conference materials, educational lectures, cassette tapes, and VHS tapes. The earliest material in the collection concerns the acceptance of the Woman's Information Center for official University recognition by the University Committee on Student Organizations in 1972 [Box 1, Folder 7] and the latest materials include the Women's Studies Center's teaching materials and general records in 2000 [Box 1, Folder 14].

Related Material

3376, 5037, 5048, 5052, 5131, 5234

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Health education of women
• Reproductive rights
• West Virginia -- Politics and government
• West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection
• West Virginia University. Center for Women's Studies
• Women in higher education
• Women political activists
• Women's studies