[Herstory] Winter 2007 CWLU Herstory E-Zine

[The CWLU Herstory Project E-Zine]

Welcome to the Winter 2007 issue of the CWLU Herstory E-Zine.

Explore the CWLU Herstory website at http://www.cwluherstory.org

Please send us news tips about upcoming events you know about. Also, 
don't be shy. Send us news about yourself and what you are doing. 
Feminist networking is part of what we are about. Forward our E-Zine 
to colleagues and friends who may want to subscribe.

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JANE: ABORTION AND THE UNDERGROUND BY PAULA KAMEN OPENS AT CHICAGO'S 
20% THEATER

Yes, Jane is back. The legendary Chicago underground abortion service 
has been chronicled in books, videos, articles, on the web and in 
Paula Kamen's play which officially opens again in Chicago.

'Jane: Abortion and the Underground' by Paula Kamen - directed by 
Elizabeth Schwan-Rosenwald*

February 15-March 24, 2007

Thursday-Saturday @ 8:00 pm

Sunday @ 7:00 pm $15/ticket

20 Percent Theatre Company
Performed at The Side Studio, 1520 West Jarvis
Previews on February 15th and February 16th, $10/ticket
Box Office: 773.528.9488 or twentypercentchicago at yahoo.com

Group Rates Available.

Special Benefit Opening Night Performance:  Saturday, February 17th. 
$25/ticket.


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JUDITH ARCANA RETURNS TO CHICAGO TO TEAM UP WITH PAULA KAMEN

In conjunction with the Jane play, former "Jane" Judith Arcana will 
be appearing with Paula Kamen at Roosevelt University on March 29. 
Judith the poet and Paula the playwright?  Sounds like a great 
evening, although we don't have full details yet.

In other Paula Kamen news, Paula  will be speaking on Women and Pain 
at the International Museum of Surgical Science on February 20.

International Museum of Surgical Science
1524 N. Lake Shore Dr.
Chicago, Illinois 60610

Tues., Feb. 20, 2007
5:30PM-6:15PM
Reception
6:15 PM-7:15 PM Presentation

Paula Kamen will also be signing copies of her book "All in My Head" 
about her own battle with chronic pain.

Paula is now hard at work finishing her new book on the life of 
author Iris Chang. We're definitely looking forward to the day that 
appears in our local bookstore.

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WORK CONTINUES ON DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT SECOND WAVE FEMINISM

Filmmaker Jennifer Lee reports that she is close to finishing her 90 
minute history of the 1960's- 1970's feminism. Among the many people 
she interviewed were former CWLUers Heather Booth and Vivian 
Rothstein. The Herstory Project has been working with Jennifer to 
help her find period graphics and photos as well as research 
materials.

According to Jennifer, college students who viewed a rough cut of the 
film in their feminism class responded very positively.

The projected release date is sometime in 2007. We've waited a long 
time for someone to tell our story on film. Hopefully our readers be 
able to help Jennifer get the word out about her film and arrange 
showings in their communities.


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A TRIBUTE TO NAOMI WEISSTEIN

Professor James M. Brown is planning a symposium at the May 2007 
Vision Sciences Society meeting that will honor the scientific work 
of Naomi Weisstein. Known to feminists because of her work with the 
Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band, Naomi was also a pioneering 
research scientist in the area of visual perception.

She was hit by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the early 1980's which 
severely curtailed her scientific work. Below is the description of 
the Symposium:

"Before her brief, active career was cut short by illness; Naomi 
Weisstein made numerous central contributions to vision science, 
including 5 papers in Science in a short 12 year period. Vision was 
only one of her careers: she was a founding member of the Chicago 
Women's Liberation Rock Band with CDs still in circulation, a touring 
stand-up comedian, and an outspoken feminist author whose writings 
were translated and read around the world. Her spirit and enthusiasm 
have been deeply missed by the vision community but they will be 
resurrected once more as we relive some of her great and often 
outrageous moments in science and follow some of the new work arising 
from her discoveries."

If any of our readers attends the symposium, a report would be 
gratefully appreciated.

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NORI DAVIS CUBAN POSTER COLLECTION GOES TO THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO

Many of our readers will remember Nori Davis, a former member of 
Rising Up Angry and a friend to many in the Chicago Women's 
Liberation Union. Nori died of breast cancer in 1990.

Diane Horwitz of the Herstory Project recently contacted us and let 
us know that Nori's collection of Cuban posters will be housed at the 
University of New Mexico along with the Latin American poster 
collection of Jane Norling.

The history behind the Jane Norling and Lenora (Nori) Davis 
Collection presents a moving story. Jane Norling and Nori Davis 
became friends in summer 1988 in a support group for women with 
cancer at Women's Cancer Resource Center in Berkeley, California. 
They were drawn to each other because of their work in similar fields 
of interest-art and design as applied to the needs of improving 
social conditions-Nori in Chicago and Jane in the Bay Area. Nori had 
recently moved to California with her husband, labor activist Bob 
Lawson, when she discovered breast cancer, which took her life in 
1990. Jane and Bob later married.

The posters will be on exhibit at the University of New Mexico's 
Center for Southwest Research from February 26 to May 18.

Teresa Eckmann will present a lecture on March 1 at 3 PM in the 
Willard Reading Room, Zimmerman Library at UNM which will be followed 
by an official opening reception for the exhibition.

For more info, check the events listing at UNM's Zimmerman Library.

http://elibrary.unm.edu/zimmerman/index.php

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COOK COUNTY BOARD THREATENS MAJOR HEALTHCARE CUTS

Cook County (Illinois) Board President Todd Stroger has proposed 
massive cuts in the public healthcare budget for Cook County. These 
cuts will seriously impact working class people, many of whom already 
have limited access to healthcare.

Former CWLUer Dr. Mardge Cohen was among those who organized 
resistance to the cuts. Healthcare workers and community members 
rallied at the County Building in January and spoke out against the 
cuts at series of hearings held around the County.

Retaliation came swiftly from Dr. Robert Simon whom Stroger had named 
Interim Chief of the Cook County Bureau of Health Care services. Four 
doctors for the County Jail were escorted out of their offices and 
fired for speaking out publically. Among the four doctors was Coral 
Norris's husband Michael. Coral is a member of the Herstory Project 
and a former CWLU health activist. She has requested that if you live 
in Cook County, to please contact your Board member and let them know 
of your outrage at these attacks on healthcare services and providers.

You can read more about it at 
http://www.suffredin.org/news/newsitem.asp?'language=english&newsitemid=2000

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AMY KESSELMAN NOMINATED FOR THE CHOICE USA 'GENERATIONS OF LEADERSHIP AWARD'

Choice USA celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2007 and is holding a 
Generation-to-Generation Celebration on May 10.

There is an award called the 'Generations of Leadership: Mentor and 
Legacy Award' for those who are 30 and over.

Recipients of the Generations of Leadership Awards must demonstrate 
years of leadership, shared learning, mentoring and intergenerational 
organizing to support the next generation of pro-choice leaders.

Brittany Turner has nominated Amy Kesselman for the award. Amy was a 
member of Chicago's "Westside Group", one of the early women's 
liberation consciousness raising groups. Several of the Westside 
Group's members were among the founders of the Chicago Women's 
Liberation Union.

Amy is a professor of women's studies at the State University of New 
York at New Paltz.

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JENNY KNAUSS CONTINUES HER ALZHEIMERS ADVOCACY

Jenny Knauss, a former CWLU health activist, has been engaged in a 
campaign around Alzheimers for the past several years. Assisted by 
her partner Don Moyer she has worked with support groups and has 
helped organize lobbying efforts for more effective research and 
treatment.

Jenny sends out periodic e-mails urging people to take action and 
support her work. If you would like to get on her e-list or want to 
know more about Alzheimers activism, please visit 
http://www.alzsh.net/.


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THE GRAPHIC IMPERATIVE HEADS FOR THE APPALACHIANS

The Graphic Imperative is an internationally acclaimed traveling 
exhibition of political posters. One of the posters is 'Lipstick' by 
the Cuban artist Jose Gomez Fresquet which was reprinted by the 
Chicago Women's Graphics Collective. It is still available through 
the Herstory website online store.

After it's closing  at the Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, 
the exhibition is reopening at Appalachian State College in Boone, 
North Carolina.

If you are in the area, you can see it at the Turchin Gallery 
starting on March 2. For more info please visit:

http://www.turchincenter.org/exhibits.detail.php4?exhibitsid=75

Next stop will be San Diego State University starting on September 
10. Contact Tina Yapelli at tyapelli at mail.sdsu.edu for more info.

Attention Canadian Sisters and Brothers: Look for the Graphic 
Imperative in Toronto in the Spring of 2008!

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KRISTIN LEMS TO REISSUE A DOUBLE CD WITH LOTS OF CLASSIC FEMINIST SONGS

Kristin Lems has been singing feminist music for many years, but some 
of her best feminist material has been hard to find on CD. Now she is 
combining two of her 1980's albums 'In the Out Door', and 'We Will 
Never Give Up', into a new compilation she is calling 'Equality
Road'.

In addition, Laurie Haag is developing an accompanying booklet of ERA 
memories and stories. If you have photos or short narratives to 
share, you may submit them to:

Laurie Haag
305 Windsor Drive
Iowa City, IA
52245
lauriehaag at yahoo.com

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WE GET RESEARCH REQUESTS AND WE TRY OUR BEST TO HELP

One of the best parts of the Herstory Project is the steady stream of 
questions and appeals for research assistance. It's good to know that 
people still value all that hard work and struggle we did in the 'old 
days'.

Here are some recent samples:

*Becky Kluchin will be returning to Chicago to interview people who 
were in the movement against forced sterilization. Becky interviewed 
a number of former CWLUers a few years back and then generously 
shared those interviews with the Herstory Project so we could 
construct some online bios.

*BBC Radio4 contacted us because they are doing radio documentary on 
forced sterilization of Puerto Rican and Native American women in the 
1970's.

*A high school student from Silver Spring Maryland actually traveled 
to Chicagoland to interview Estelle Carol about the Chicago Women's 
Graphics Collective.

*Another high school student wanted to know who wrote the leaflet 'No 
More Miss America' that was handed out at the 1968 Atlantic City 
protest. We referred her to the PBS website on the history of Miss 
America and to Robin Morgan's website.

*A professor at Ohio State wanted to know more about how the Chicago 
Women's Liberation Union was modeled after women's unions in Viet Nam 
and more about the CWLU's international solidarity work.

*A professor at  the University of Illinois at Chicago was 
researching when the term 'socialist feminist' was first used and 
also inquired about women of color in the CWLU.

*A student at Wellesley College Students for Choice wanted to contact 
a former 'Jane' to speak about reproductive rights.

*A person writing an encyclopedia article wanted to know if she could 
reprint the poster 'Sisterhood is Blooming' as part of her submission.

*We also get requests of a more personal and urgent nature. Desperate 
women ask us about free or inexpensive abortions. Women who have been 
abused by their domestic partners, the medical system or the welfare 
system contact us. People who had home births through the Chicago 
Maternity Center want medical histories. People want to know what to 
do about sexual harassment at work. Teens have questions about 
sexuality and birth control.

We try to refer them to qualified organizations, but for impoverished 
women in rural areas or small town America, a NOW chapter or a 
Planned Parenthood clinic might as well be on Mars.

Jessica Barclay-Strobel of the Third Wave Foundation told us about 
the National Abortion Fund ( http://www.nnaf.org ) which helps people 
pay for abortions, as well as a smaller fund available from the Third 
Wave Foundation  ( http://www.thirdwavefoundation.org/ ).

Thanks Jesse, we'll be sure to pass this info along to those in need.

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THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S STUDIES ASSOCIATION WILL HOLD ITS 30TH 
ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE IN CHICAGOLAND THIS SUMMER

The NWSA Conference will be at Pheasant Run in St. Charles IL from 
June 28- July 1. For complete details please visit:

http://www.nwsaconference.org/

The Herstory Project is planning to be at the Conference. If you'd 
like to help us make our presence known, please contact 
infogal at cwluherstory.org.


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WEB SURFIN' WITH THE HERSTORY PROJECT

http://www.womenandprison.org
'Women and Prison: A Site for Resistance' is the first online archive 
to document women's experiences of the U.S. penal system.

http://wikichix.org/wiki/WikiChix
'WikiChix' is an discuss issues of gender bias in wikis, to promote 
wikis to potential female editors, and for general discussion of 
wikis in a friendly female-only environment. Wikis are collaborative 
online sites to share knowledge. The most famous is the Wikipedia, 
the web's free collaborative encyclopedia project.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CWLU
Speaking of the Wikipedia, there is an entry for the Chicago Women's 
Liberation Union. It needs more info and editing. Would you like to 
help? Learn how to be a Wikipedia editor at 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Introduction

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BOOKS!

'Life's a Stitch' edited by Anne Dalin just went out of print after 
its sales generated thousands of dollars for women's organizations. 
You can still find used copies of this women's humor classic online.

'Feminists Who Changed America' edited by Barbara Love is the 
biographical encyclopedia of the Second Wave feminist movement. 
Supported largely by the efforts of the Veteran Feminists of America, 
you can help get this book into libraries and schools. Just ask that 
it be placed there and explain why it's important.

'The Wonders of Mothers Milk' by Mishawn Purnell is a children's book 
about breastfeeding. Mishawn is a local Forest Park IL breastfeeding 
consultant. The book is illustrated by Dana T.C. Simpson who is a 
member of the Herstory Project.

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UPCOMING CHICAGO FEMINIST EVENTS

Check out these online calendars:

WomanMade Gallery http://www.womanmade.org/calendar.html

Chicago NOW http://www.chicagonow.org/events.php

Women and Children First http://womenchildren.booksense.com

Chicago Foundation for Women http://www.cfw.org/

Chicago Girls Coalition http://www.chicagogirlscoalition.org/calendar.html

YWCA http://www.ywcachicago.org/

Does your feminist group have an online calendar you'd like us to 
include? Contact infogal at cwluherstory.org

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SERVICES OFFERED

Do you need a professional transcription service for your voice 
recordings? Try Transcription Professionals at 
http://www.transprof.com.

Executive Director Paula Kamen has assembled a great team that can 
even  translate from a variety of languages.

P.S. In case you're wondering, yes, it's the same Paula Kamen who 
gave us 'Jane: Abortion and the Underground', 'All in My Head' and 
other fine books and articles.

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THAT'S IT FOR THIS ISSUE

Please send us any news about former CWLUers, upcoming events and 
feminist happenings. We depend on you to be our eyes and ears. Do you 
need research assistance? Do you provide a service? Do you need a 
service? Do you have a cool project you need help with? Are you 
looking for a job? Do you have a job to offer? Let us know and we'll 
try to include it. Feminist networking is part of what we are about. 
E-mail infogal at cwluherstory.org with your contribution.

-- 



CWLU Herstory Website Project
http://www.cwluherstory.org
infogal at cwluherstory.org
PO Box 548
Oak Park, IL 60303-0548
708-386-7197

A Project of the University of Illinois
Center for Research on Women and Gender
http://www.uic.edu/depts/crwg/

"We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert 
Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have 
long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on 
which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster." - 
Rachel Carson