Guide to the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives records, circa 1973-1993

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2024

Collection Overview

Title:	Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives records
Date range:	circa 1973-1993
Creator:	Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.
Extent:	2.25 Linear Feet 5 document boxes
Abstract:	The Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives contains office files arranged by topic and correspondence, which is arranged alphabetically. The topical files include materials related to women's history sources, oral histories, various women's organizations and conferences, newsletters and reports. The files are dated from circa 1973 to 1993.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	OF.1X.22

Scope & content

The Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives records comprise topical files and correspondence. Materials include letters, disserations, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, museum objects, newspapers, scrapbooks, and oral histories of Pembroke College Alumnae and Rhode Island women. The collection is organized in two series: The first series, Topical files, includes materials related to oral histories and women's organizations such as Women for a Non-Nuclear Future and the Pembroke Center Associates, newsletters, and numerous women's history sources. The second series comprises correspondence related to the Archives. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.
• Brown University. Class of 1948.

Subject Topics

• Education
• Women in higher education
• Women -- Societies and clubs -- Rhode Island
• Women and Gender at Brown University
• Women's rights -- United States

Document Types

• Letters (Correspondence)
• Office files

Arrangement

The Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives is organized in two series:

• 1. Topical files
• 2. Correspondence

Administrative History

The Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women at Brown University began documenting women's history at Brown nearly at its inception. In 1982, Founding Director Joan Wallach Scott, the first Chair of the Pembroke Center Associates (now known as the Friends of the Pembroke Center) Christine Dunlap Farnham '48, and Brown Corporation members Ruth B. Ekstrom '53 and Nancy L. Buc '65 questioned the University's handling of historical records related to the merger of Pembroke and the men's college. Due in part to this concern, the group identified a need to collect archives and began by gathering oral histories from notable alumnae. The resulting batch of interviews would create the first special collection curated by the Pembroke Center – known as Brown Women Speak until 2019 when it was renamed the Pembroke Center Oral History Project. In 1987, five years after the oral history project was launched, the Pembroke Center and the Brown University Library established a permanent women's history archive at Brown. In subsequent years, an effort was undertaken to identify women's history buried or mislabeled within the John Hay Library collections, resulting in the Research Guide to the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive published in 1989. Between 1990 and 2002, the Pembroke Center's archival initiative focused on documenting women's history through oral interviews.

In 2007, the Pembroke Center reaffirmed its partnership with the John Hay Library to ensure that women's history was not being lost and that new women's history collections were being preserved. According to the agreement, the Pembroke Center would identify, process, and manage the collections, while the Hay Library would provide cataloging technologies, research services, and long-term storage. In approximately 2010, nomenclature surrounding the archives initiative evolved to describe the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive and Feminist Theory Archive, established in 2003, as unique entities that are known collectively as the Pembroke Center Archives. In 2023, nomenclature for the Archives changed again. With advice and consent from the Pembroke Friends and to promote intuitive research, the Pembroke Center Archives ceased using "Christine Dunlap Farnham" to describe an area of collecting. Instead, the Pembroke Archives describes its collecting focus in three areas: women and gender at Brown, feminist activism in Rhode Island, and Feminist theory and thinking. Today, the Archives continue to be managed and curated by the Nancy L. Buc '65 LLD'94 hon Pembroke Center Archivist and the Assistant Archivist. Together, the staff promote access to the Archives, provide instructional sessions for college classes, and support students, faculty, and other scholars who wish to conduct primary research on gender and sexuality.

For more information on the history of women's history archives in the United States, please see "Women's Archives and Women's History", Joan Wallach Scott's comments on the dedication of the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive, October 10, 1986.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access for analog materials, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested. Advance notice is required to view any audiovisual media or born-digital records that may exist in this collection. Audiovisual media and born-digital records in this collection may not have been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. Access to original physical audiovisual or born-digital media is restricted.
Use of the materials:	All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, available on the John Hay Library website or by request, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Christine Dunlap Farnham Archives records, OF-1X-22, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Processing information:	This collection was part of the Pembroke Center's Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive until 2024 when collections were recataloged. All collections previously grouped under that title are now searchable under the subject headings "Women and Gender at Brown University" or "Feminist Activism in Rhode Island."
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Brown Universtiy Library staff
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-10-09.
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Sponsor:	Curatorial work provided by the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women and the Brown University Library. Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Related material:

Related Materials See also the Pembroke Center records (OF.1ZP.2017.005) and the Pembroke Center Oral History collection (OH.1S.2013.002) at Brown University.

Inventory

---