Title: Joan Jordan Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1966-1972

Creator:

• Jordan, Joan

Call Number: Mss 197

Quantity: 0.6 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Joan Jordan, an active California feminist, including correspondence, several of the many articles she published on feminism, and research files of clippings, leaflets, and other printed matter about various California women's groups and about issues of concern to women. The bulk of the correspondence consists of exchanges with Pat Robinson, a New York feminist, about black women, birth control, abortion, and other topics of interest to radical women.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00197

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Between 1966 and 1972 Joan Jordan, who used the pen name of Vilma Sanchez on many occasions, was active in the women's movement in Northern California. Ms. Jordan lobbied to improve the status of women, and also taught a course on Women, Economics and Method at Breakaway, a women's community college in San Francisco. She attended at least four major women's conferences, including the Vancouver, British Columbia, Indo-Chinese Women's Conference of 1971 and a Washington, D.C. conference of 1970. In addition, Joan Jordan published at least 16 articles which appeared in The Militant, The Guardian, The Daily Gator, Radical America, Psychology of Women by Karen E. Paige, and other places.

Ms. Jordan also became influential in the Independent Campus Women of San Francisco State College, the largest single organization in San Francisco's women's liberation movement, which was created in 1969. This campus group consisted of five committees: child care center; abortion and birth control; education and speakers bureau; women's studies; and job discrimination. The committees were mainly concerned with funding limited research and organizing meetings on their respective topics.

Between 1966-1972 Joan Jordan, while pursuing her B.A. in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at San Francisco State College, attempted to build an independent feminist movement including women of all economic backgrounds. Additional information on Ms. Jordan and her political philosophy is contained in a letter dated May 18, 1972.

The Joan Jordan Papers concern her activities and to some extent those of the Independent Campus Women at San Francisco State College. Most of the correspondence, articles, leaflets, pamphlets, and clippings concern the period 1966-1972, but some clippings date back to 1948 and an article on racism to 1860. The bulk of the correspondence is between Joan Jordan and Pat Robinson who is prominent in the New York women's liberation movement. Their letters discuss a wide range of topics including black women, birth control, and other information of interest to radical women.

The Jordan publication folder includes several of her articles and a list of her publications from 1966 to 1971. The largest quantity of material, leaflets, clippings, and articles, is concerned with subjects and organizations of interest to the ICW and Joan Jordan, such as abortion, anti-war activities, black women, and education. The papers include articles and Semantic Differential Tests (sampling opinions on various women's attitudes); clippings, unsorted and undated; a miscellaneous group of bulletins, extracted articles, notes and statistical charts; and a biography.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Joan Jordan, San Francisco, California, March 13, 1972. Accession Number: M72-94

Processing Information

Processed by Phillip Driscoll (Intern), April 4, 1972.

	Joan Jordan Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	General, 1966-1972, undated
	Pat Robinson
Box   1 Folder   2	1966-1967
Box   1 Folder   3	1968-1972
Box   1 Folder   4	Joan Jordan Publications, 1966-1971
	Subject File
Box   1 Folder   5	Abortion
Box   1 Folder   5	Anti-War
Box   1 Folder   5	Black Women
Box   1 Folder   5	Children's Care Centers
Box   1 Folder   5	Conferences
Box   1 Folder   6	Education
Box   1 Folder   6	Employment and Labor Relations
Box   1 Folder   6	Intergroup Council Meeting, 1970
Box   1 Folder   6	Lesbians
Box   1 Folder   7	Literature on the Negro
Box   1 Folder   7	Psychologists for Social Action
Box   1 Folder   7	Racism
Box   1 Folder   7	Women (General)
Box   1 Folder   7	Women's Independent Political Party
Box   1 Folder   7	Working Women
	Organizations
Box   2 Folder   1	Associated Students of San Francisco State College
Box   2 Folder   1	Boalt Hall Women's Association (UCLA)
Box   2 Folder   1	Breakaway Women
Box   2 Folder   1	Bureau of Affirmative Action
Box   2 Folder   1	Independent Campus Women (San Francisco State College)
Box   2 Folder   1	Mothers Alone Working
Box   2 Folder   1	National Organization for Women
Box   2 Folder   1	North American Congress on Latin America
Box   2 Folder   1	Officers of Justice
Box   2 Folder   2	Radical Women (Seattle)
Box   2 Folder   2	Women's Coalition
Box   2 Folder   2	Women's Liberation (Los Angeles)
	Research Materials
Box   2 Folder   3	Articles
Box   2 Folder   4	Semantic Differential Tests
Box   2 Folder   5	Clippings, unsorted, undated
Box   2 Folder   6	Misccellany - bulletins, extracted articles, notes, poems, and statistical charts
Box   2 Folder   7	Biography by Joseph Reza