Meredith Tax papers, 1956-2016 125 Linear Feet — 213 boxes
The Meredith Tax papers include materials from the activist organizations she was involved with, as well as drafts and manuscripts of her written work, some personal correspondence, teaching materials, and audio/visual materials.
The largest group of materials at over 130 boxes documents Tax's long career as an activist, beginning with her involvement in Boston's Bread and Roses, a socialist-feminist collective through her continued work with Women's WORLD, a global free speech network Tax cofounded in 1994 to fight gender-based censorship. Other organizations Tax was involved in are also well documented in the collection, including CARASA (Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse); PEN American Center Women's Committee; and International PEN Women's Writers Committee. Smaller amounts of material come from Tax's work with the October League, Chicago Women's Liberation Union, National Writers' Union, and the West Side Community School, as well as other organizations. These materials include committee and board materials, events files, conferences, and many files of organizational notes and records.
Tax's work as a writer, including books, both fiction and nonfiction, articles, essays, and speeches as well as songs, is represented in the Writings, Speeches, and Songs series. The Correspondence series includes both personal and professional correspondence. The Subject Files were created by Tax for research related to her activism and her writing.
Finally, there are 89 audiocassettes, 53 of which contain Tax's research interviews and 36 of which contain interviews with Tax, readings by Tax and board meetings. Other interviews are on several VHS videocassettes and optical discs.
Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University.