Ann Baker papers, 1965-2014, bulk 1970s-1990s

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Restrictions:
Access restricted. A portion of the Research Files series (a subseries: Operation Rescue Arrest Lists and Clippings by City) contains sensitve materials, including identifying personal information....
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Summary

Creator:
Baker, Ann, 1936-2016 and Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture
Abstract:
This collection documents the work of Ann Baker, an abortion rights and LGBTQ+ activist. The bulk of this material pertains to Baker's work collecting, documenting and disseminating information relating to the anti-abortion movement in the 1980s-1990s, in particular her work tracking Operation Rescue and other militant anti-abortion organizations. Baker's papers contain periodicals and other publications, correspondence, photographs, clippings and audiovisual materials, which document the anti-abortion movement and the pro-abortion movement's responses. Baker was in contact with organizers, clinics, abortion providers, as well as national anti-abortion and pro-abortion organizations. In her later years, Baker worked as an advocate for equality under the law for same sex couples. A resident of New Jersey, she was active in state and federal politics, and was involved in many local and national organizations promoting access to abortion and equality for LGBTQ+ couples. Baker passed away in 2016. This collection includes graphic images of fetuses and babies. In some cases, the presence of such materials has been noted at the folder level; however, not every instance was identified.
Extent:
84 Linear Feet (60 boxes, 2 oversize folders)
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
RL.13095

Background

Scope and content:

Ann Baker's collection consists of research, printed materials, and correspondence documenting her work for the National Center for the Pro Choice Majority (originally named The 80% Majority); the National Organization for Women (NOW); Planned Parenthood; National Abortion Federation (NAF); National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL); and other pro-abortion organizations and movements throughout the United States during the 1970s through the early 2000s. The collection's research and subject files document various organizations, individuals, and topics relating to women's rights and healthcare access; birth control and reproductive rights; abortion (including safe and legal access to abortion; proposed legislation and ongoing litigation in various regions; activities and movements of anti-abortion militants like Randall Terry and Joe Scheidler; police records of abortion protestors; pro-choice organizations and administration; and oppositional research on pro-life movements and tactics, such as picketing and demonstrations, threats of and instances of violence, and promotion of pregnancy crisis centers and distribution of misleading abortion literature). The collection also documents Baker's interest and involvement in local and national political campaigns, LGBTQ+ family law and equality, and education. Along with national abortion rights issues, Baker's collection documents her work with the Family Equality Coalition, and local New Jersey political and community campaigns she participated in during the 1970s through 2010s. The collection's contents have been described largely as Baker initially developed and used the collection, and consist of Research and Organization Files sorted by geography, title, or topic. The Printed Materials Series contains Baker's collected issues and titles of various anti-abortion and pro-abortion organizational newsletters, as well as monographs and other published works from her library. Many of these correlate to Research and Subject Files also contained within the collection. Audiovisual Materials are a mixture of commercially-produced anti-abortion recordings, some of conferences and organizations, as well as news coverage and interviews with members of various anti-abortion and pro-abortion organizations. This collection contains images of fetuses, deceased babies, documentation of violence, and other graphic content. In some cases, the presence of such materials has been noted at the folder level; however, not every instance was identified.

Biographical / historical:

Ann Baker was born in Salem, Ohio in 1936. A women's rights, reproductive rights and LGBT activist, she served on the National Organization for Women's Reproductive Rights Committee, and was the founder and director of the National Center for the Pro Choice Majority.

Baker, prior to founding the NCPCM, worked as a high school history teacher in Ohio and New York, before working as the Catholic Campus Minister at the College of New Jersey. In the 1970s, she began working with the New Jersey branch of NOW. In the early 1980s, she founded the 80% Majority, renamed the National Center for the Pro Choice Majority (NCPCM) in 1993, a clearinghouse for information related to abortion clinic violence, attacks against providers and perpetrator information. The NCPCM published The Campaign Report , a bi-weekly newsletter that provided updates and information on clinic blockades and the anti-abortion movement. This newsletter was mailed across the country to clinics and other pro-choice organizations.

Realizing there was no centralized orgnaization to track anti-abortion protestors, Baker compiled lists and photographs of these protestors as they staged and led demonstratons at different clinics across the US. By collecting and cross-referencing arrest lists, Baker was able to prove it was the same group of clinic protestors, which led to increased legal fees and jail time for repeat offenders. To conduct this work, she collected a vast array of clippings, photographs, publications and correspondence, as well as research on claims made by the anti-abortion movement, such as "post-abortion syndrome".

Baker developed a wide array of contacts in different parts of the country and internationally. Often, these contacts provided information on the anti-choice movements (including events, literature and press coverage), as well as reports of their experiences with the anti-choice movement. She was well respected by clinic operators for her work and developed a deep network of contacts.

In the early 2000s, Baker turned her attention to equal rights for gay and lesbian couples, founding the Family Equality Commission to advocate for rights for LGBT couples in her state of New Jersey. She served as a comitteewoman in her town of Roosevelt and was an activist in local Democratic politics.

Acquisition information:
The Ann Baker Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2018.
Processing information:

Processed by Colette Harley and Laura Micham, December 2024.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2018-0153

This collection was received in boxes of various size, although many materials were in folders with titles. Folders were removed from boxes and rehoused in archival folders and Paige boxes. Folder titles were retained and grouped into intellectual series and sub-series. For materials that were loose in the boxes, some items were housed in folders created by the processing archivist, while others were rehoused in archival folders with minimal processing. These folders were then interfiled intellectually with original folders. Baker used the terms "Pro-Life" and "Pro-Choice" to describe the anti-abortion and pro-abortion movements.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in five series: Research files, Printed materials, Personal files, Organizations, and Audiovisual materials.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

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Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Access restricted. A portion of the Research Files series (a subseries: Operation Rescue Arrest Lists and Clippings by City) contains sensitve materials, including identifying personal information. It is restricted until 2054. Contact Research Services to request access.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Ann Baker Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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