Bettye Lane photographs, 1959-2007, bulk 1970s-1980s

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Summary

Creator:
Lane, Bettye
Abstract:
Photojournalist who documented the women's movement and associated human rights issues since the 1960s. The photographs in the collection date from 1959 to 2007, with the bulk taken by Lane in the 1970s and 1980s. Subjects focus largely on events and individuals. Events include consciousness raising groups, planning meetings, and local women's conferences. Large events include Equal Rights Amendment demonstrations, and International Women's Year and National Organization for Women conferences and marches, in major cities such as New York City, Washington D.C., Mexico City, and Houston. Other events folders document Pro-Choice rallies and protests addressing harassment, sexism, and violence towards women. Another large series documents women involved in the movement, from feminist leaders to event attendees and coordinators. Subject folder photographs are of women at work, women athletes, men for women's rights, and events relating to daycare, feminist slogans and signs, lesbian rights, opposition, women of color, sexist images, and sexual health. Smaller sets of images document protests against war, pornography, and nuclear power. The collection also includes photographs of Bettye Lane and her original inventory sheets. Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
Extent:
2.5 Linear Feet
947 items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00793

Background

Scope and content:

The Bettye Lane photographs date from 1959 to 2007, with the bulk taken in the 1970s and 1980s. Subjects focus largely on events and individuals. Events include consciousness raising groups, planning meetings, and local women's conferences. Large events include Equal Rights Amendment demonstrations, and International Women's Year and National Organization for Women conferences and marches, in major cities such as New York City, Washington D.C., Mexico City, and Houston. Other events folders document Pro-Choice rallies and protests addressing harassment, sexism, and violence towards women. Another large series documents women involved in the movement, from feminist leaders to event attendees and coordinators. Subject folder photographs are of women at work, women athletes, men for women's rights, and events relating to daycare, feminist slogans and signs, lesbian rights, opposition, women of color, sexist images, and sexual health. Smaller sets of images document protests against war, pornography, and nuclear power. The collection also includes a folder of photographs of Bettye Lane spanning her career.

The photographs are arranged into three series, Events, People, and Subjects, with subdivisions in alphabetical order, and the prints within in date or alphabetical order. The original order as assembled by Lane is for the most part intact, with folder titles deriving from the original headings. Included in each folder are her original annotated inventory sheets, which include dates, photo identification codes, and titles.

Almost all the prints are unmounted black-and-white gelatin silver process prints, with some color photographs scattered throughout, and a few digital prints from the 2000s. The larger prints all have detailed information on the backs, many giving names of individuals present, details on the events, and contextual notes. There are also a few photocopies scattered throughout. There are some duplicate images or cropped versions. The most typical sizes are 8x10 and 6 1/4 x 9 1/4 inches, with some snapshots found in a few folders.

There is some overlap with Bettye Lane images in other U.S. institutional collections, noted below, but many of the images at Duke University are unique.

Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.

Biographical / historical:
Chronology
Date Event
1930 September 19 Born Elizabeth Foti, to an Italian immigrant family in Boston, Massachusetts
1959-1962 Attended Boston University School of Public Relations and Communications
1959-1962 Affiliated with Harvard University News Office
1960 Hired by CBS Television
1962-1964 Photojournalist with The Saturday Evening Post
1966-1977 Photojournalist for the Associated Press and the National Observer
1970 Covered the first Women's March for Equality in New York City, launching her involvement with the women's movement
1977-2000s Became a freelance photojournalist and was dubbed the official photographer of the women's movement; continued taking assignments from Time, Life, and the Associated PressDocumented through her photography not only the women's movement, but also the gay rights and anti-war movements
2002 Contributed her work to a group exhibition entitled "'For Which it Stands': The American Flag in Social Protest" at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.
2012 Died September 19, aged 82, in New York City
Acquisition information:
The Bettye Lane photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2007.
Processing information:

Processed by Jonathan Grilli and Meghan Lyon, January 2009.

Collection arrangement and description revised, Edward Coles, Paula Jeannet, Alanna Styer, October 2018.

Accession(s) described in this collection guide: 2007-0179.

Arrangement:

Arranged in three major series: Events, People, and Subjects.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce should be addressed to Gary O'Neil, holder of the intellectual property rights for this collection at mastergone@gmail.com.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Bettye Lane photographs, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1qs60