Jean O'Barr papers, 1915-2013

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Restrictions:
Access restricted. Some materials closed by donor request: box 13 is closed until 2036, and box 15 is closed until 2065.
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Summary

Creator:
O'Barr, Jean F.
Abstract:
Professor and founder of Duke University's Women's Studies program. Materials from the founding and operation of Duke's Women's Studies program, including proposals, reviews, and annual reports. Also includes scrapbooks with photographs and conference materials; correspondence about the Women's Studies program; and publications about O'Barr and the Women's Studies program. Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
Extent:
20 Linear Feet
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00968

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists largely of O'Barr's files and materials from the founding and operation of Duke University's Women's Studies Department. It includes proposals, reviews, and annual reports. Also includes scrapbooks with photographs and conference materials; correspondence about the Women's Studies program; and publications about O'Barr and the Women's Studies program. Also includes reviews of other women's studies programs throughout the United States; pamphlets and projects relating to the Women's Studies Department; materials relating to the founding of SIGNS magazine; student papers discussing gender; published and unpublished articles by O'Barr, including surveys of women at Duke, writings by O'Barr related to her African studies, and articles about women in academia and the workplace; graduate studies by O'Barr relating to Africa and anthropology; book reviews; and other miscellaneous material. Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.

Biographical / historical:

Jean Fox O'Barr was a professor and founder of Duke University's Women's Studies program, as well as a co-founder of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.

Chronology List
Date Event
1964
B.A., Indiana University
1965
M.A., Northwestern University
1969
Joined the faculty at Duke University
1970
Ph.D., Northwestern University
1971-1983
Dean, Continuing Education, Duke University
1976
Editor, Language and Politics (The Hague: Mouton)
1976
Author, Third World Women: Factors in Their Changing Status (Durham: Duke University Comparative Area Studies Program)
1983
Founded the Women's Studies Program, Duke University
1984
Editor, Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society (journal)
1987
Women's Studies graduate courses began, Duke University
1987
Editor (with Sandra Harding), Sex and Scientific Inquiry (Chicago: University of Chicago)
1988
Co-founded the Women's Studies Archivist position (later became the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture), Duke University
1989
Editor, Women and a New Academy: Gender and Cultural Contexts (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin)
1992
Editor (with Mary Wyer), Engaging Feminism: Students Speak Up and Speak Out (Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia)
1992
Jean O'Barr Fund established by Duke University alumnae
1994
Undergraduate major established in Women's Studies, Duke University
1994
Author, Feminism in Action: Building Institutions and Community through Women's Studies (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina)
1998-2001
Named the first Margaret Taylor Smith Director of Women's Studies, Duke University
2000
University Distinguished Service Professor, Duke University (The first woman in Duke's history to be so named)
2000
Jean Fox O'Barr Professorship of Women's Studies chair awarded to Duke University by Lee/Ewing Foundation
2008
Retired, Duke University
Acquisition information:
The Jean O'Barr Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift from Jean O'Barr in 2010-2023.
Processing information:

Processed by Cindy Abello, Meghan Lyon, October 2010

Encoded by Cindy Abello, Meghan Lyon, October 2010

Updated by Cindy Abello, Meghan Lyon, February 2011

Updated by Megan Lewis, December 2015

Updated by Leah Tams, September 2023.

Materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.

Boxes 28 and 29 were removed from the collection at the donor's request in 2019. Box numbering now skips 28 and 29.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2010-0200, 2011-0010, 2012-0005, 2014-0139, 2014-0178, 2023-0145.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Access restricted. Some materials closed by donor request: box 13 is closed until 2036, and box 15 is closed until 2065.

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.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jean O'Barr Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1zs99