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COLLECTION Identifier: MC 492

Papers of NOW officer Kathy Bonk, 1975-1988

Overview

Papers of National Organization for Women officer Kathy Bonk, coordinator of NOW's Women's Media Task Force.

Dates

  • Creation: 1975-1988

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

TERMS OF USE

Access. Unrestricted.

As of November 2015, written permission of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is no longer required for access to folders #1.5-2.3.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in papers created by Kathy Bonk while an officer of the National Organization for Women (NOW) is held by NOW. Copyright in other papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

1.46 linear feet ((3+1/2 file boxes) plus 1 photograph folder)

This collection contains mostly correspondence, with some printed material, reports, legal briefs, clippings, and Bonk's notes. The collection is arranged into four series.

Series I, Personal (#1.1-1.4), contains correspondence, reports, and clippings. Most of the materials are related to Bonk's involvement in the feminist movement as an individual, not as part of an organization. Of particular interest is a folder of correspondence concerning speeches given by Bonk, as well as various panels on which she served.

Series II, National Organization for Women (NOW) (#1.5-2.3), contains correspondence, reports, printed material, photographs, clippings, etc., concerning media coverage of NOW's activities, particularly the Equal Rights Amendment campaign. There are correspondence, invoices, and photographs concerning the print and television advertisements produced by NOW for the ERA campaign.

Series III, NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund (NOW LDEF) (#2.4-2.13), contains correspondence, legal briefs, reports, printed material, and notes by Bonk about NOW LDEF's efforts to obtain equal pay for women. There is also a folder concerning Christine Kraft v. Metromedia, Inc. , a sexual discrimination case against a Kansas City media group.

Series IV, Linda Anguiano Papers (2.14-3.6), contains correspondence, agendas, attendance lists, and Anguiano's notes. Anguiano was the contact person for the Women's PR Group, of which Bonk was also a member. Most of the records in this series relate to the Women's PR Group's meetings.

Folder headings are those of Bonk unless otherwise noted; archivist's headings and notes are in square brackets. All printed material by or about Bonk, as well as all printed material with annotations, has been kept in the collection. Other NOW publications and reports, except those created by Bonk, were transferred to the NOW records in the Schlesinger Library. Non-NOW printed material produced by mainstream organizations and publications was discarded; leaflets and other ephemera of small, transient organizations were retained.

BIOGRAPHY

Kathy Bonk, coordinator of the National Organization for Women's Media Task Force, was born in 1953. In 1988, she established the Communications Consortium Media Center (CCMC), a nonprofit organization that helps other organizations use communications strategies for policy change. In 1989, Bonk was awarded a Kellogg Foundation National Leadership Fellowship, which resulted in the establishment of some of the first family planning clinics in Moscow.

Bonk is currently the President and Executive Director of the Communications Consortium Media Center. In 1999, she coauthored The Jossey-Bass Guide to Strategic Communications for Nonprofits.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in four series:

  1. Series I. Personal (#1.1-1.4)
  2. Series II. National Organization for Women (NOW) (#1.5-2.3)
  3. Series III. NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund (NOW LDEF) (#2.4-2.13)
  4. Series IV. Linda Anguiano Papers (2.14-3.6)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession number: 91-M30

These papers were given to the Schlesinger Library by Kathy Bonk in February 1991.

Processing Information

Processed: November 2002

By: Johanna Carll

Title
Bonk, Kathy, 1953- . Papers of NOW officer Kathy Bonk, 1975-1988: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
Sponsor
These papers were processed under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
EAD ID
sch00266

Repository Details

Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository

The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.

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