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COLLECTION Identifier: Vt-11: MP-23

Moving image collection of Elizabeth Holtzman, 1974-1993

Overview

Videotapes and film reels of news reports, talk show interviews, etc., of Elizabeth Holtzman, lawyer and Congresswoman.

Dates

  • Creation: 1974-1993

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

TERMS OF USE

Access. Collection is open for research. An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright in the audio created by Elizabeth Holtzman is held by Elizabeth Holtzman during her lifetime. Upon the death of Elizabeth Holtzman, copyright will be transferred to her heir. Copyright in other audio in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns.

Extent

53 videotapes
2 film reels

Videotapes Vt-11.1 - Vt-11.13, and Vt-11.21, consist mainly of media coverage of Elizabeth Holtzman; included are news reports, talk show interviews, and press conferences, usually precipitated by a current event. The collection also includes several speeches by Holtzman and a debate among United States Senate candidates. These videotapes are listed in chronological order by the date on which the material was aired or produced, except that a tape for which the date of production is unknown or approximate is listed chronologically but after tapes with more specific dates. All videotapes are 1/2 inch, with sound and color, unless otherwise indicated.

Television program titles appear in quotation marks. Quotation marks also indicate a title given by the donor of a videotape.

Vt-11.14 - Vt-11.20 consist of television spots for and interviews with Holtzman during her 1980 campaign for the United States Senate, and her questioning of President Gerald Ford about his pardon of former President Richard Nixon during a meeting of the United States House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, 1974. These videotapes are listed in chronological order by the date on which the material was aired or produced. All videotapes are 3/4 inch, with sound and color.

In October 2015 two 16 mm film reels (#MP-23.1 - MP-23.2) were added to this inventory. They are listed at the end of the inventory and are housed separately.

Additional videotapes received between 1982 and 1994 (accession numbers 82-M178, 94-M161) were added to the collection in March 2016 as Vt-11.22 - Vt-11.53. These videotapes consist of media coverage of Elizabeth Holtzman; included are news reports, talk show interviews, and press conferences, usually precipitated by a current event. The collection also includes debates and television advertisements related to Elizabeth Holtzman's 1989 New York City Comptroller campaign, and her 1992 United States Senate campaign. These videotapes are listed in chronological order by the date on which the material was aired or produced; tapes for which the date of production is unknown or approximate are listed at the end. All videotapes are 1/2 inch, with sound and color, unless otherwise indicated.

Consult the Vanderbilt Television News Archive and C-Span Video Library for related material.

BIOGRAPHY

Elizabeth Holtzman was born on August 11, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Sidney Holtzman, was a lawyer in private practice in New York City, and her mother, Filia (Ravitz) Holtzman, was a professor of Russian at Hunter College. Elizabeth Holtzman graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, New York, in 1958. After graduating from Radcliffe College magna cum laude (A.B.,1962), she entered Harvard Law School (J.D.,1965). While attending law school, Holtzman joined the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); during the summer months she worked as a law clerk for civil rights lawyer C. B. King. In 1965 Holtzman joined the Wachtell, Lipton law firm in New York City. Two years later she was recruited to work for New York City mayor John Lindsay, becoming the first woman assistant to a New York City mayor. Holtzman was first elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat from New York's 16th District in 1972; she served from January 1973 to December 1980 and was on the Judiciary Committee. She was, in 1972, the youngest woman ever elected to the House of Representatives. After an unsuccessful campaign for the United States Senate in 1980, Holtzman was elected New York City's first female district attorney in 1982, heading the city's largest office, Brooklyn.

In 1985 Holtzman was re-elected on the strength of her record of achieving the highest conviction rate in New York City for 1983 and 1984. In 1989 Holtzman was elected as New York City's first female comptroller; and in 1992 Holtzman ran again for the United States Senate, running against Geraldine Ferraro, Al Sharpton, Robert J. Mrazek and Robert Abrams in the Democratic primary. Abrams won the primary. Holtzman lost her bid for re-election as Comptroller in 1993; her term ended in 1994.

Holtzman has co-authored three books with Cynthia Cooper, Who Said It Would Be Easy: One Woman's Life in the Political Arena (1996), The Impeachment of George W. Bush: a Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens (2006), and Cheating Justice: How Bush and Cheney Attacked the Rule of Law, Plotted to Avoid Prosecution, and What We Can Do about It (2012). Holtzman has blogged periodically for The Huffington Post since 2006; topics include politics, women's rights, and the civil rights movement. Holtzman has practiced law at Herrick Feinstein, LLP, in New York City since 1994.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession numbers: 81-M10, 81-M15, 81-M17, 81-M20, 81-M22, 81-M38, 81-M84, 81-M96, 81-M128, 81-M300, 82-M178, 94-M161

These tapes and reels were given to the Schlesinger Library by Elizabeth Holtzman between January and December 1981 and in November 1994.

Related Material:

There is related material at the Schlesinger Library; see Elizabeth Holtzman papers, 1945-1981 (MC 793), Elizabeth Holtzman audio collection, 1973-2006 (T-184; Phon-13), and Elizabeth Holtzman additional papers, 1977-1994 (MC 709).

SEPARATION RECORD

The following items have been removed from the collection and returned to Elizabeth Holtzman, August 1997:

  1. Fifty nine videotapes of televised news reports and press conferences with minimal coverage of Holtzman, mostly re: Bensonhurst trial.

Processing Information

Processed: May and October 1997; additional material added October 2012.

By: Kelley Gove and Katherine Herrlich

Updated: October 2015

By: Laura Peimer

Updated and additional materials added: May 2016

By: Cat Lea Holbrook

Title
Holtzman, Elizabeth. Moving image collection of Elizabeth Holtzman, 1974-1993: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch00630

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.

Contact:
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