Records of the Women's Research & Education Institute, 1977-2008

When donated to the library, the records of the Women's Research & Education Institute were comprised of correspondence files, program and project files, grant files, financial reports, conference materials, publications, photographs, and other institutional records. The correspondence files were culled for meeting minutes, financial records, administrative reports, duplicate letters, and duplicate material found elsewhere in the collection (e.g., publications, financial reports, grant files, conference reports and related materials, etc.). The culled financial records, meeting minutes, and reports were combined with related files found throughout the collection to create the corresponding headings in Series I. Letters that directly related to any of the removed materials were maintained with the removed materials. The remainder of the material in the correspondence files (letters, memos, emails, and related) comprises the correspondence heading in Series I. Files containing the articles of incorporation, by-laws, etc., together with other history-related files (e.g., membership lists, mission statements, pamphlets, statistical data, etc.) found throughout the collection, comprise the history heading in Series I.

Series II was created by bringing together the files of related conferences, programs, and projects found throughout the collection. Contents of related folders were rearranged or combined, duplicate material weeded, and folder titles were created by the processor, who also provided the overall arrangement; grant files were placed with their corresponding conference, program, project, etc., and photographs were maintained with the corresponding conference, program, project, etc., with which they were found. Institute publications found throughout the collection were brought together to create Series III.

Series I, ADMINISTRATION, ORGANIZATION, AND RELATED, 1977-2008 (#1.1-16.23, E.1.), contains records from the Women's Research & Education Institute and early material from the Congresswomen's Caucus Corporation, both of which include administrative correspondence; financial records; tax returns; minutes, notes, and related from the steering committee that formed the Congresswomen's Caucus Corporation and the Women's Research & Education Institute (#14.7); articles of incorporation, by-laws, etc.; organization and structure files (e.g., histories; organizational charts; membership lists and biographical sketches; proposal plans, marketing strategies, and fundraising initiatives; demographic surveys; pamphlets, flyers, clippings; etc.); early founding documents (#15.1-15.2); meeting minutes; annual reports; etc. Correspondence include letters, memos, and printed emails sent to staff, board members, donors, members of Congress, grant foundations, corporate sponsors, public officials, fellows, committee and conference organizers, editors, etc. Topics focus on administrative and organizational matters; fundraising initiatives; conference planning; programs, projects, and other activities; pending legislation; the fellowship program (including general letters of reference); grant funding; etc. Related material is also included (donor lists, clippings, drafts, notes, flyers, photographs, etc.). Folder titles were created by the processor. The series is arranged alphabetically by topic, and thereunder chronologically. The Women's Research & Education Institute web site, which includes photographs and other writings, is being captured periodically as part of Harvard University Library's Web Archive Collection (WAX).

Series II, CONFERENCES, PROGRAMS, PROJECTS, ETC., 1977-2008 (#16.24-42.21, PD.1sl.-PD.6), includes material from the American Woman Award program; American Women book series; Budget Alert project; Women in Uniform and Women in the Military conferences; Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues annual fundraisers; Congressional Fellowships on Women and Public Policy program; Hire-A-Vet, She's A Good Investment project; Ford Foundation research coordination and dissemination grants for sustaining the institute's core activities and strategic planning; and other conferences, programs, fundraisers, media events, publishing projects, and activities of the Women's Research & Education Institute. Materials include agendas and schedules; announcements, invitations, pamphlets, and flyers; budgets; contracts; correspondence; donor and corporate contribution lists; grant applications and proposals; mailing lists; planning materials; reports and related; speeches; working drafts of form letters, reports, etc.; photographs; clippings; etc. Folder titles were created by the processor. The series is arranged alphabetically by name of conference, program, project, etc., or by topic, and thereunder chronologically. Related material can be found in Series I, Correspondence (#1.1-12.18).

Series III, PUBLICATIONS, 1981-2005 (#43.1-43.21), contains publications of the Women's Research & Education Institute which include the Women's Health Report series, the Women in the Military: Where They Stand series, directories of selected women's research and policy centers, and other independent titles on women's issues. Publications (i.e., reports, proceedings, transcripts, etc.) related to conferences and other specific activities are found with the corresponding event in Series II. The series is arranged chronologically by individual title or by series title.

A selection of the photographs in this collection are or will be cataloged in VIA, Harvard University's Visual Information Access database. Others, referred to as "uncataloged" photographs, are not of sufficient research interest to warrant cataloging and are simply treated as part of the documents they accompany; they are marked on the back with an asterisk in square brackets [*].