Papers of Ann Bookman 1925-2013

The papers of Ann Bookman mainly document her tenure as Policy and Research Director at the Women's Bureau of the United States Department of Labor. Included are administrative meeting minutes of departments, staff and subgroups; appointment books; awards and honors; brochures, fact sheets, and flyers; clippings; transcripts of focus groups; legislative laws and amendments, testimony, and transcripts of public hearings; memoranda and reports representing commissioned studies of the Family Medical Leave Act, various project initiatives and national outreach programs. There is also correspondence and reports of affiliate organizations; agendas, programs, and speeches related to conferences and forums; and Bureau publications, research, and workshops. There are some related federal agency records, including the Employment Training Administration and the Employment Standards Administration of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

Bookman's papers also document research projects undertaken while serving as Executive Director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Workplace Center. These papers include coded demographic forms; evaluative questionnaires; field reports; transcripts of legislative hearings; research proposals and findings presented at conferences, forums, panels and symposia; publications, which include articles, handbooks, and working papers; and reports. Redacted interview transcripts are available for research. Restricted material, which includes data analysis, meeting minutes of the research team and medical staff, and work observations are closed for 70 years from the date of creation.

Bookman's other professional activities are also well documented, including correspondence and memoranda related to her work as an administrator and faculty member at several academic institutions; legislation and testimony; meeting minutes; reports and other material detailing her advisory role, membership, and working affiliation with policy-making commissions and women-centered organizations; speeches and photographs related to various conference and forums; and publications. Research related to the biotechnology project sponsored by the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute, includes interviews, reports, and surveys. Redacted interview transcripts are available for research. Restricted material, which includes data analysis and demographics, are closed for 70 years from the date of creation.

There is a comparatively small amount of biographical and personal material in the papers, mainly consisting of awards and honors, curricula vitae filed within related series, and some personal correspondence and greeting cards from friends and colleagues that include Bill and Hillary Clinton. Newsletters featuring Bookman's projects have been retained in the collection, while others were transferred to the Schlesinger Library Published Materials Division. Most of the papers were received with folder headings, which the archivist modified to avoid duplication and to consolidate related material. The archivist provided the arrangement for all series and interfiled loose material. The web site of the University of Massachusetts Center for Women in Politics and Policy is being captured periodically as part of Harvard University Library's Web Archive Collection (WAX).

Series I, WOMEN'S BUREAU, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, 1925-1997, n.d. (#1.1-26.4), includes the administrative history, structure, and accomplishments of the Women's Bureau; appointment books; awards and honors, including a National Performance Review signed by Al Gore (#2.9); brochures, fact sheets, and flyers; and correspondence, which includes clippings, invitations, and greeting cards from Bill and Hilary Clinton (#8.6) and other friends and colleagues. Additional clippings are included with related subject matter. This series also includes memoranda, correspondence, reports and other material related to affiliate organizations; and transcripts of focus groups; agendas, programs, and speeches presented at various conferences, forums, and symposiums sponsored by the Department of Labor, related government agencies, and affiliate organizations. Projects include studies of the contingent workforce (independent contractors, temporary, on-call, or day or leased workers), early childhood data collection, the development of school-to-work opportunity systems, and welfare reform; funding proposals; meeting minutes; legislative amendments, transcripts and testimony from public hearings; notes, reports and research; workplace surveys associated with the Bureau's national outreach program Working Women Count! (see also #PD.6), and publications are also included. The series is arranged alphabetically and chronologically thereunder. Folder titles were created by the processor.

Series II, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WORKPLACE CENTER, 1995-2013, n.d. (#26.5-34.1), includes correspondence, clippings, and memoranda; agendas, programs, and speeches related to conferences, forums, programs, and panels; and legislation. This series also includes material related to research projects facilitated by medical staff at the Gretchen and Ed Fish Center, a unit of the Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. The research was conducted by Ann Bookman, Lotte Bailyn, and Monica Harrington with the assistance of several doctoral students. Launched as a work redesign project, the research shed light on issues of gender equity, work-family balance, community engagement, family caregivers, and extended and palliative care for the elderly, and includes research protocols and reports; published writings consisting of articles, handbooks, and working papers. Some redacted interview transcripts and coded demographic forms are available for research. Restricted research material, which includes data analysis, meeting minutes of the research team and medical staff members, field notes, and work observations, is closed for 70 years from the date of creation. The series is arranged alphabetically and chronologically thereunder. Folder titles were created by the processor.

Series III, OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES, 1983-2007, n.d. (#34.2-45.10, E.1), includes correspondence and clippings related to Bookman's role as an administrator and faculty member at several academic institutions; legislation, testimony and transcripts from public hearings; meeting minutes, and reports associated with her work on the City of Cambridge Coordinating Council for Children, Youth, and Families (The Kids Council), gubernatorial appointee to the Commission on Family Leave (see #39.5-39.8. and #PD.3), and women-centered organizations focused on child care services, parental leave, and work-family balance. This series also includes agendas, programs, and speeches representing Bookman's participation in conferences and forums. Highlights include her work on the Biotechnology Project sponsored by the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Papers related to the project include community interviews and mapping protocols; field notes; transcripts of focus group discussions; and interviews of employees in the biotechnology industry. Redacted interview transcripts, which are organized alphabetically by the first letter of last names, are available for research. Restricted files, which include data analysis, are closed for 70 years from the date of creation. There are some published writings and related material, including a draft preface for Women and the Politics of Empowerment (Temple University, 1988) (#44.5); book proposals, chapter summaries and follow-up interviews that were incorporated into Who's Caring for the Community?: Rethinking Our Lives as Workers, Family Members, Neighbors and Citizens (#45.8), which was subsequently changed and published as Starting in Our Back Yard (Routledge, 2004). The web site of the University of Massachusetts Center for Women in Politics and Policy is being captured periodically as part of Harvard University Library's Web Archive Collection (WAX). The series is arranged alphabetically and chronologically thereunder. Folder titles were created by the processor.

Series IV, PHOTOGRAPHS AND OVERSIZED, 1988-1997 (#PD.1-PD.6, F+D.1), includes a group photograph of Bookman and others at the CURIES conference for Women in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering; a photograph of Bookman taken at the Women's Bureau; and group photographs of staff members celebrating the Women's Bureau 75th anniversary which coincided with their national outreach program: Working Women Count! Most of the photographs in this collection are or will be cataloged in VIA, Harvard University's Visual Information Access database. The oversized material in this series includes promotional conference flyers, and organizational newsletters. The series is arranged by format and chronologically thereunder. Folder titles were created by the processor.