The Greater Cleveland Congress-International Women's Year (GCC-IWY) was one of the largest observances of the 1975 International Women's Year in the United States. In 1974 Evelyn Bonder, director of Cuyahoga Community College's Project Eve (Education, Volunteerism, Employment), approached representatives of other area educational institutions about the possibility of sponsoring a women's convention or career institute in Cleveland. Following the spring 1974 United Nation designation of 1975 as International Women's Year (IWY), Bonder's H.E.R. (Higher Education Representatives) Committee convened and, by the end of the year, objectives for a congress and an Ad Hoc Planning Committee had been established.
In January 1975 the Women's City Club of Cleveland hosted a Kick-Off Luncheon for area women's organizations to introduce the planning committee's congress proposal and the newly-hired volunteer coordinator, Gwill York, who had secured office space and secretarial service at the Cleveland Foundation. The organizational structure for the administration of the Congress was then established and committees created for setting policies, promoting the event, and developing a program.
The Greater Cleveland Congress-International Women's Year opened on October 25 and closed October 27, 1975. Over 45,000 attended the Congress which presented arts and crafts booths, dramatic presentation workshops and seminars. The theme, "Toward Equal Partnership," lent itself to a range of including abortion, female chief executives, and women's rights in divorce. Workshops in career choices, education, financial concerns, health, lifestyles, personal growth and awareness, political action, and social concerns were presented by a variety of area organizations such as Al-Anon, Case Western Reserve University's School of Applied Social Science Women's Group, the Rape Crisis Center, and Cleveland Right to Life Society. The exhibits were sponsored by companies and organizations such as the Kroger Company, Clairol, Builder's Exchange, Cleveland Coalition of Labor Union women, Karamu Women's Committee, and the Christ Child Society of Cleveland.
The Greater Cleveland Congress-International Women's Year Photographs, 1975, consist of individual and group portraits of congress participants, including Ruth Miller, Lily Tomlin, Dr. Sonya Friedman, and Tippy Huntley. Alson includes views of events and exhibits at the congress, exhibit booths, and photographs of women around the world at various kinds of work. The collection includes 98 black and white photographs of varying sizes and 10 35mm black and white negatives.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of women in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1970s.
The collection is arranged by subject.
The researcher should also consult MS 4087 Greater Cleveland Congress - International Women's Year Records.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 364 Greater Cleveland Congress - International Women's Year Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
These photographs were removed from MS 4087 Greater Cleveland Congress - International Women's Year Records. Gift of the Cleveland Foundation in 1983.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.