Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Researchers may access digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], West Virginia University, Women's Centenary, 1891-1991, Videotape and Publications, A&M 3107, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Waugh, Lillian J. of the WVU Center for Women's Studies, 1992 February 24

Biographical / Historical

The Center for Women's and Gender Studies (CWGS) is an academic unit within West Virginia University's Eberly College of Arts and Sciences that offers a central location for discourse relative to the field of women's and gender studies. CWGS finds its origins in an informal Caucus for Women's Concerns formed in 1972 within West Viginia University (WVU) to "achieve equitable treatment of women." In 1977, the Caucus submitted recommendations to then-WVU President   Gene Budig regarding the establishment of a women's studies program and an advisory council on women's concerns. In response to these recommendations, the Caucus was officially accepted by the university as the Council for Women's Concerns (CWC), which included a Women's Studies Subcommittee formed to research and help facilitate a formal women's studies program.

The first proposal for a women's studies program was submitted to the CWC by Renata Pore in 1978, upon which a search committee headed by Dr. Enid Portnoy of the English Department was established. In 1980, the Women's Studies Program (WSP) was officially established as an interdisciplinary program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Judith Stitzel, a founding member of the CWC, was selected to serve as the first part-time coordinator of the WSP.

Under Stitzel's direction, the WSP developed an undergraduate Certificate Program in Women's Studies to be first offered in 1984. Simultaneously, the Center for Women's Studies (CWS) was established in the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research to provide a collective space for students to gather. Judith Stitzel was made the founding director of the center, a position she would hold until 1992, making her the longest consecutive director of the center. The CWS would become affiliated with the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences in 1993.

One of the major projects of the CWS, the Women's Centenary, "Excellence Through Equity" began planning in 1987 with Dr. Lillian Waugh being chosen as the research coordinator. After several years of planning and research, the Women's Centenary commenced in September 1989 on the 100-year anniversary of the first group of women to be admitted to WVU as degree candidates. Events were held over a two-year period, including lecture series, galas, building rededications, historical tours, exhibits, time capsule creations, and county-wide engagements. The Women's Centenary culminated with a convocation in 1991 on the 100-year anniversary of the first woman to graduate from WVU, Harriet Lyon.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains publications and a VHS film about the first one hundred years of West Virginia University as a co-educational institution. The materials document the achievements of women at WVU and provide a glimpse into women's student life and how it has changed over the years.

All materials have been digitized and are available for viewing. Researchers may access digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.

Related Material

A&M 3376, A&M 5048, A&M 5052, A&M 5131, and A&M 5234.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Adult education of women
• Anderson, Lea.
• Buswell, Mary C.
• Chandler-Broome, Annette.
• Harmon-Schamberger, Barbara.
• Hubbard, Eva, 1858-1947
• Lazzell, Blanche, 1878-1956
• Louistall, Victorine Augusta, 1912-2006
• Lyon, Harriet E.
• Morrison, Agnes J.
• Reinhard, Diane L.
• Tennant, Natalie.
• Waugh, Lillian J., 1941-2018
• West Virginia Feminist Activist Collection
• West Virginia University -- Women's Centenary (1891-1991)
• West Virginia University -- History