1. About the Database
In December 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Eleanor Roosevelt to chair the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, a bipartisan organization whose goal was to examine discrimination against women in the United States and to study and make recommendations on policies designed to enable women to fulfill their potential in American life. When the President’s Commission disbanded in 1963, it issued a series of final reports documenting, among other topics, labor policies and practices relating to women, educational opportunities available to women, the legal status of women in American law, and services available to women in the realms of training, counseling, and child care. In addition, the commission recommended that states and localities establish their own commissions on the status of women to continue research and advocacy to promote the equality of women in all aspects of American social and political life. Today, there are approximately 270 state and local women’s commissions around the United States.These federal, state, and local commissions have produced a wealth of primary materials documenting conditions in the lives of American women over the second half of the twentieth century. Reports and publications issued by these commissions provide information at a level of depth that is not common amongst other primary materials available for this time period. However, these publications have not been widely accessible, and never before have they been made searchable. Our goal with Publications on the Status of Women, 1960 to present is to compile in one place, for the first time, the complete text of every report on the status of women issued by these bodies during this time period. When complete, it will provide 75,000 pages of materials documenting women’s issues over more than four decades in all fifty states.
The database also includes the full text of the Status of Women in the States reports published by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR). Between 1996 and 2004, the IWPR published reports documenting the status of women in each of the fifty states. Individual copies of these reports are also available from the IWPR directly. More information can be found on the IWPR's website: http://www.iwpr.org.
In addition to providing the full text of these materials, Alexander Street’s Semantic Indexing allows the information contained in the reports to be accessed and analyzed in ways never before possible. Subjects indexed include affirmative action, crime and violence, education, economics, housing, childcare, health services, abortion, pornography, language, jobs, maternity leave, politics, law, disability, minority rights, and the image of women, among many others. Some of the most valuable information in the collection is statistical and is captured in charts, graphs, and tables, and users can search the information contained therein by x- and y-axes. Moreover, reports can be searched across geography and time, allowing users to compare data at different points in history or across different states.
back to top
2. Editorial Criteria
The aim of the collection is to provide the full text of every extant publication issued by the Commission of the Status of Women or similar governmental bodies in every state from 1960 to the present. Extant reports have been located with the assistance of the Commissions themselves, as well as libraries and archives throughout the United States. The collection has been developed under the guidance of Kathryn Kish Sklar and Thomas Dublin, Editors.Kathryn Kish Sklar is Distinguished Professor of History and Co-Director of the Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender at the State University of New York at Binghamton. In 2005-2006 she is serving as the Harmsworth Professor of American History at the University of Oxford. She is the author of Florence Kelley and the Nation's Work: The Rise of Women's Political Culture, 1830-1900 (1995), and other books and articles on women and social movements. Her first book, Catharine Beecher: A Study in American Domesticity (1973), analyzed how women reshaped gender identities and gender relationships in the antebellum era. She is currently completing a study of women and social movements in the Progressive era, 1900-1930.
Thomas Dublin is Professor of History and Co-Director of the Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender at the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is the author or editor of seven books including Women at Work: The Transformation of Work and Community in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1826-1860 (1979), winner of the Bancroft Prize and the Merle Curti Award. His latest book, The Face of Decline: The Pennsylvania Anthracite Region in the Twentieth Century, co-authored with Walter Licht, has just won the 2006 Merle Curti Award for Social History.
back to top
3. Notes on this Release.
This release contains 739 sources.
back to top
4. Software Requirements
Primary Sources of the Women's Movement, 1960 to present is optimized to operate with Netscape Navigator Version 1.2 or higher or Microsoft Explore 2.0 or higher. It does not use Java.
back to top
5. Technical Support
You can contact us by:When reporting a problem please include your customer name, e-mail address, phone number, domain name or IP address and that of your web proxy server if used.
- email at support@alexanderst.com
- telephone toll-free on 1-800-889-5937
back to top
6. Subscription and Free Trial Information
Primary Sources of the Women's Movement, 1960 to present is available for one-time purchase of perpetual access, or as an annual subscription. Please contact us at sales@alexanderstreet.com if you wish to begin a subscription or to request a free 30-day trial.
back to top
7. License Agreement
- 1. THE PARTIES: "Customer" means the person(s) and/or organization that have ordered or are taking a trial of the Product(s) as listed in Appendix A. The location listed in Appendix A is the "Site." "ASP" means Alexander Street Press, LLC, whose registered offices are situated at 38 Alexander Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314. "IP" means the owners of copyright in the original materials that form part of the Product(s).
- 2. USER LICENSE: This Agreement constitutes a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Product(s) listed in Appendix B. The Product(s) include(s) the data, any accompanying search and retrieval software, the documentation, and any accompanying tapes or disks.
- 3. AUTHORIZED USE: Subject to the restrictions contained in Article 5 below, the Customer is hereby granted a non-exclusive license to use the Product(s) in way that is consistent with U.S. Fair Use Provisions and international law, and to make limited numbers of hard or electronic copies for research, education, or other non-commercial use only; for more extended use, the Customer must obtain prior consent in writing from ASP or the relevant IP. The Customer's rights are limited to itself alone and do not extend to subsidiary or parent corporations, or to any other related or affiliated organizations. Any rights not expressly granted in this license are reserved to ASP.
- 4. RESTRICTIONS: The Customer may not decompile or reverse engineer the Product(s); modify or create a derivative work; remove, obscure, or modify copyright notices; sell, distribute or commercially exploit the Product(s); or transfer, assign or sublicense this license.
- 5. AUTHORIZED USERS: AUTHORIZED USERS: Authorized Users at academic sites are the Customer's currently enrolled full- or part-time students, employees, faculty, staff, affiliated researchers, distance learners, visiting scholars; remote access is for the previously listed Authorized Users and only if access is through an authentication system that limits usage to Authorized Users. Walk-in patrons may access the data only while physically present at the Site. Authorized Users at public library sites are the Customer’s patrons holding valid library cards, employees, and staff. Users must be physically present at the Site. Authorized Users at K-12 schools are the Customer’s employees, staff, and students. Users must be physically present at the Site. The Product(s) may be used by the licensed number of simultaneous users for which the Customer has paid.
- 6. DELIVERY / ACCESS: The Product(s) will be stored at one or more locations in digital form. If the Customer has paid for an annual Web subscription, Authorized Users will be granted access to these location(s). If the Customer has purchased perpetual access to the Product(s), ASP will provide the Customer with the data contained in the Product(s) on a CD-ROM or magnetic tape, which the Customer can either archive or load onto a local server to be accessed by the Customer's search and retrieval software.
- 7. CUSTOMER SUPPORT: ASP will offer reasonable levels of continuing support via email, phone or fax, during normal business hours, for feedback, problem-solving, or general questions. Any technical assistance that ASP may provide to the Customer is provided at the sole risk of the Customer. The Customer shall name one (1) technical support staff person (listed in Appendix A).
- 8. PRICING AND TERM: The price of the Product(s) and term of use are specified in a separate agreement letter and may be renegotiated periodically. ASP will provide web access at the start of the term for which the Customer has paid the initial subscription fee. The term will be extended to all periods for which the Customer has paid. In the event that ASP and the Customer mutually agree to an updated version of this Agreement, the updated version shall replace this version. ASP reserves the right to cease offering the Customer the opportunity to renew a subscription.
- 9. PRODUCT UPDATES: The Customer will receive updates to the Product(s) for which the appropriate fee has been paid. If the Customer fails to comply with any of its responsibilities under this Agreement, the Customer may be denied any and all future updates, without precluding ASP from seeking any other remedies
- 10. PERFORMANCE: ASP will use reasonable efforts to ensure that its servers have sufficient capacity and rate of connectivity to provide the Customer with a quality of service comparable to current standards in the online information provision industry in the Customer's locale. ASP will use reasonable efforts to provide continuous service with an average of 28 days of up-time per month. Scheduled down-time will be performed at low-usage times.
- 11. LIMITATION OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY: ASP warrants that any tape or disk licensed hereunder is free from defects in materials and workmanship under normal use. ASP will replace defective tapes and disks free of charge upon their return to ASP. This will be ASP's and the IP's entire liability with respect to this license. ASP and the IPs warrant and represent that they have the right to enter into this Agreement and to deliver the Product(s) "as is." These warranties are in lieu of any and all other warranties, written or oral, express or implied, including without limitation, warranties of merchantability of fitness for a particular purpose, all of which ASP disclaims. In no event will ASP be liable for more than the license fee paid (whether such liability arises from breach of warranty, breach of this contract or otherwise, and whether in contract or in tort, including negligence and strict liability).
- 12. TERMINATION: If the Customer breaches any term of this Agreement, ASP may, in addition to its other legal rights and remedies, terminate this license on 7 days written notice to Customer, if Customer has not remedied the breach within the 7 days. Upon any termination, the Customer will forthwith return to ASP the Product(s) and all copies thereof, and will erase all electronic storage of copies of the Product(s). Any termination, whether or not pursuant to this Article 13, will not affect any obligation or liability of a party arising prior to termination, and the provisions of Articles 12 will survive any termination.
- 13. FORCE MAJEURE: Neither ASP nor the IP will be responsible for any delay or failure in performance resulting from any cause beyond their control.
- 14. APPLICABLE LAW: This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Virginia without giving effect to the principles of conflict of laws thereof, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, the Customer consents to the jurisdiction of courts situated in Virginia in any action arising under this Agreement.
- 15. DISPUTE RESOLUTION: If any differences arise between the Customer and ASP relating to the meaning of this Agreement, the parties agree to resolve such differences through Arbitration or by any other means to which the two parties may agree.
- 16. INDEMNIFICATION: Each party shall indemnify and hold the other harmless for any losses, claims, damages, awards, penalties, or injuries incurred by any third party, including reasonable attorney's fees, which arise from any alleged breach of such indemnifying party's representations and warranties made under this Agreement, provided that the indemnifying party is promptly notified of any such claims. This indemnity shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
- 17. ENTIRE UNDERSTANDING: This Agreement constitutes the entire understanding of the parties and supercedes all prior communications, understandings and agreements relating to the subject matter hereof, whether oral or written.
- 18. AMENDMENT: No modification or claimed waiver of any provision of this Agreement shall be valid except by written amendment signed by authorized representatives of the Customer and ASP.
- 19. ENFORCEABILITY BY IP: The IP retains its rights to enforce its trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets and other rights against any violation thereof.
- 20. SEVERABILITY: If a term or condition of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable, the remaining terms and conditions hereof shall remain in full force and effect and shall be enforceable to the maximum extent permitted by law.
- Appendix A
- The Customer is XXXX
- The Site is XXXXX
- Authorized Users are the Customer's currently enrolled full-time or part-time students, employees, faculty, staff, affiliated researchers, distance learners, visiting scholars, and walk-in patrons who are physically present at the Site.
- Nominated technical support staff is XXXXX
back to top
8. Acknowledgements
We would like to especially acknowledge the many librarians, archivists, and staff of women’s commissions throughout the United States who assisted us in locating and obtaining copies of historical reports. Primary Sources of the Women's Movement, 1960 to present was made possible through the contributions of the following individuals:
Stephen Rhind-Tutt Product Development, Alexander Street Press Will Whalen Editorial, Alexander Street Press Sarah Schlagter Editorial, Alexander Street Press Maura Walz Editorial, Alexander Street Press Andrea Eastman-Mullins Editorial, Alexander Street Press Laura Mills Indexing, Alexander Street Press Dave Althen Sourcing, Alexander Street Press Sean Preilipper Sourcing, Alexander Street Press Pat Carlson Production, Alexander Street Press Alyssa Theodore Production, Alexander Street Press Danielle Hatfield Production, Alexander Street Press Zoshia Minto Production, Alexander Street Press Chrystal Sterling Production, Alexander Street Press Niki Dowdell Production, Alexander Street Press Young Park Production, Alexander Street Press Graham Carter Dimmock Software Development, Alexander Street Press Ning Zhu Software Development, Alexander Street Press John Cicero Software Development, Alexander Street Press
back to top
9. Errata
Please report any errata to the editor at the address at the bottom of this document.There are no known errata at this time.
back to top
10. Copyright Statement
All materials in Primary Sources of the Women's Movement, 1960 to present are protected under U.S. and International Copyright Law. Fair use under the law permits reproduction of single copies for personal research and private use. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of protected items requires the written permission of the copyright owners.
back to top
11. Archiving
Texts produced for Primary Sources of the Women's Movement, 1960 to present are considered research materials and receive the same level of stewardship as books, paper documents, and photographs. Once complete, copies of the database will be given to all purchasing institutions, so ensuring that the materials are available to subsequent generations.
back to top
12. Cataloging Records
MARC records will be available for this collection. Records will point to each full text book, series, or document project. This will enable patrons to link directly from a public access catalog to all documents pertaining to that publication.
back to top