The Women's Liberation Collection documents the emergence, evolution, impact, and decline of the women's liberation movement and the contributions of some of the major personalities associated with it during the period 1966 to 1977. Material generated by the women's liberation movement includes bibliographies, book reviews, books, brochures, bumper stickers, audiotapes, catalogs, comic books, conference programs, correspondence, directories, leaflets, minutes, newsletters [see also Periodicals Collection], newspaper clippings, pamphlets, photographs, position papers, posters, publicity, questionnaires, reports, resolutions, songbooks, and speeches.

Campaign poster for Massachusetts primary,
Shirley Chisholm for President, 1972

Individuals represented in the collection include Ti-Grace Atkinson, Shulamith Firestone, Betty Friedan, Germaine Greer, Kate Millett, Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem. These individuals' files consist primarily of biographical information, newspapers clippings, and published writings, though a few also contain speeches and photographs. National organizations, such as the National Organization for Women are represented; as are local women's groups such as New York City's Redstockings and Berkeley's Women's History Research Library. Feminist groups associated with the Five Colleges and the Pioneer Valley are also well-represented in the collection.

Additional material includes published material and ephemera relating to a variety of issues that concerned feminists in the 1960s and 1970s. These cover the spectrum from anti-feminism to men's liberation to spirituality. Some of the more unique material includes both pornographic and anti-pornographic comic books; and "Consumer products" such as catalogs that document the wide array of t-shirts, bumper stickers, jewelry, buttons, postcards, and posters marketed to feminists. The collection also contains a large number of newspaper clippings from prominent mainstream publications such as the New York Times, Newsweek, Redbook, and Time Magazine documenting both unsympathetic cultural responses to women's liberation and the dramatic cultural shifts ushered in by feminists during their heyday in the 1970s.