Noel Phyllis Birkby Papers, 1932-1994 : Scope & Contents of the Collection

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Noel Phyllis Birkby Papers consist of 50 linear feet of correspondence, films, memorabilia, photographs, sketchbooks, research files, subject files, videotapes, and writings. They date from 1932 to 1994 with the bulk of the material dating from the mid 1960s to Birkby's death in 1994. The papers provide significant information about Birkby's life and work, the women's movement and lesbian feminism in New York City in the 1970s and 80s, New York City lesbian culture from the 1950s to 1990s, and the establishment of a number of organizations of women architects.

Throughout the papers, there is more visual than written documentation. Nearly half of the total footage is made up of photographs, films, and videotapes. Birkby described herself as "always more interested in pictures than words." In addition, much of Birkby's research and documentation did not result in finished products leaving the Papers rich in raw materials that were not extensively sifted and digested.

Information about Birkby's personal life is available in SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL AND FINANCIAL MATERIAL, which contains general biographical materials particularly about her education and finances. The autobiographical writings (1970s- ) in SERIES IV. RESEARCH, SPEAKING, AND WRITING are a rich source for reflections on both her personal and professional life. Tape recordings and transcriptions of Consciousness Raising Group One sessions in SERIES VI. SUBJECT FILES (transcriptions) and SERIES IX. TAPE RECORDINGS contain a wealth of personal anecdotes. The tape recorded therapy sessions in the latter series are restricted until January 1, 2033.

Throughout her life, Birkby used a variety of visual and verbal media to express herself artistically. Drawings, prints, and paintings are located in SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL AND FINANCIAL MATERIAL; artistic photographs and films are housed in SERIES VII. PHOTOGRAPHS and SERIES VIII. FILMS AND VIDEOTAPES; and a few poems and other written pieces are filed in SERIES I and SERIES IV. RESEARCH, SPEAKING, AND WRITING.

Birkby's work as an architect is well-documented through Project Files in SERIES III: ARCHITECTURE which contains drawings, elevations, plans, sections, renderings, correspondence with clients, and job meeting minutes. These materials are more extensive for projects she designed in private practice (1972- ) and particularly for projects undertaken in the 1980s and 1990s for the New York State Facilities Development Corporation. Extensive files on one FDC project, the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center's community residence at 3531 Oceanside Drive, were retained as a sample of the extensive paperwork maintained on such projects. Other FDC project files were weeded to leave only those materials which directly reflect Birkby's contributions to the project. Sketchbooks in SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL AND FINANCIAL MATERIAL contain early sketches of architectural projects intermingled with all manner of notes and sketches such as journal entries, creative writing, artistic sketches, personal notes, lists, etc. The professional portfolio materials in SERIES I also document Birkby's architectural projects. Buildings designed by her are documented visually in SERIES VII. PHOTOGRAPHS.

Birkby's introduction to consciousness raising in 1970 brought about changes in every facet of her life. Changes in the nature of her architectural work can be seen in the different types of buildings she designed, most on a smaller scale. Materials about her various projects aimed at documenting and articulating the unique perspective women could bring to the built environment are available in SERIES IV. RESEARCH, SPEAKING, AND WRITING and in the related photographs, slides, and tape recordings.

Other professional interests are reflected in materials related to Birkby's work for the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council (in SERIES III) and her research and teaching related to housing for the elderly (in SERIES IV and SERIES V), particularly notes and photographs from a research trip to Scandinavia in 1981, and Pratt Institute student projects. Other materials on Birkby's educational techniques can be found in SERIES V, in the portfolio materials in SERIES I, in SERIES VII. PHOTOGRAPHS, SERIES VIII. FILMS AND VIDEOTAPES, and in the tape recordings of workshops in SERIES IX.

Birkby began to use film as a tool in architecture in the early 1960s because it allowed three- dimensional documentation of the built environment. Enamored of the medium, she soon came to use film to create "a notebook of events around me--a kind of journal," initially documenting the private activities of friends and family. These private films are peopled with the lesbian feminist theorists and activists who were Birkby's friends. Once she became involved in the women's movement, she also used film, audiotape, and still photography to document political actions and demonstrations.

Materials which document lesbian culture in 1950s and 1960s New York are available in the correspondence and in some of the earlier personal films. Autobiographical writings and consciousness raising group transcripts offer a retrospective view of the period.

In addition to her active visual and audio recording of events, Birkby documented the 1970s Women's Movement, lesbian feminism, and the flourishing women's culture by collecting written materials and memorabilia at meetings, rallies, conferences, etc., and by saving articles and issues of periodicals that were of interest to her. Most of these materials are filed in SERIES VI. SUBJECT FILES. Organized primarily by subject, the lively contents of these files vary widely, showing, among other things, the humor, energy, and optimism of the times.

In the late 1970s, Birkby began work toward a film on the "second wave" of the women's movement. She planned to use footage shot in the early 1970s combined with later interviews of leading figures in the movement such as June Arnold, Charlotte Bunch, and Robin Morgan. Tapes and transcripts of these interviews survive in SERIES VIII. FILMS AND VIDEOTAPES and SERIES IX. TAPE RECORDINGS. The film footage and oral history interviews provide rich documentation of early 1970s activities as well as the lives of the interviewees before the advent of the movement.

Personal reflection about her status as a woman in a male-dominated field led Birkby to join with other women architects in forming the Alliance of Women in Architecture in New York City to participate in the Archive of Women in Architecture at the Architectural League of New York, as well as the Association of Women Architects, the Organization of Women Architects, and the Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes. Materials about the founding and growing pains of these organizations are in SERIES III. ARCHITECTURE. Alliance of Women in Architecture materials include videotapes of members recounting the early history of the group as well as consciousness raising groups with women architects (in SERIES VIII. FILMS AND VIDEOTAPES). Birkby's own perspective on women in architecture can be found in the texts and slides (in SERIES IV. RESEARCH, SPEAKING, AND WRITING and SERIES VII. PHOTOGRAPHS) from presentations she gave on the subject.

Related materials in the Sophia Smith Collection are in the records of the Women's School of Planning and Architecture, the Women's Liberation Collection, the papers of various activists in Women's Liberation, and the oral histories and videotapes of participants in "'Amazonian Activity': A Celebration of the Life of Noel Phyllis Birkby", held at the SSC in the fall of 1997. A number of Birkby's friends have committed to placing their papers in the SSC and some have begun to send materials. See the reference staff for more information.