The Gloria Steinem Papers (105.75 linear feet, circa 1940-97) offer an extraordinarily complete picture of an important feminist leader's public life, and to some extent her private life as well, but there is much more here than the raw material for Steinem's biography. The correspondence, writings, speeches, subject files, memorabilia, photographs, and other papers collected here document the Women's Movement from the standpoint of not only the movers and shakers, but also the individual women at the grass roots level whose letters to Steinem indicate the ways in which they responded to her as a symbol of the changes they were experiencing in their own lives. The papers also reflect the diversity of the modern women's movement. Steinem's ability to form productive alliances with women of different races and classes reflect her commitment to their concerns. Within the papers is evidence of her friendships and political work with pioneering African-American feminists such as Florynce Kennedy and Dorothy Pitman Hughes; lesbian authors and activists Andrea Dworkin, Rita Mae Brown, and Kate Millett; and labor organizers such as the United Farmworkers' Dolores Huerta and Karen Nussbaum of SEIU, District 925. Her importance as a founder, editor, and key fund-raiser for Ms. magazine make this collection central to the study of late 20th century journalism. Steinem's papers will be essential to any serious scholarly work on the women's liberation movement and twentieth century feminism.

This collection is organized into ten series:

• I. Biographical Material
• II. Correspondence
• III. Speeches and Appearances
• IV. Writings
• V. Organizations
• VI. Political Campaigns
• VII. Subjects
• VIII. Photographs
• IX . Audiovisual Material
• X. Oversize Material