Women's Africa Committee Records, 1958-1978
type: FindingAid
type: Document
conforms to: General International Standard for Archival Description
publisher: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
encoded as: Women's Africa Committee Records, 1958-1978
topic: Women's Africa Committee Records
subject: Women's Africa Committee Records
has part: Biographical History for: Women's Africa Committee Records
topic: Administration: annual meeting report, brochures, publicity, bylaws, rules of procedure, and letterhead, 1960, 1964-69, n.d.
subject: Administration: annual meeting report, brochures, publicity, bylaws, rules of procedure, and letterhead, 1960, 1964-69, n.d.
topic: Public response (hostile): typescript and clipping, 1960, n.d.
subject: Public response (hostile): typescript and clipping, 1960, n.d.
topic: Correspondence from program participants, 1968, 1971, n.d.
subject: Correspondence from program participants, 1968, 1971, n.d.
topic: Publications
subject: Publications
topic: Contemporary African Women: An Introductory Bibliographical Overview and a Guide to Women's Organizations, 1960-1967, 1968
subject: Contemporary African Women: An Introductory Bibliographical Overview and a Guide to Women's Organizations, 1960-1967, 1968
topic: "Do's and Dont's for Conducting Programs in Africa," circa 1961
subject: "Do's and Dont's for Conducting Programs in Africa," circa 1961
topic: The Place of the Family in the Socio-Economic Progress of Africa: Polygamy vs. Monogamy, edited by Mrs. O. Nwazuloha Sofola (2 copies), 1965
subject: The Place of the Family in the Socio-Economic Progress of Africa: Polygamy vs. Monogamy, edited by Mrs. O. Nwazuloha Sofola (2 copies), 1965
topic: The Second National Kenya Women's Seminar: The African Woman Builds the Nation, 1963
subject: The Second National Kenya Women's Seminar: The African Woman Builds the Nation, 1963
topic: Women of Modern Africa by Elizabeth Hunting Wheeler, 1966
subject: Women of Modern Africa by Elizabeth Hunting Wheeler, 1966
topic: Programs
subject: Programs
topic: Community Service Program: participants' and administrators' reports, membership list, and published reports, 1963, 1967-68
subject: Community Service Program: participants' and administrators' reports, membership list, and published reports, 1963, 1967-68
topic: Leadership Training Program: brochure and report, 1962, 1968
subject: Leadership Training Program: brochure and report, 1962, 1968
topic: Women in Development trip: itineraries, typed notes, reports, recommendations, photograph, and clipping, 1978
subject: Women in Development trip: itineraries, typed notes, reports, recommendations, photograph, and clipping, 1978
topic: Scrapbooks
subject: Scrapbooks
topic: mnsss191-6-1
subject: mnsss191-6-1
topic: Volume II: "Community Service Program": includes biographical information; photographs; reports, and clippings, 1962-66
subject: Volume II: "Community Service Program": includes biographical information; photographs; reports, and clippings, 1962-66
topic: Volume III: "Peg Snyder, Volunteers Program and Summer Scholarship Program": includes photographs, clippings, correspondence, reports, and memoranda, 1961-66, n.d.
subject: Volume III: "Peg Snyder, Volunteers Program and Summer Scholarship Program": includes photographs, clippings, correspondence, reports, and memoranda, 1961-66, n.d.

General International Standard for Archival Description
type: Standard

Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Repository
type: Organization
type: Agent
country code: US
maintenance agency code: mnsss
is publisher of: Women's Africa Committee Records, 1958-1978
administers: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
provides access to: Women's Africa Committee Records
provides access to: Administration: annual meeting report, brochures, publicity, bylaws, rules of procedure, and letterhead, 1960, 1964-69, n.d.
provides access to: Public response (hostile): typescript and clipping, 1960, n.d.
provides access to: Correspondence from program participants, 1968, 1971, n.d.
provides access to: Publications
provides access to: Contemporary African Women: An Introductory Bibliographical Overview and a Guide to Women's Organizations, 1960-1967, 1968
provides access to: "Do's and Dont's for Conducting Programs in Africa," circa 1961
provides access to: The Place of the Family in the Socio-Economic Progress of Africa: Polygamy vs. Monogamy, edited by Mrs. O. Nwazuloha Sofola (2 copies), 1965
provides access to: The Second National Kenya Women's Seminar: The African Woman Builds the Nation, 1963
provides access to: Women of Modern Africa by Elizabeth Hunting Wheeler, 1966
provides access to: Programs
provides access to: Community Service Program: participants' and administrators' reports, membership list, and published reports, 1963, 1967-68
provides access to: Leadership Training Program: brochure and report, 1962, 1968
provides access to: Women in Development trip: itineraries, typed notes, reports, recommendations, photograph, and clipping, 1978
provides access to: Scrapbooks
provides access to: mnsss191-6-1
provides access to: Volume II: "Community Service Program": includes biographical information; photographs; reports, and clippings, 1962-66
provides access to: Volume III: "Peg Snyder, Volunteers Program and Summer Scholarship Program": includes photographs, clippings, correspondence, reports, and memoranda, 1961-66, n.d.

Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: SpatialThing
is administered by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Women's Africa Committee Records, 1958-1978
type: EAD
type: Document
description: Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Jennifer Smar. 2005-11-07
created: 2005-11-07
conforms to: Encoded Archival Description
conforms to: Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
encoding of: Women's Africa Committee Records, 1958-1978

Encoded Archival Description
type: Standard

Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
type: Standard

Women's Africa Committee Records
type: ArchivalResource
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
level: collection
identifier: MS 318
date: 1958-1978
date created accumulated string: 1958-1978
date created accumulated start: 1958
date created accumulated end: 1978
produced in: Creation of Women's Africa Committee Records
extent: 1 box
extent: (.5 linear ft.)
language: eng
origination: Women's Africa Committee
has biographical history: Biographical History for: Women's Africa Committee Records
scopecontent: Scope and Contents of the Collection The Women's Africa Committee Records consist of half a linear foot of documents received from board member and chairwoman Zelia Ruebhausen. The small collection dates from 1958 to 1978 and includes administrative records, bylaws, brochures, publicity, project files, publications, newspaper clippings, correspondence, reports, and photographs. The bulk of the collection documents the Community Service Program, in which African leaders participated in women's volunteer and educational efforts in various American locales. These records illuminate American efforts at cultural exchange with the emerging independent African nations, particularly as they affected clubwomen in the U.S. and participating women community leaders from a range of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Situated in a time period in which the U.S. government sought to counteract potential Communist influence on international perceptions of the U.S. but before the widespread adoption of pan-African identity among black Americans, the efforts of the Women's Africa Committee reflect both New Frontier-style cosmopolitanism and a tradition of women's club's outreach efforts. Such initiatives blended the interests of white and black clubwomen to aid their counterparts from across the globe. Although the records reveal much more of the viewpoints and attitudes of the committee women than of the African women who were served by the programs, writings from both administrators and participants describe the process and enduring impact of cross-cultural education. Publications from the organization include educational materials such as a bibliography on African women as well as more analytical writings like "Do's and Dont's for Conducting Programs in Africa" and Women in Modern Africa, an assessment of the changing social and familial roles of African women amidst the major political and economic shifts of the mid-twentieth century. A small folder of hostile public response mater…
associated with: Women--Africa--Social conditions--20th century--Sources
associated with: Women in community development--Africa--History--20th century--Sources
associated with: Women--International cooperation--History--20th century--Sources
associated with: African-American Institute. Women's Africa Committee--History--Sources
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Administration: annual meeting report, brochures, publicity, bylaws, rules of procedure, and letterhead, 1960, 1964-69, n.d.
aggregates: Administration: annual meeting report, brochures, publicity, bylaws, rules of procedure, and letterhead, 1960, 1964-69, n.d.
has part: Public response (hostile): typescript and clipping, 1960, n.d.
aggregates: Public response (hostile): typescript and clipping, 1960, n.d.
has part: Correspondence from program participants, 1968, 1971, n.d.
aggregates: Correspondence from program participants, 1968, 1971, n.d.
has part: Publications
aggregates: Publications
has part: Programs
aggregates: Programs
has part: Scrapbooks
aggregates: Scrapbooks

collection
type: Level
type: Concept

Creation of Women's Africa Committee Records
type: Creation
type: Event
product: Women's Africa Committee Records
involved: Women's Africa Committee Records
time: Time of Creation of Women's Africa Committee Records
at time: Time of Creation of Women's Africa Committee Records

Time of Creation of Women's Africa Committee Records
type: Interval
timeline: universaltimeline
start: 1958
interval starts: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/1958
P86i contains: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/1958
end: 1978
interval ends: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/1978
P86i contains: http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/year/1978

1 box
type: Extent
archbox: 1
label: (.5 linear ft.)

Women's Africa Committee
type: Agent
is origination of: Women's Africa Committee Records

Biographical History for: Women's Africa Committee Records
type: BiographicalHistory
type: Document
type: DocumentPart
body: Historical Note In 1958 representatives of women's organizations and women active in the U.S. State Department's overseas outreach efforts formed the Africa Program Committee in order to coordinate existing efforts of women's projects in Africa and emphasize "working with women in new ways, making use of new patterns with full recognition of the indigenous ways of the people." While professionals in the U.S. State Department participated in the founding, early organizers endeavored to establish the Committee as a non-governmental entity. Upon affiliation with the African-American Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that sponsored educational opportunities for African students, the Africa Program Committee was renamed the Women's Africa Committee. The name change reflected the organization's interest in programs designed for African women in particular. The early efforts of the Women's Africa Committee targeted the wives of diplomats of the newly independent nations. They provided assistance to ease the transition into everyday life in the United States. Their programming soon became more ambitious, and they sought to foster cultural and educational exchange between the U.S. and Africa. Advisors, board members, and officers of the group included such eminent professionals and clubwomen as Dorothy Height, Dorothy Ferebee, Jeanne Noble, and Lorraine Hansberry. Zelia Ruebhausen, active in the League of Women Voters and the United Nations and a visitor to Africa, worked closely with the organization as a volunteer and chairman of the board, and she shepherded some of the group's more enduring programs. With private funding as well as financial assistance from the State Department, the Summer Leadership Scholarship Program provided young African women studying in U.S. universities training and fieldwork for instituting community development programs toward the end of helping them establish programs to meet community needs in their homelands. The Community Ser…
topic: Women's Africa Committee
subject: Women's Africa Committee
is biographical history for: Women's Africa Committee Records
is part of: Women's Africa Committee Records, 1958-1978

Women--Africa--Social conditions--20th century--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

lcsh
type: ConceptScheme

Women in community development--Africa--History--20th century--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

Women--International cooperation--History--20th century--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh

African-American Institute. Women's Africa Committee--History--Sources
type: Concept
in scheme: lcsh
focus: african-americaninstitutewomensafricacommittee--history--sources

Administration: annual meeting report, brochures, publicity, bylaws, rules of procedure, and letterhead, 1960, 1964-69, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Women's Africa Committee Records
is aggregated by: Women's Africa Committee Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Public response (hostile): typescript and clipping, 1960, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Women's Africa Committee Records
is aggregated by: Women's Africa Committee Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Correspondence from program participants, 1968, 1971, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Women's Africa Committee Records
is aggregated by: Women's Africa Committee Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Publications
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Women's Africa Committee Records
is aggregated by: Women's Africa Committee Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Contemporary African Women: An Introductory Bibliographical Overview and a Guide to Women's Organizations, 1960-1967, 1968
aggregates: Contemporary African Women: An Introductory Bibliographical Overview and a Guide to Women's Organizations, 1960-1967, 1968
has part: "Do's and Dont's for Conducting Programs in Africa," circa 1961
aggregates: "Do's and Dont's for Conducting Programs in Africa," circa 1961
has part: The Place of the Family in the Socio-Economic Progress of Africa: Polygamy vs. Monogamy, edited by Mrs. O. Nwazuloha Sofola (2 copies), 1965
aggregates: The Place of the Family in the Socio-Economic Progress of Africa: Polygamy vs. Monogamy, edited by Mrs. O. Nwazuloha Sofola (2 copies), 1965
has part: The Second National Kenya Women's Seminar: The African Woman Builds the Nation, 1963
aggregates: The Second National Kenya Women's Seminar: The African Woman Builds the Nation, 1963
has part: Women of Modern Africa by Elizabeth Hunting Wheeler, 1966
aggregates: Women of Modern Africa by Elizabeth Hunting Wheeler, 1966

Programs
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Women's Africa Committee Records
is aggregated by: Women's Africa Committee Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Community Service Program: participants' and administrators' reports, membership list, and published reports, 1963, 1967-68
aggregates: Community Service Program: participants' and administrators' reports, membership list, and published reports, 1963, 1967-68
has part: Women in Development trip: itineraries, typed notes, reports, recommendations, photograph, and clipping, 1978
aggregates: Women in Development trip: itineraries, typed notes, reports, recommendations, photograph, and clipping, 1978

Scrapbooks
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Women's Africa Committee Records
is aggregated by: Women's Africa Committee Records
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: mnsss191-6-1
aggregates: mnsss191-6-1
has part: Volume II: "Community Service Program": includes biographical information; photographs; reports, and clippings, 1962-66
aggregates: Volume II: "Community Service Program": includes biographical information; photographs; reports, and clippings, 1962-66
has part: Volume III: "Peg Snyder, Volunteers Program and Summer Scholarship Program": includes photographs, clippings, correspondence, reports, and memoranda, 1961-66, n.d.
aggregates: Volume III: "Peg Snyder, Volunteers Program and Summer Scholarship Program": includes photographs, clippings, correspondence, reports, and memoranda, 1961-66, n.d.

Contemporary African Women: An Introductory Bibliographical Overview and a Guide to Women's Organizations, 1960-1967, 1968
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publications
is aggregated by: Publications
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

"Do's and Dont's for Conducting Programs in Africa," circa 1961
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publications
is aggregated by: Publications
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

The Place of the Family in the Socio-Economic Progress of Africa: Polygamy vs. Monogamy, edited by Mrs. O. Nwazuloha Sofola (2 copies), 1965
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publications
is aggregated by: Publications
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

The Second National Kenya Women's Seminar: The African Woman Builds the Nation, 1963
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publications
is aggregated by: Publications
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Women of Modern Africa by Elizabeth Hunting Wheeler, 1966
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Publications
is aggregated by: Publications
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Community Service Program: participants' and administrators' reports, membership list, and published reports, 1963, 1967-68
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Programs
is aggregated by: Programs
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
type: Aggregation
type: Collection
has part: Leadership Training Program: brochure and report, 1962, 1968
aggregates: Leadership Training Program: brochure and report, 1962, 1968

Women in Development trip: itineraries, typed notes, reports, recommendations, photograph, and clipping, 1978
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Programs
is aggregated by: Programs
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Leadership Training Program: brochure and report, 1962, 1968
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Community Service Program: participants' and administrators' reports, membership list, and published reports, 1963, 1967-68
is aggregated by: Community Service Program: participants' and administrators' reports, membership list, and published reports, 1963, 1967-68
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

mnsss191-6-1
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Scrapbooks
is aggregated by: Scrapbooks
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
label: Volume I: "Committee Formation, Publications, Fund-Raising and Conference Participation": includes photographs (Zelia Ruebhausen, Margaret Kenyatta, Miriam Makeba, and G. Mennen Williams), histories, minutes, memoranda, conference materials, and publications, 1958-66, n.d.

Volume II: "Community Service Program": includes biographical information; photographs; reports, and clippings, 1962-66
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Scrapbooks
is aggregated by: Scrapbooks
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA

Volume III: "Peg Snyder, Volunteers Program and Summer Scholarship Program": includes photographs, clippings, correspondence, reports, and memoranda, 1961-66, n.d.
type: ArchivalResource
is part of: Scrapbooks
is aggregated by: Scrapbooks
access provided by: Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA