The Hartford Women's Center and the Hartford Feminist Collection

The Feminist Collection, also referred to as the Hartford Feminist Library, was donated by the Hartford Women's Center. The collection grew out of the women's movement of the 1970s. Irene Scheibner, former Central Connecticut State alum, founded the library in 1979. Scheibner received a founder's award at the dedication ceremony. "It is an interdisciplinary and multi-cultural collection containing books, as well as, newsletters and journals from the early women's movement," said Dr. Melissa Mentzer, assistant professor of English at the New Britain campus and on the board of directors of the Hartford Women's Center.

Mentzer feels this is an important collection for CCSU that will draw scholars from everywhere via a national inter-library computer network. "I think this will help put our library on the map. It is an invaluable collection-we have lesbian fiction, journals, early essays by Adrienne Rich, and newsletters documenting the early feminist movement in Hartford." Jeanne Sohn, CCSU Director of Library Services, received a rare first edition of E. Sylvia Pankhurst's The Suffragette, published in 1911, from the Feminist Collection.

Until CCSU's acquisition of the Feminist Collection, it was temporarily housed in various rented spaces, most recently the Hill Center on Farmington Avenue in Hartford. "The Feminist Library has always been a community resource. It has been more than a library in the past. It is a place for women to meet whether or not they are in academia. We didn't want to lose that in finding its new home," said Mentzer

Books from the Feminist Collection (.pdf)

Periodicals from the Feminist Collection

Amazon Quarterly, v.2 no.4, v.3 no.2, 1974, 1975 W. Somerville, MA

American Voice (issue on silencing) no.21, Winter, 1990. Louisville, KY

Cover of the Periodical CHRYSALIS. Illustration of a hand and a bee Chrysalis, A magazine of Women's Culture, no. 1-9, 10, 1977-1979, 1980 Berkley, CA

Cover of the periodical THE FEMINIST ART JOURNAL. Illustration of a woman standing by a wooden fence Feminist Art Journal, v.3 no.1-3, 1974; v.5 no.1-4, 1976-1977; v.6, Summer, 1977 Brooklyn, NY

Focus, A Journal for Lesbians, May-June 1980, Daughters of Bilitis, Boston, MA

Lesbian Ethics, v.1 no 1,2,3; v. 2, no 1, 1985, 1986, Le Publications, Venice, CA

Cover of the periodical LESBIAN ETHICS Illustration of five quilt patches MS. 15th Anniversary issue, August, 1987

MS. 20th Anniversary issue, August, 1992

Musica, About the Music in Women, no.6 Spring, 1977 Toutdale, OR Cover of periodical OFF OUR BACKS. Illustration is a photograph of women demonstrating, one carrying a poster that reads Children by Choice

New Women Times, v.3 no.10, Oct.15-Nov.15, 1977 Rochester, NY

Off Our Backs, A women's news journal, v.4 no.10, 1977-1981, 1983-1990; v.23 no.8, 1993 Washington, DC

Paid My Dues, Journal of Women and Music, v.3 no.2, Mar.-May 1979, Calliope Publishing, Chicago, IL

Cover of periodical QUEST. Illustration is a drawing of a woman pouring Quest, a Feminist Quarterly, v.3 no.2, 1976; v.4 no.3-4, 1978; v.5 no.3, 1981 Washington, DC

Room, A Women's Literary Journal, v.1 no.1, 1976 San Francisco, CA

Cover of the periodical SINISTER WISDOM. Illustration is a circular photograph of various publications Sinister Wisdom, no.4, 1977; no.5, 7, 1978; no.15, 1980; no.16-18, 1981; no.19-21, 1982; no.22-23, 1983; 31-58, 1991-1995, Amherst, MA

Women & Film, v.2 no.7, Summer, 1975 Persistence of Vision, Berkeley, CA

Women in Hartford, v.1 no.1-v.12 no.1, Apr./May, 1978-January, 1989 Hartford Women's Center

Woman of Power, A magazine of feminism, spirituality and politics no.2, no.3, Summer, 1985, Winter/Spring, 1986, Women of Power Cambridge, MA

Words of Women, v.1 no.1 Spring, 1983 - v.6 no.4 Winter/Spring, 1989 Hartford Women's Center

Finding Aid (.pdf)