Guide to the Judith Ezekiel "Feminism in the Heartland" Research Collection

Biography of Judith Ezekiel

Judith Ezekiel (b. 1956) grew up in Dayton View, Ohio, where she lived from a young age through the spring of 1973, and again during the summers of 1974 and 1975. Her family had a history of political involvement, with her parents active in community politics, a maternal grandfather who was a union organizer, and a paternal grandmother who served as secretary to suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt. With familial and community influences, Ezekiel's own participation in politics started when she was young. During high school, she attended several Dayton Women's Liberation (DWL) events and Dayton Women's Center's community events and benefits. Later, in 1975 after returning to Dayton from Ann Arbor, where she was a student at the University of Michigan, Ezekiel attended the Socialist Feminist Conference in Yellow Springs, Ohio, as a member of the Ann Arbor contingent.

Ezekiel spent thirty-five years in France and was a visiting Women's Studies professor at Wright State University from the Universite de Toulouse. She has published on the women's movements in the United States and France, comparative race and ethnicities, and Franco-American, (mis)representations. She co-organized the 3rd international Francophone women's studies conference, "Ruptures, Resistances et Utopies, in September 2002 and was a founding member of the research group "Race et Genre", established in 2003. Ezekiel has published papers in "European Journal of Women's Studies", "Women's Studies Quarterly", "Nouvelles Questions Feministes", et "Les Temps Modernes". She was also an associate editor for ten years and a member of the Management committee of the "European Journal of Women's Studies."

Scope and Content

The collection consists of materials created and collected by Judith Ezekiel in the course of her research to complete her book, Feminism in the Heartland, published in 2002 by The Ohio State University Press. The materials consist of correspondence, subject files, PhD dissertation notes, index cards covering significant events and people associated with the feminist movement in Dayton during the 1970s, and oral history interviews of over fifty-eight activist.

Series I, Correspondence, contains letters from colleagues and prospective publishers, including a photocopy of a letter to Ezekiel from Howard Zinn regarding the importance of her research. Materials date from 1985 to 1989.

Series II, Dissertation Research Materials, includes articles, charts, statistics, reports, chapters, and notes related to the development of Ezekiel's dissertation on the history of the feminist movement in Dayton, Ohio, in the 1970s. Dated materials range from 1968 to 1987.

Series III, Subject Files Alphabetical, contains articles, newsletters, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, conference materials, project documentation, and reports from various organizations. Many files have a handwritten index located in the front of the folders. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by topic and dated materials range from 1965-1986, with some undated.

Series IV, Index cards, contains notes on relevant people, subjects and events related to the Dayton feminist movement. These are undated.

Series V, Interviews, includes interviews with over 58 activists. Ezekiel and Dominique Loeillet conducted most of the interviews between 1980 and 1982; all other interviews were primarily conducted by Ezekiel. Materials in this series span 1974 to 1999, but the bulk are from 1980-1985. Subseries VA: Transcripts, includes several transcripts of interviews and conversation notes. Subseries VB: Audio Recordings contains over 233 cassette tapes containing the audio interviews.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.

Restrictions on Access

Due to preservation concerns, original audio and video materials cannot be accessed in the reading room. Patrons may have access to reference copies. Items without reference copies can be digitized at the request of a patron for the cost of creating a digital copy. Please provide us at least two (2) weeks advance notice if you would like to request an audio or video reference copy. Call (937) 775-2092 or e-mail us at library-archives@wright.edu. Use of digitized content is subject to conditions governing use.

Dayton Women Working Records, MS-129

Dayton Women's Center Records, MS-119

Dayton Women's Liberation Records, MS-133

Subject Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

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Preferred Citation

[Description of item, Date, Box #, Folder #], MS-507, Judith Ezekiel "Feminism in the Heartland" Research Collection, Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated to Wright State University, Special Collections & Archives, by Judith Ezekiel in February, 2015.

Processing Information

Processed by Stephanie Kays, June 2016

Other Finding Aid

The finding aid is available on the Special Collections & Archives, Wright State University Libraries web site at
https://wright.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/resources/663.