Berkshire Conference of Women Historians.

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The Berkshire Conference of Women Historians (BCWH) was founded in 1930 by historians Louise Fargo Brown of Vassar College and Louise Ropes Loomis of Wells College in response to women's sense of marginalization at the American Historical Association's annual meetings. Initially called the Lakeville History Group, in 1935 the name changed to the BCWH since most of the meetings took place in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The BCWH was created to "facilitate [the] exchange of ideas and foster friendship among women historians" (according to its constitution), at first through its annual collegial business retreat for members (which came to be known as "Little Berks"), and later through its conferences on the history of women, which started in 1973. Inspired by the burgeoning interest in women's history, the Berkshire Conference on the History of Women (or the "Big Berks") functioned less as an administrative meeting and more as an opportunity for professional historians to present their research on women's history, network with colleagues, and discuss their work with other historians. This conference, held every two to three years, continues to attract scholars from throughout the United States and abroad. The BCWH sustains an activist role in supporting women's history and women historians place in the historical profession, sponsors book and article prizes, and funds graduate fellowships. Additional information on the history of the organization and its activities is available on their website: www.berksconference.org.

  • 1931 - 1934 : Chairman: Louise Brown Secretary: Frances Morehouse Special Correspondence Secretary: Helen Allen
  • 1935 - 1939 : Chairman: Viola F. Barnes Secretary/Treasurer: Elsie Van Dyke DeWitt Secretary: Beatrice Reynolds
  • 1940 - 1941 : Chairman: Emily Hickman Secretary: Beatrice Reynolds, Dorothy G. Fowler
  • 1942 - 1944 : Chairman: Helen L. Young, Violet Barbour Secretary: Dorothy G. Fowler
  • 1944 - 1947 : President: Beatrice Reynolds Secretary/Treasurer: Mary Latimer Gambrell
  • 1948 - 1949 : President: Mary Latimer Gambrell Secretary/Treasurer: Margaret Judson
  • 1950: President: Margaret Judson Secretary/Treasurer: Joanne Neal
  • 1951 - 1953 : President: Vera Brown Holmes Secretary/Treasurer: Grace Larson
  • 1954 - 1955 : President: Mildred Campbell Secretary/Treasurer: Jane Ruby
  • 1956 - 1957 : President: Judith Williams, Viola Barnes Secretary/Treasurer: Nancy Norton
  • 1958 - 1959 : President: Ruth Emery Secretary/Treasurer: Jessie Lutz
  • 1959 - 1961 : President: Caroline Robbins Secretary/Treasurer: Jessie Lutz, Carolyn A. Edie
  • 1961 - 1962 : President: Beatrice Hyslop Secretary/Treasurer: Jean Sidar
  • 1963 - 1965 : President: Elizabeth Kimball Secretary/Treasurer: Emiliana P. Noether, Barbara Lane
  • 1965 - 1967 : President: Evalyn Clark Secretary/Treasurer: Barbara Lane, Mary Maples Dunn
  • 1967 - 1969 : President: Emiliana P. Noether Secretary/Treasurer: Mary Maples Dunn
  • 1969 - 1971 : President: Emiliana P. Noether Secretary/Treasurer: Mary Maples Dunn, Carol K. Blesser
  • 1972 - 1973 : President: Louise Dalby, Mary Maples Dunn Secretary/Treasurer: Carol K. Blesser
  • 1974 - 1975 : President: Mary Maples Dunn Secretary/Treasurer: Gwendolyn Evans Jensen
  • 1976: President: Caroline Prelinger Secretary/Treasurer: Gwendolyn Evans Jensen
  • 1977 - 1979 : President: Mary Hartman, Sandi Cooper Secretary/Treasurer: Gabrielle M. Spiegel
  • 1980 - 1981 : President: Sandi Cooper Secretary/Treasurer: Jenny M. Jochens
  • 1982 - 1984 : President: Gabrielle M. Spiegel Secretary/Treasurer: Jenny M. Jochens
  • 1985 - 1987 : President: Carroll Smith-Rosenberg Secretary/Treasurer: Gay Gullickson
  • 1988 - 1990 : President: Judith Walkowitz Secretary/Treasurer: Marilyn Williams
  • 1991 - 1993 : President: Barbara Harris Secretary/Treasurer: Marilyn Williams
  • 1994 - 1996 : President: Laura Engelstein Secretary/Treasurer: Marilyn Williams, Sydney Weinberg
  • 1997 - 1999 : President: Claudia Koonz Secretary/Treasurer: Barbara Winslow
  • 2000 - 2001 : President: Margaret Hunt Secretary/Treasurer: Barbara Winslow
  • 2002 - 2003 : President: Vicki Ruiz Secretary/Treasurer: Susan Yohn
  • 2004 - 2005 : President: Vicki Ruiz Secretary/Treasurer: Susan Yohn

From the guide to the Records of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, 1930-2005, (Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute)
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creatorOf Records of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians, 1930-2005 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn McNamara, Jo Ann, 1931-. Papers of Jo Ann McNamara, 1966-2001. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
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