Judith Ezekiel "Feminism in the Heartland" Research Collection

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.