- Email: [email protected]
Early history of the Changing Men Collections
Forum
AROUND THE WORLD WITH MEN’S HEALTH AND WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHANGING MEN COLLECTIONS
The Special Collections Reading Room, Michigan State University Libraries.
Since the early 1970s, Special Collections in the Michigan State University Libraries has featured a strong holding in the areas of gender and sexuality. Initially most of this material was devoted to the history and issues associated with feminism and gay rights. There was little material dealing with men’s issues until an opportunity became available to rectify that gap through a major 18-box donation documenting the earliest history and beginnings of the contemporary men’s movement [1,2]. With the advent of the feminist movement, there were men who were partners and friends of women in the women’s movement, in addition to other men who supported the aims and goals of the women’s movement. Interested men started holding meetings called National Conferences on Men and Masculinity (commonly called M&M) starting with the first one in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1975. Subsequently in 1982 some men who had been
!
attending M&Ms decided it was time for a national organization. The National Organization for Changing Men (NOCM) was formally launched in March 1983 [3]. NOCM was pro-feminist, gay affirmative, antiracist, and dedicated to enhancing men’s lives. The name originally selected was the National Organization for Men (NOM), which was similar to the National Organizations for Women (NOW). However Attorney Sidney Siller had already incorporated the National Organization for Men in New York. NOM was a men’s rights organization and was not sympathetic to the aims of the profeminist men who had been holding the M&M Conferences. As a result, the group adopted the name of the National Organization for Changing Men (NOCM) and subsequently changed its name to the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) in 1990. Overtime NOCM accumulated the 18 boxes of archival materials,
which were stored in the garage of Art Stawinski, NOCM’s archivist. At the Men’s Studies Task Force Meeting at the M&M in Pittsburg in 1989, Stawinski announced that it was no longer safe for him to house the NOCM archive for fear of water damage and he indicated that he was looking for a research library to provide a more secure environment for the archive. In the audience was Professor Bruce Curtis from Michigan State University (MSU) who, when he came back to MSU, talked to Peter Berg, the Head of Special Collections, about possibly accepting the NOCM archive. Given the growing research interest in men’s issues, Berg contacted Stawinski expressing his willingness to have the archive in Special Collections where it could be properly housed and made available to researchers. Since its arrival in 1990–1991, the NOCM archive has grown into the Changing Men Collections (CMC) representing all branches of the contemporary men’s movement. As a result the collection has grown in quality and size. For example, there are over 350 newsletters of men’s work/men’s movement around the world. These are magazines, newsletters, academic and lay journals, including the Journal of Men’s Health & Gender, International Journal of Men’s Health, plus men’s health issues such as circumcision, AIDS, and men’s reproductive health. There are also over 350 catalogued vertical files of miscellaneous materials of correspondence, minutes, conference proceedings, publicity for all 30 M&Ms, International Society for Men’s Health and Gender, Robert Bly, Men’s
This section reports recent communications regarding pharmaceutical products of relevance to men’s health. Mention in this section does not imply endorsement of the product by ISMH or Elsevier.
Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 213–214, June 2006
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Health, Men’s Health Network, battered men, battering men, battered husbands, and Toronto Men’s Health Network. Among the 50-cataloged archive boxes are the archives on the California Anti-Sexist Political Caucus, False Memory Syndrome, and Male Contraception Information Project. Much of these periodicals, vertical files, and individual archives of the CMC have been microfilmed and are available from Primary Source Microfilm at sales@gale. com. In addition to the three categories above, and not microfilmed, there are over
1,000 catalogued monographs and dissertations covering a wide variety of men’s health, men’s issues, and men’s topics, such as men in nursing [4]. The CMC continues to grow almost exclusively from donations of materials ranging in size from one book to several boxes. Anyone interested in making a donation, or who wishes to know more about the CMC, should contact Peter Berg at berg@msu. edu. An endowment has recently been established to maintain the archive and make
provisions for its continuation, growth, and vibrancy. Those interested in making donations to the Changing Men Collections Endowment are likewise invited to contact Peter Berg at the e-mail address above.
[3] Newton J. From Panthers to Promise Keepers: Rethinking the men’s movement. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; 2005. [4] O’Lynn CE. Defining male friendliness in nursing education programs: Tool development.
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, School of Health Administration, Kennedy-Western University, 2003.
Edward Read Barton PhD
Volunteer Curator, Changing Men Collections, Michigan State University Libraries, E. Lansing, Ml, USA [email protected]
References [1] Barton ER. Archive for the Ages: The Changing Men Collections. Transitions 1995 (Jan/ Feb);15(1):4–5. [2] Gambill El. Uneasy Males: The American men’s movement 1970–2000. New York, NY: iUniverse, Inc.; 2005.
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Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 213–214, June 2006
AROUND THE WORLD WITH MEN’S HEALTH AND WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHANGING MEN COLLECTIONS
The Special Collections Reading Room, Michigan State University Libraries.
Since the early 1970s, Special Collections in the Michigan State University Libraries has featured a strong holding in the areas of gender and sexuality. Initially most of this material was devoted to the history and issues associated with feminism and gay rights. There was little material dealing with men’s issues until an opportunity became available to rectify that gap through a major 18-box donation documenting the earliest history and beginnings of the contemporary men’s movement [1,2]. With the advent of the feminist movement, there were men who were partners and friends of women in the women’s movement, in addition to other men who supported the aims and goals of the women’s movement. Interested men started holding meetings called National Conferences on Men and Masculinity (commonly called M&M) starting with the first one in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1975. Subsequently in 1982 some men who had been
!
attending M&Ms decided it was time for a national organization. The National Organization for Changing Men (NOCM) was formally launched in March 1983 [3]. NOCM was pro-feminist, gay affirmative, antiracist, and dedicated to enhancing men’s lives. The name originally selected was the National Organization for Men (NOM), which was similar to the National Organizations for Women (NOW). However Attorney Sidney Siller had already incorporated the National Organization for Men in New York. NOM was a men’s rights organization and was not sympathetic to the aims of the profeminist men who had been holding the M&M Conferences. As a result, the group adopted the name of the National Organization for Changing Men (NOCM) and subsequently changed its name to the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) in 1990. Overtime NOCM accumulated the 18 boxes of archival materials,
which were stored in the garage of Art Stawinski, NOCM’s archivist. At the Men’s Studies Task Force Meeting at the M&M in Pittsburg in 1989, Stawinski announced that it was no longer safe for him to house the NOCM archive for fear of water damage and he indicated that he was looking for a research library to provide a more secure environment for the archive. In the audience was Professor Bruce Curtis from Michigan State University (MSU) who, when he came back to MSU, talked to Peter Berg, the Head of Special Collections, about possibly accepting the NOCM archive. Given the growing research interest in men’s issues, Berg contacted Stawinski expressing his willingness to have the archive in Special Collections where it could be properly housed and made available to researchers. Since its arrival in 1990–1991, the NOCM archive has grown into the Changing Men Collections (CMC) representing all branches of the contemporary men’s movement. As a result the collection has grown in quality and size. For example, there are over 350 newsletters of men’s work/men’s movement around the world. These are magazines, newsletters, academic and lay journals, including the Journal of Men’s Health & Gender, International Journal of Men’s Health, plus men’s health issues such as circumcision, AIDS, and men’s reproductive health. There are also over 350 catalogued vertical files of miscellaneous materials of correspondence, minutes, conference proceedings, publicity for all 30 M&Ms, International Society for Men’s Health and Gender, Robert Bly, Men’s
This section reports recent communications regarding pharmaceutical products of relevance to men’s health. Mention in this section does not imply endorsement of the product by ISMH or Elsevier.
Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 213–214, June 2006
213
Forum
Health, Men’s Health Network, battered men, battering men, battered husbands, and Toronto Men’s Health Network. Among the 50-cataloged archive boxes are the archives on the California Anti-Sexist Political Caucus, False Memory Syndrome, and Male Contraception Information Project. Much of these periodicals, vertical files, and individual archives of the CMC have been microfilmed and are available from Primary Source Microfilm at sales@gale. com. In addition to the three categories above, and not microfilmed, there are over
1,000 catalogued monographs and dissertations covering a wide variety of men’s health, men’s issues, and men’s topics, such as men in nursing [4]. The CMC continues to grow almost exclusively from donations of materials ranging in size from one book to several boxes. Anyone interested in making a donation, or who wishes to know more about the CMC, should contact Peter Berg at berg@msu. edu. An endowment has recently been established to maintain the archive and make
provisions for its continuation, growth, and vibrancy. Those interested in making donations to the Changing Men Collections Endowment are likewise invited to contact Peter Berg at the e-mail address above.
[3] Newton J. From Panthers to Promise Keepers: Rethinking the men’s movement. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; 2005. [4] O’Lynn CE. Defining male friendliness in nursing education programs: Tool development.
Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, School of Health Administration, Kennedy-Western University, 2003.
Edward Read Barton PhD
Volunteer Curator, Changing Men Collections, Michigan State University Libraries, E. Lansing, Ml, USA [email protected]
References [1] Barton ER. Archive for the Ages: The Changing Men Collections. Transitions 1995 (Jan/ Feb);15(1):4–5. [2] Gambill El. Uneasy Males: The American men’s movement 1970–2000. New York, NY: iUniverse, Inc.; 2005.
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Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 213–214, June 2006