By Beth & Laurian
We are archive-hunting as part of a grant we received from the Leeway Foundation. Our goal? To find documentation about cross-racial and cross-class feminist organizing in Philadelphia during the 70s and 80s. We are interviewing feminist and womanist activists from that time too, and immersing ourselves in their rich and complicated stories.
As we thumb through stacks of yellowed newspapers, we hear each other mumble, “the more things change, the more they stay the same…” The parallels between what was at stake politically and socially for women, people of color, poor people, immigrants and queers in the 70s and what is at stake now is not surprising, but it is terrifying–and galvanizing.
In the coming months, we will be posting archival gems here as part of a new series. All images are from the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives.
