- Collection:
- Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives
- Title:
- Fowlkes talks about the differences and conflicts between various women's organizations (2:03)
- Creator:
- Fowlkes, Diane L., 1939-
- Contributor to Resource:
- Van Tilborg, Dana
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia State University Library
- Date of Original:
- 1995-09-27
- Subject:
- Feminism
Social movements
Women's studies - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, 33.79025, -84.46702
United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798 - Medium:
- audiocassettes
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Diane L. Fowlkes has been a leader in women's advocacy and helped to develop the Women's Studies Institute at Georgia State University. Fowlkes received her B.A. in French language and literature from Southwestern at Memphis, her M.A. in political science from Georgia State University and her Ph.D. in political science from Emory University. The recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, Fowlkes attended the Open University in the United Kingdom, 1985-1986. She worked at Georgia State University for over 25 years, and was instrumental in establishing the women's studies program. During the 1990s, when dedicated women's rights activists approached GSU with a detailed plan to create a women's archives (which became the Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives), Fowlkes represented the Women's Studies Institute in supporting their endeavors. Fowlkes's book, White Political Women: Paths from Privilege to Empowerment, was nominated for the Victoria Schuck Award for the best book on women and politics of the American Political Science Association, the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians Book Award, the Elliott Rudwick Prize of the Organization of American Historians, and the Joan Kelly Memorial Prize in Women's History of the American Historical Association (1992). In addition to producing many papers, publications, and presentations, Fowlkes also has participated in various professional associations: She was active with the American Political Science Association, the Southern Political Science Association, the Women's Caucus for Political Science (nationally and regionally), as well as the acting as co-chair of the Program Committee and coordinator of the NWSA '87 Quilt Project for the National Women's Studies Association. Fowlkes has served as consultant for various groups, including the Cave Springs Georgia Housing Authority (1994) and the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women (1982-1985), as well as acting as reviewer of books and board member for a variety of journals, and magazines. She is a member of the American Political Science Association, the Women's Caucus for Political Science, the National Women's Studies Association, and the Southeastern Women's Studies Association. At Georgia State University, Fowlkes served on a variety of panels including the University Senate (1995-1998) and the Committee on Faculty Women's Concerns (1989-1992). Her research and teaching interests include feminist theory, women and politics, and the scope of women's studies. In 1998, the year she retired from Georgia State, Fowlkes was appointed Professor Emerita, and during the spring commencement of that year, she was honored with the University's Exceptional Service Award.
Fowlkes recounts her childhood, her education, and the events that triggered her interest in the Women's Movement. She describes the Civil Rights Movement as the model for the Women's Rights Movement and discusses how it influenced women to work toward changing laws in order to further integrate society. Fowlkes was involved in the Strike for Women's Equality, the Feminist Action Alliance, the socialist-feminist movement, as well as the schism within the campaign for ERA Georgia. She discusses some of the major influential figures in the Women's Movement in Georgia including Margaret Curtis, Joyce Parker, and Sherry Sutton. Fowlkes also discusses her work to establish the Women's Studies Institute at Georgia State University which, she thinks, reflects not only the personal interests of different women, but also the accomplishments of the Women's Movement.
Transcript of this excerpt: DF: [In Georgia] there was a split between the more -- what you would call mainstream women who had been lobbying down at the Capitol on other kinds of issues, [for example, The] League of Women Voters, and then NOW and Feminist Action Alliance. Those types of groups, who were more electoral politics-oriented, were saying [that] you should use the usual lobbying techniques to get the legislators to vote for the Equal Rights Amendment. And then there were the more radical women. There was also an active Socialist Workers Party women's group, and I (and others, I think) really thought they were trying to proselytize the Women's Movement to their ends and that caused a lot of conflict. I don't know if they were part of the group called GERA, and then there was ERA Georgia. There were actually two groups working for the ERA. One was a more street demonstration [group who advocated] marches, and that kind of thing. [They were] more radical. They were considered the more militant feminists. And there were a lot of good women involved in that effort. But the strategy that the legislators in Georgia were most likely to go along with, if they were going to go along, was not with radical street demonstrations because they were not in tune with that kind of politics. Of course, as it turned out, they weren't in favor of the ERA either [laughs]. Nothing was going to turn them in favor of the ERA at that time. All of the good lobbying techniques in the world were not going to convince them that they should vote for this, what they thought was a very radical amendment. They just weren't ready for it. - Metadata URL:
- http://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/coles/id/2116
- IIIF manifest:
- https://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/iiif/2/coles:2116/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Copyright to this item is owned by Georgia State University Library. Georgia State University Library has made this item available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
- Extent:
- 33 pages (two audio cassettes)
- Original Collection:
- Georgia Women's Movement Project Collection
Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women's Movement Archives - Holding Institution:
- Georgia State University. Special Collections
- Rights:
-
