Jodi L. Glass papers, 1978-2002

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2019

Collection Overview

Title:	Jodi L. Glass papers
Date range:	1978-2002
Creator:	Glass, Jodi L.
Extent:	3 Linear Feet (3 record center cartons, 1 half file box, and 1 oversize folder)
Abstract:	The Jodi L. Glass papers provide rich documentation of the inner workings of feminist organizations and movements in Rhode Island and beyond. Included in the collection are the correspondence, essays, news clippings, legislation, agendas, and minutes of a number of groups and movements, including the Rhode Island Feminist Chorus, Feminist Resources Unlimited and the anti-pornography movement.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	Ms.2008.022

Scope & content

The Jodi L. Glass papers include materials that document the inner workings of feminist organizations and movements in Rhode Island and beyond. As the co-coordinator and organizer of the Rhode Island Feminist Chorus (RIFC) and Feminist Resources Unlimited (FRU), Glass maintained many of the groups' meeting agendas, minutes, and activity records. Included in these records are copies of The Third Wave, a newspaper produced by Glass through FRU, as well as audio CDs of the Rhode Island Feminist Chorus, t-shirts from various events and a poster of Rhode Island's Clothesline project. These documents and paraphernalia offer insight into the development of these groups, how these groups functioned and what types of activities they engaged in, spanning from the late 1970s to 2003.

In the mid-1980s, with the group, Women Against Violence Against Women, Glass and others created a slide presentation entitled, "A Look at Pain for Profit," to demonstrate the demeaning, violent, and sexualized way women were treated in the mainstream media. The slides from these presentations, along with in-depth notes on discussion points and questions are included in the collection.

As an activist in the anti-pornography movement, Glass saved many articles and essays about the pornography debates of the late 1970s and 1980s, including those by Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon. In Glass' work to legally make pornography a violation of womens' civil rights in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, she collected obscenity and civil rights legislation from around the country and generated ordinances for passage in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. These documents, along with a transcript from the Minneapolis Anti-pornography Ordinance hearings (with testimonies from Andrea Dworkin, Catharine MacKinnon, and Linda Boreman) are located in this collection. Also included are a few audio tape lectures about pornography, civil rights and legislation.

Documents, brochures, newspaper clippings, legislation and a film strip with audio discussing both the Equal Rights Amendment movement and the Nondiscriminatory Language movement were also collected by Glass. As a participant in passing equal rights legislation and nondiscriminatory language acts in Rhode Island, Glass also created and maintained some interesting documentation of the legislative process.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive.
• Feminist Resources Unlimited
• Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.
• Rhode Island Feminist Chorus
• Women Against Violence Against Women

Subject Topics

• Bias-free language
• Equal rights amendments
• Feminism -- Rhode Island
• Pornography -- Law and legislation -- United States

Occupations

• Audiologists

Subject Topics

• Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 10 series:

• Series 1. Anti-pornography Movement
• Series 2. Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Movement
• Series 3. Feminist Resources, Unlimited (FRU)
• Series 4. Nondiscriminatory Language Movement
• Series 5. Rhode Island Feminist Chorus (RIFC)
• Series 6. Take Back the Night
• Series 7. Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW)
• Series 8. Feminist Print Materials
• Series 9. Memorabilia
• Series 10. Audiovisual and related material

Biographical note

Jodi L. Glass moved to Rhode Island in 1978 and began her work as an audiologist, specializing in working with people of all ages with multiple disabilities and communication challenges, who often went without these services. Glass quickly began her influential work as a feminist and community activist.

In late 1978, Glass founded the Rhode Island Feminist Chorus – a group that enjoyed 22 years of performance around Rhode Island and beyond – performing songs about social justice, equal rights, domestic violence, love, friendship, politics, reproductive freedom and rape. Glass also founded Rhode Island's Feminist Resources Unlimited, connecting women all across the state to feminist and women-specific services, health care, and resources. This group generated both the Feminist Yellow Pages of Rhode Island and the newspaper entitled The Third Wave. In 1979, Glass was the impetus to the submission and eventual passing of legislation stating that all future Rhode Island law had to be constructed using gender-inclusive language.

Throughout the 1980's Glass work on behalf of the Dworkin/MacKinnon anti-pornography movement, bringing Rhode Island into a growing network of States working for change. This work led her, in 1988, to propose a change to the Rhode Island hate crimes monitoring act. In 1993, after five years of educating and lobbying, this change passed. This made Rhode Island one of only eleven states in the nation to recognize that certain crimes against women are hate crimes with specific intention, warranting harsher penalty. Glass also formed Rhode Island's first Take Back the Night march and Rhode Island Clothesline Project, calling attention to the issues of all forms of violence against women. Both of these projects are international, speaking to Glass's respect for collaboration and herstory - honoring versus repeating.

In the 21st century, Glass co-founded Rhode Island's branch of the Raging Grannies, another international movement. In 2006 she was appointed to the state advisory committee of the US Commission on Civil Rights. In the same year, Glass co-founded UNISONG, a non-performance community sing, with the purpose of sharing diversity through music. Currently, she is the coordinator of the hate crimes and civil rights training and education program, on behalf of the Rhode Island Commission on Prejudice and Bias, and continues her work as an Audiologist.

(The biography was written with the assistance of Jodi Glass)

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Jodi L. Glass papers, Ms.2008.022, Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Jodi L. Glass in 2006.
Accruals:	Further additions to this collection are possible.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Originally processed by Amy Greer in 2008, revised by Mary Murphy in 2019, on behalf of the Pembroke Center for the Teaching and Research on Women and the Brown University Library.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2019-03-22.
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Sponsor:	Curatorial work and processing provided by the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women on behalf of the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive, Brown University Library.

Additional Information

Related material:

Related Materials RESOURCES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY: Manuscript materials related to Jodi L. Glass and the Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island in the collections of the John Hay Library include the activist files of Lesley C. Doonan and Anne Fausto-Sterling.RESOURCES BEYOND BROWN UNIVERSITY: See the Women's Liberation Union of Rhode Island Records, Rhode Island Historical Society (Providence, Rhode Island).

Inventory

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