Betty Friedan in Israel, 1973
the path of friedan’s papers
Betty Friedan during a television interview, 1970s
In August 1970, the Schlesinger Library first approached Betty Friedan about donating her personal papers as well as the records of NOW. The personal was never far from the political organization she was dedicated to. She had several offers for her archives but chose Radcliffe because of its convenience to students and activists and because of our dedication to both the organizational records and her personal papers. The first 38 boxes came to the library in May 1971. Much of the material was boxed and sent by Friedan’s assistants. In some cases, boxes were filled with small notes on scraps of paper, as if Friedan or someone else had swept them from a table and sent them directly to the archive. The last material came in 2007, a year after Friedan’s death. The collection now totals 134 linear feet of paper, 151 sound recordings, 62 videotapes and other film material, and hundreds of photographs.
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