This exercise will provide you experience with analyzing and transcribing a historical 1970s journal. Using a digitized copy of Carol McEldowney's Coming Out Journal, you will engage in 3 activities:
If you're interested, you can view the full finding aid for the Carol McEldowney papers.
If you need assistance, please email jessica.holden@umb.edu.
Carol McEldowney was active in the antiwar movement of the 1960s and 1970s. In 1967, she was one of only two women in a small contingent from the United States to travel to Vietnam. The purpose of this trip was to study Vietnamese society and the consequences of this war upon it, in order to further the goals of those fighting "back home" (in the U.S.) to end the war. She documented her experiences during this month long visit in her Hanoi Journal.
In 1971, she moved to Boston and became active in Bread & Roses, a socialist women's organization. McEldowney immersed herself in the growing women’s movement, playing a central role in identifying the need for a community Women's Center; she was instrumental in that goal being reached. During this time she came out as a lesbian, which she documented in her Coming Out Journal.
From 1971 until the end of her life, she studied martial arts and taught practical self-defense classes to women and children, becoming one of the founders of the movement to use self-defense for rape prevention and safety education. She was an original contributor to Our Bodies, Ourselves, coediting the chapter on self-defense. She also demonstrated her commitment to women's safety by participating at one of the first women's martial arts exhibitions in the country during International Women's Day, in 1973, in Boston. She died in 1973 at the age of 30 in an automobile accident.
The materials in this collection document the activities of Boston-area activist Carol McEldowney. Materials consist of correspondence, notes, journals, flyers, pamphlets, reports, position papers, newsletters, newspaper clippings, booklets, paperback books, postcards, cassettes, 45 rpm records, prints, and photographs. Subject matter includes Vietnam and the Vietnam War, the women’s movement, the gay liberation movement, the antiwar movement, civil rights, and the Left.
About the image: Carol McEldowney during her trip to Vietnam, 1967. Photo credit: Carol McEldowney papers, courtesy of University Archives and Special Collections.
In this activity, you will gain experience with reading and interpreting an entry from Carol McEldowney's Coming Out Journal.
Instructions for Activity 1
In this activity, you will gain experience with transcribing a handwritten entry from Carol McEldowney's Coming Out Journal.
Instructions for Activity 2
In this activity, you will gain experience with writing your own journal, either focusing on a topic from Carol McEldowney's Coming Out Journal or choosing a topic of your own.
Instructions for Activity 3
Please email completed activity worksheets (including your name, the name of your professor, and your course number) to jessica.holden@umb.edu.
Upon faculty request, Archives staff will share your completed assignments with your professor.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please email jessica.holden@umb.edu.