1970-1972

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Ain’t I a Woman, Iowa Women’s Archives

1970

The publications collective of the Women’s Liberation Front begins publishing a newspaper titled Ain’t I a Woman and distributing it nationally. It deals with lesbian themes from the outset and by the time AIAW ceases publication in 1974 the collective is primarily lesbian.

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University of Iowa Archives

Gay Liberation Front at the University of Iowa becomes the first gay student group in the U.S. to be officially recognized by a university. The 1971 Hawkeye yearbook includes a photograph of GLF’s entry in the 1970 UI homecoming parade.

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University of Iowa Archives

On October 27, 1970, The Daily Iowan, the University of Iowa’s student newspaper, begins a five-part series on the newly-emerging gay rights movement.

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University of Iowa Archives

Part two of The Daily Iowan’s series on the emerging local gay rights movement notes Gay Liberation Front’s first dance held at the campus’s Iowa Memorial Union on October 24, 1970.

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Women’s Resource and Action Center Records, Iowa Women’s Archives

1971

A women’s center opens in March in a Quonset hut leased from the University of Iowa; it serves as a meeting place and a clearinghouse for women’s activities on and off campus and is run as a collective. In August 1971 the University provides a house at 3 E. Market Street for the Women’s Center. In 1974 the name is changed to the Women’s Resource and Action Center to reflect its expanded goals. The Center moves to its current location at 130 N. Madison Street in 1976.

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Women’s Resource and Action Center Records, Iowa Women’s Archives

1972

A women’s center opens in March in a Quonset hut leased from the University of Iowa; it serves as a meeting place and a clearinghouse for women’s activities on and off campus and is run as a collective. In August 1971 the University provides a house at 3 E. Market Street for the Women’s Center. In 1974 the name is changed to the Women’s Resource and Action Center to reflect its expanded goals. The Center moves to its current location at 130 N. Madison Street in 1976.

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Iowa City Women’s Press Records, Iowa Women’s Archives

Promotional brochure from the Iowa City Women’s Press, ca. 1975.

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Iowa City Women’s Press Records, Iowa Women’s Archives

Staff operate printing machinery at Iowa City Women’s Press, ca. 1975