CUNY DIGITAL HISTORY ARCHIVE

Women's Studies Program co-founder historian Renate Bridenthal gave this talk for the Brooklyn College Institute in Women's Studies for Secondary School Faculty conference in 1980. Bridenthal recounts the formation of the Brooklyn College Women's Organization of faculty and staff, and the student-run Women's Liberation Club. Such groups formed to address day care, employment discrimination, the establishment of a women's center, and the construction of the program. At the time of the presentation, the program had approximately 800 students per semester. She calls on the field to continue to question patriarchal norms, be inclusive of women in scholarship, and provide context and analysis for structural inequalities facing students and workers today.