Contents

Collection Overview

Biographical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND PHOTOGRAPHS (1956-2004),

SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE (1956-2005),

SERIES III. WRITINGS AND SPEECHES (1956-2005),

SERIES IV. ORGANIZATION FILES (1938-2002),

SERIES V. CONFERENCES AND EVENTS, (1986-2003),

SERIES VI. SUBJECT FILES (1961-1997),

SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS, (1983-2001),

SERIES VIII. MEMORABILIA, (1982-94),

SERIES IX. PERIODICALS (1978-1999),

SERIES X. POSTERS

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE

SERIES III. WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

SERIES IV. ORGANIZATION FILES (1938-2002)

SERIES V. CONFERENCES AND EVENTS (1986-2003)

SERIES VI. SUBJECT FILES (1961-1997)

SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS, (1983-2001)

SERIES VIII. MEMORABILIA

SERIES IX. PERIODICALS

SERIES X. POSTERS

Loretta J. Ross Papers, 1956-2005

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Susan Boone.

2005

Biographical Note

Loretta June Ross was born in Temple, Texas, August 16, 1953, the sixth of eight children in a blended family. Her mother, who brought five older children to her marriage with Ross, had been owner of a music store and a domestic worker; she was a housewife as Loretta was growing up. Loretta's father, who hailed from Jamaica, was an Army weapons specialist and drill sergeant. After retiring from the military in 1963, he worked for the Post Office and often held additional jobs to support the family.

Loretta attended integrated schools - Army schools through second grade, then public schools. She was double-promoted in elementary grades and was an honors student in high school. When Loretta was 11 years old, a stranger beat and raped her. At age 15 she was the victim of incest by a distant relative; she gave birth to a son, Howard, in April, 1969. Because she chose to keep her child, she lost a scholarship to Radcliffe College.

Soon after enrolling at Howard University in 1970, Ross became involved in black nationalist politics and tenant organizing in Washington, D.C. She joined the D.C. Study Group, a Marxist-Leninist discussion group, and the South Africa Support Project. She became a founder of the National Black United Front and an officer of the City Wide Housing Coalition (1974-80). The murder of her friend and political colleague Yulanda Ward in November 1980, which she considers a political assassination, is a turning point in her life.

Sterilized by use of the Dalkon Shield at the age of 23, Ross found her way to reproductive rights and anti-violence activism. She became one of the first women to win a suit against A.H. Robins, manufacturer of the device. In 1979 she became director of the D.C. Rape Crisis Center, the only center at the time run primarily by and for women of color. In that capacity she organized the first National Conference on Third World Women and Violence in 1980. While serving as Director of Women of Color Programs for the National Organization for Women (1985-89), she organized women of color delegations for the pro-choice marches NOW sponsored in 1986 and 1989, and organized the first national conference on Women of Color and Reproductive Rights in 1987. In response to the Supreme Court's Webster decision in 1989, Ross co-coordinated production of the pathbreaking statement "We Remember: African American Women Are For Reproductive Freedom." As Program Director for the National Black Women's Health Project (1989-90), she coordinated the first national conference of African American women for reproductive rights. From 1980 to 1988, she was a member of the D.C. Commission on Women.

From 1991 to 1995, Ross was National Program Research Director for the Center for Democratic Renewal (formerly the National Anti-Klan Network), where she directed projects on right-wing organizations in South Africa, Klan and neo-Nazi involvement in anti-abortion violence, and human rights education in the U.S. In 1996 she created the National Center for Human Rights Education, a training and resource center for grassroots activists aimed at applying a human rights analysis to injustices in the U.S.

Active internationally, Ross is a founding member of the International Council of African Women and of the Network of East-West Women. She has been a regular participant in International Women and Health Meetings and helped organize the delegation of 1100 African American women to the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1984. She attended United Nations Women's Conferences in Copenhagen, Nairobi, and Beijing.

Ross has served on numerous boards (including National Women's Health Network, SisterLove Women's AIDS Project, Men Stopping Violence) and testifies on women's health and civil rights issues before Congress and the UN as well as via such national media as the Donahue Show and Pacifica News Service. She publishes on the history of abortion in the black community and is co-author of Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for Reproductive Justice (2004). Ross is completing a bachelor's degree at Agnes Scott College.

Ross was co-director for women of color for the April 2004 March for Women's Lives. In January 2005, she became National Coordinator of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective, a growing network of Native American, Latina, African American, Asian American and other women of color groups. SisterSong's mission is to connect reproductive rights to human rights. SisterSong promotes reproductive justice through a combination of the Self-Help approach to internalized oppression and the human rights approach to structural inequity.

See also an oral history of Loretta Ross in the Sophia Smith Collection's "Voices of Feminism Oral History Project."

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Loretta J. Ross Papers contain speeches, writings, correspondence, organization and conference files, subject files, periodicals, memorabilia and audiovisual materials. The papers pertain primarily to her activism for reproductive justice rights for women of color, anti-violence, and international human rights work. The collection is particularly strong in issues related to black women's health. Other topics include abortion, women's health, teenage pregnancy, housing, socialism, South Africa, and national political activities. Organization files include printed material, board meeting documents, correspondence, memorabilia and notes that document the numerous organizations that Ross founded and was active in, as well as related organizations on which she collected information. They include the Center for Democratic Renewal, National Black Women's Health Project, National Women Health Network, National Center for Human Rights Education, National Organization for Women, Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights, American Friends Service Committee, International Council of African Women, and Women's Global Network on Reproductive Rights.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into ten series:

• I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND PHOTOGRAPHS
• II. CORRESPONDENCE
• III. WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
• IV. ORGANIZATION FILES
• V. CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
• VI. SUBJECT FILES
• VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS
• VIII. MEMORABILIA
• IX. PERIODICALS
• X. POSTERS

Arrangement of the Collection

Note: This collection has not been fully processed; therefore: Folders may not be clearly labeled or numbered.Some materials may not be in folders.Materials may not be in logical order within folders.The container list may not be very detailed, or completely accurate.There may be duplicates of some materials.Locations of materials are subject to change when collection is fully processed at a later date.

Please: Remove one file at a time and place a flag in its place in the box.Put items and folders back in their original order.When citing materials do not use box and/or folder numbers as they may change.We know you are trying to be helpful, but please refrain from making corrections to the lists or the folders.

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SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND PHOTOGRAPHS , (1956-2004) .5 linear ft.

This series consists of articles and clippings, biographical sketches, interviews, calendars and date books, diary and notes from Ross's Philippine trips (1988, 1990), notes, and miscellaneous biographical material. Also included in the series are personal, family, and professional photographs (1956-94).

SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE , (1956-2005) .5 linear ft. (1985-1996)

The CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged by date and consists of letters and greeting cards received and sent by Ross.

SERIES III. WRITINGS AND SPEECHES , (1956-2005) 1 linear ft.

WRITINGS AND SPEECHES consists of typed and printed material, notes, flyers and posters advertising speeches, and related correspondence. The writings are arranged by title. In the cases where she wrote for a specific organization or conference, there may be duplicates in the related files in SERIES IV. ORGANIZATION FILES and SERIES V. CONFERENCES AND EVENTS series. There is also related material in SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS.

SERIES IV. ORGANIZATION FILES , (1938-2002) 15 linear ft.

ORGANIZATION FILES consists of printed material, board meeting documents, correspondence, memorabilia and notes. It is arranged alphabetically by organization title and includes organizations that Ross founded, was active in, as well as miscellaneous organizations on which she collected information. There are multiple organizations in most folders. They range from Church Women United to Anarchist Black Cross and cover a wide spectrum of subjects including reproductive rights, foundations, housing, socialism, and national political parties. Conferences and events sponsored by the larger organizations (National Black Women's Health Project, National Women's Health Network, and National Organization for Women) are located in this series. Ross's writings for these organizations have, when possible, been duplicated in SERIES III. WRITINGS AND SPEECHES. Of particular interest are Center for Democratic Renewal, National Black Women's Health Project, National Women Health Network, National Center for Human Rights Education, and National Organization for Women. There is also substantial amounts of material on The Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights, American Friends Service Committee, International Council of African Women, and Women's Global Network on Reproductive Rights. There is related material in SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

SERIES V. CONFERENCES AND EVENTS, , (1986-2003) 3 linear ft.

This series is arranged alphabetically by title and contains correspondence, printed material and memorabilia. It includes conferences and events that Ross attended, organized, and was principle speaker for, as well as miscellaneous flyers she received. Dates for this series reflect the date of the conference not necessarily the dates in the folders. There is also related audiovisual material in SERIES VII.

SERIES VI. SUBJECT FILES , (1961-1997) 6 linear ft.

This series consists of printed material collected by Ross both personally and in connection with organizations and conferences with which she was involved. It is arranged alphabetically, and represents a wide variety of issues. There is similar material in SERIES IV., particularly in the National Organization for Women, National Women's Health Network, and Center for Democratic Renewal. There is substantial material on abortion, birth control, countries and regions (especially South Africa and the Philippines), reproductive health, reproductive rights, teenage pregnancy, Yulanda Ward.

SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS, , (1983-2001) 2 linear ft.

This series contains 109 audiotapes and 31 videotapes. These include 31 numbered audiotapes on various subjects, audio-videotapes from conferences, including speeches and interviews.

SERIES VIII. MEMORABILIA, , (1982-94) 1 linear ft.

This series contains awards, buttons, rolodex and address cards, phone messages and business cards, as well as miscellaneous items.

SERIES IX. PERIODICALS , (1978-1999) 2 linear ft.

This series consists of miscellaneous periodicals which are arranged alphabetically by title. There are also two folders of single issues.

SERIES X. POSTERS

There are 45 posters located in Flat File drawer 33.

Contents List

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE

SERIES III. WRITINGS AND SPEECHES

SERIES IV. ORGANIZATION FILES (1938-2002)

SERIES V. CONFERENCES AND EVENTS (1986-2003)

SERIES VI. SUBJECT FILES (1961-1997)

SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS, (1983-2001)