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Marjory Nelson Papers, 1947-2006Finding AidFinding aid prepared by Burd Schlessinger.2008
Administrative InformationThe Marjory Nelson Papers were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection by Marjory Nelson in 2006. Interview with Nelson in the Voices of Feminism Oral History Project, Sophia Smith Collection. Processed by Burd Schlessinger, 2006 Preferred CitationPlease use the following format when citing materials from this collection: Marjory Nelson Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass. The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection with the following caveats: The collection is stored offsite; researchers must give 48 hours advance notice.This collection has not been fully processed and therefore may be difficult to use. The material in this collection may be protected by copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights for permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." Permission must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property. Periodic additions to collection are expected and may not be reflected in this record. Return to the Table of Contents Biographical NoteMarjory Nelson was born in 1928 in New Brunswick, NJ, the last of four children and the only daughter born to Dorothy Lewis and Thurlow Christian Nelson. Her siblings were Thurlow Christian Nelson, Jr. (1922-2000), Edwin Lewis Nelson (b. 1924), and John Eric Nelson (1925-1999). Nelson entered Oberlin College in 1946 but left after her freshman year and, on her nineteenth birthday, married ex-Marine Howard Hoekje, a chemist who worked in academia and in corporate chemical research. The couple had three children: Carol Lynn Hoekje (b. 1950), Barbara Jean Hoekje (b. 1953), and Peter Lindsey Hoekje (b. 1956). Although Nelson briefly attended New Jersey College for Women (1947-1949), she defined herself primarily as a wife and mother until the mid-1960s. Inspired by Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, Nelson returned to college in 1964 and began to participate in the radical political movements of that decade. She graduated from the University of Akron with a B.A. in 1966 and an M.A. in Social Psychology in 1968. She was awarded a Ph.D. in Sociology from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1976, having completed a dissertation which examined the National Woman's Party, and was instrumental in the founding of Women's Studies at both SUNY-Buffalo and at Antioch College in Ohio. Nelson has been involved in peace, civil rights, feminist, and lesbian activism; her most notable political activities include lobbying for the ERA in Congress, organizing to free Joann Little and the Wilmington Ten, and co-founding the Women's Building in San Francisco. Her articles and essays have appeared in a wide variety of feminist publications including Sinister Wisdom, Sojourner, Off Our Backs, and many others. Since the 1980s Nelson has lived in San Francisco where she works as a feminist therapist and a lesbian feminist activist. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the CollectionThe Marjory Nelson Papers consist of a wide range of materials documenting the progression of her life, from faculty wife in a traditional marriage to graduate student, lesbian activist, radical feminist, hypnotherapist, and pacifist. Her activities in the feminist movement are richly documented, from its beginnings in the 1960s to the present. There are also correspondence, photographs and other materials representative of Nelson's personal life. [NOTE: The contents list for this collection is not online. Contact the Sophia Smith Collection if you would like one sent to you.] Return to the Table of Contents Return to the Table of Contents |
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