The records of the Woman's Building feminist arts organization in Los Angeles measure 32.5 linear feet and date from 1970-1992. Originally founded by artist Judy Chicago, graphic designer Sheila Levant de Bretteville, and art historian Arlene Raven in 1973, the Woman's Building served as an education center and public gallery space for women artists in southern California. The records document both the educational and exhibition activities and consist of administrative records, financial and legal records, publications, curriculum files, exhibition files, grant funding records and artist's works of arts and prints. A significant portion of the collection documents the Women's Graphic Center, a typesetting, design, and printing service operated by The Woman's Building.
Scope and Content Note:
The records of the Woman's Building measure 32.5 linear feet and date from 1970 to 1992. The organization played a key role as an alternative space for women artists energized by the feminist movement in the 1970s. The records document the ways in which feminist theory shaped the Building's founding core mission and goals. During its eighteen year history, the Building served as an education center and a public gallery space for women artists in Los Angeles and southern California; the records reflect both functions of the Building's activities.
The Administrative Files series documents the daily operations of the Building, with particular emphasis on management policies, budget planning, history, cooperative relationships with outside art organizations and galleries, special building-wide programs, and relocation planning. Included in this series are the complete minutes from most Building committees from 1974 through closing, including the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council. The General Publicity and Outreach series is particularly complete, containing publicity notices from most events, exhibits, and programs held at the Woman's Building, including brochures, announcements, programs, invitations, press releases, newspaper clippings, and magazine articles.
The Woman's Building's educational programs centered on courses offered by the Feminist Studio Workshop and the Extension Program. While the Workshop provided a two-year program for women interested in fully developing their artistic talent, the Extension Program offered a broad range of classes, specifically oriented to working women interested in art and art vocations. The records fully document both programs, focusing on the course development and descriptions, teacher contracts, class evaluations, budget planning, and scholarship programs. Although the Archives does not have the entire slide library, there are files concerning the establishment and administration of the library, as well as a few folders of slides.
The Gallery Programs series houses the records of the visual, performing, literary and video arts events held at the Woman's Building. Administrative files detail the daily operation of the gallery spaces. The files in the remaining subseries are primarily arranged by event and contain proposals, announcements, publicity, and artist biographies.
The Women's Graphic Center became a profit-making arm of the Woman's Building in 1981 but the typesetting and design equipment had been used by staff and students since 1975. The records in this series focus on the work produced at the Center, including general projects and artist designs and art prints. Many of the design and printing examples were produced for Woman's Building events and programs.
The Artist's Works of Art series includes artist books, resumes, correspondence, postcards, and samples of art in the form of sketches, drawings, and prints. There is also material related to Woman's Building projects. Especially noteworthy is the "What is Feminist Art?" project where artists gave their responses in various formats and mediums from text to pieces of artwork.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into 6 series.
Series 1: Administrative Files, circa 1970-1991 (Box 1-9, 32; 9 linear feet)
Series 2: Educational Programs, 1971-1991 (Box 10-14; 4.9 linear feet)
Series 3: Gallery Programs, 1973-1991 (Box 14-20, OV 54; 5.7 linear feet)
Series 4: Women's Graphic Center, circa 1976-1989 (Box 20-23, 32, OV 33-50; 5.6 linear feet)
Series 5: Artists' Works of Art, circa 1972-1990 (Box 24-25, OV 51-53; 1.7 linear feet)
Series 6: Grants, 1974-1992 (Box 25-30; 5.3 linear feet)
Historical Note:
In 1973, artist Judy Chicago, graphic designer Sheila Levant de Bretteville, and art historian Arlene Raven founded the Feminist Studio Workshop (FSW), one of the first independent schools for women artists. The founders established the workshop as a non-profit alternative education center committed to developing art based on women's experiences. The FSW focused not only on the development of art skills, but also on the development of women's experiences and the incorporation of those experiences into their artwork. Central to this vision was the idea that art should not be separated from other activities related to the developing women's movement. In November of 1973 the founders rented workshop space in a vacated building in downtown Los Angeles and called it The Woman's Building, taking the name from the structure created for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The FSW shared space with other organizations and enterprises including several performance groups, Womanspace Gallery, Sisterhood Bookstore, the National Organization of Women, and the Women's Liberation Union.
When the building they were renting was sold in 1975, the FSW and a few other tenants moved to a three-story brick structure, originally designed to be the administrative offices of the Standard Oil Company in the 1920s. In the 1940s, it had been converted into a warehouse and consisted of three floors of open space, conducive to publically available extension classes and exhibitions offered by the Woman's Building staff and students. By 1977, the majority of the outside tenants had left the Woman's Building, primarily because they were unable to sustain business in the new location. The new building was more expensive to maintain and the FSW staff decided to hire an administrator and to create a board structure to assume the financial, legal, and administrative responsibility for the Building. The funds to operate came from FSW tuition, memberships, fund-raising events, and grant monies.
In 1981, the Feminist Studio Workshop closed, as the demand for alternative education diminished. The education programs of the Building were restructured to better accommodate the needs of working women. The Woman's Building also began to generate its own artistic programming with outside artists, including visual arts exhibits, performance art, readings, and video productions. That same year, the Woman's Building founded the Women's Graphic Center Typesetting and Design, a profit-making enterprises designed to strengthen its financial base. Income generated from the phototypesetting, design, production, and printing services was used to support the educational and art making activities of the Building.
When the graphics business closed in 1988, the Woman's Building suffered a financial crisis from which it never fully recovered. The Building closed its gallery and performance space in 1991.
Related Material:
Among the other resources relating to the Woman's Building in the Archives of American Art is an oral history with Suzanne Lacy on March 16, 1990, March 24, 1990, and September 24, 1990. While not credited as a founding member, Lacy was among the first group of staff of the Woman's Building which she discusses in her interview.
The Getty Research Institute also holds a large collection on the Woman's Building which includes a wide range of material relating to its exhibitions, activities, and projects.
Separated Material:
The Archives of American Art donated 5 boxes of video tape from the collection to the Long Beach Museum of Art, Video Annex in 1994. According to documentation, this was the desire of Sandra Golvin and the Board of Directors of the Woman's Building. Printed material collected but not produced by the Woman's Building regarding feminism was transfered to Smithsonian Institution Libraries.
Provenance:
The Woman's Building records were donated to the Archives of American Art in 1991 by Sandra Golvin, President of the Board of Directors. An small addition of a set of "Cross Pollination" posters was donated in 2019 by by ONE Archives at University of Southern California Libraries via Loni Shibuyama, Archives Librarian.
Woman's Building records, 1970-1992. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Funding for the processing of this collection was provided by the Getty Foundation. Funding for the digitization of this collection was provided by The Walton Family Foundation and Joyce F. Menschel, Vital Projects Fund, Inc.
Consist of materials primarily documenting Andales's life while residing in Stockton, California and include correspondence, a black-and-white photograph album, a wallet and its contents, and information relating to the Legionarios del Trabajo Daguhoy Masonic Lodge. Mostly dating from the 1920s and 1930s, materials provide insight into Andales's social and private life with little information about his work. The Legionarios del Trabajo materials emphasize his dedication to the fraternity and his social contact with other Filipino men. Black and white photographs of Enrique Andales and other unidentified people document Filipino attire and day-to-day life. These materials serve as a primary source for understanding Filipino fashion trends and cultural attire as well as California's social, political, and cultural landscape in the 1920s and 1930s. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Biographical:
Enrique Andales was born on July 18, 1891 in Cordova, Cebu, Philippines. According to a California passenger and crew list Andales arrived in San Francisco, California aboard the S. S. Matsonia from Honolulu, Hawai'i on March 14, 1916. During World War I, he registered for the United States draft on December 15, 1917. At the time, he was residing in Stockton, California, working as a laborer for the Shima Tract, an island on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River known for potato cultivation. As documented in the United States census by 1930 he was working as a farm laborer on asparagus farms in Rio Vista, Solano, California and living with fourteen lodgers of Japanese and Filipino ethnicity on Alen Bunn Reyes. Andales demonstrated proficiency in reading and writing both English and Visayan, a common language spoken in the southern Philippines, including the Cebu Province. Andales was an active member of the Legionarios del Trabajo, specifically affiliated with the Daguhoy Lodge in the United States. Enrique Andales passed away on April 24, 1938 in Stockton, California at the age of forty-seven.
Sources:
Registration State: California; Registration County: San Joaquin
Ancestry.com. United States, Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Lehi, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Incorporated, 2012. Original data: Find a Grave. Find a Grave®. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.
The National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Customs Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving At San Francisco; NAI Number: 4478116; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85
The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, DC; Application For Seaman´s Protection Certificates; NAI: 2788575; Record Group Title: Records of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation; Record Group Number: 41; Box Number: 3
Year: 1930; Census Place: Rio Vista, Solano, California; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0011; FHL microfilm: 2339956
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the FY23 Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool.
Contains correspondence, black and white photographs, and negatives featuring Mansueto and unidentified individuals. It includes documents from the Mare Island Navy Yard, artifacts relating to the Legionarios del Trabajo, and other ephemera, collectively portraying the life of Epimaco Mansueto, a common laborer in Stockton, California. Documents from the Mare Island Navy Yard provide personal details about Epimaco. The series also features Legionarios del Trabajo materials such as funeral service photographs, underscoring Mansueto's commitment to the fraternity. Additionally, it includes photographs documenting cultural attire, and geographical locations, serving as a resource for understanding Filipino fashion trends and cultural practices. The series offers insights into the social, political, and cultural landscape of the time, shedding light on the history, traditions, and dynamics of the Legionarios del Trabajo. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Biographical:
Epimaco Fariola Mansueto was born on July 17, 1902 in the Philippines. Evidence of a grammar school education exist but records detailing Mansueto's emigration from the Philippines are hard to find. According to a World War II United States Army enlistment record dated October 16, 1942, Mansueto is identified as a United States citizen residing in San Joaquin, California. He lived at the Daguhoy Lodge at 203 East Hazelton Avenue, where he was a member of the Legionarios del Trabajo. Standing at five feet six inches and weighing 128 pounds, Mansueto worked on farms in the agricultural fields in northern California. Mansueto later married as documented in 1948 city directory and resided with his wife Katie at 3 Cottage Row in San Francisco, California. Mansueto passed away on January 8, 1988, in San Francisco, California at the age of eighty-six.
Sources:
National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards For California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1116
National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-circa 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 14307; Reel: 1
Place: San Francisco; Date: 9 January 1988
Ancestry.com. United States, City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Incorporated, 2011. Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. The title of the specific directory being viewed is listed at the top of the image viewer page. Check the directory title page image for full title and publication information.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the FY23 Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool.
Includes correspondence relating to the Legionarios del Trabajo, two wallets and their contents, a blank diary, and ephemera. Correspondence is primarily written in Visayan by Ramon BatolBatol and Johnny Gihapon in Cebu, Philippines, and sent to Julian Rogas in Oakland, California. The materials relating to the Legionarios del Trabajo document Julian's membership in the fraternal organization. The materials do not identify any information regarding Julian's personal details, Although, they document his time in Oakland, California during the 1930s. The series serves as a primary source for understanding the social, political, and cultural landscape as well as how people attempted to stay connected to people in another country during the 1930s. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Biographical:
Julian Rogas was born in 1887 or 1889 in the Philippines. Details of Rogas's early life and his journey to the United States are unclear. The 1930 United States census, however, documented his immigration as 1915. At this time, he resided on Oak Street in Oakland, California where he worked as a janitor in a building. With little money and living as a single man, he could only afford shared housing with four other single lodgers. By the 1950 census Rogas was described as separated and living with seven occupants as a cook seeking employment.
*Conflicting birth date: 1930 United States Federal Census, 1889. 1950 United States Federal Census, 1887.
National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950; Year: 1950; Census Place: Oakland, Alameda, California; Roll: 590; Page: 14; Enumeration District: 67-551
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the FY23 Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool.
Include materials relating to the Legionarios del Trabajo, a letter, War Department records, and other ephemera. The materials document the life of Galinato while residing in Stockton, California from the 1920s to the 1940s. Materials relating to the Legionarios del Trabajo emphasize his dedication to his membership in the fraternity. The contents of the letter are unknown and in the process of translation from Visayan to English. Galinato's War Department record documents some of his personal details such as his occupation and date of birth. This series documents the social, political, and cultural landscape of the time as well as the experiences of individuals who served in the armed forces. Materials are arranged in chronological order.
Biographical:
Jose Madridejo Galinato was born on December 18, 1902 in Guindulman, Bohol, Philippines. According to a passenger and crew list, he left Manila, Philippines, on June 16, 1923, aboard the S. S. President Pierce, destined for Honolulu, Hawai'i. The journey lasted twenty days and was part of a workforce recruited for the Hawaiian Sugar Plantation Company. After living and working for two years in Hawai'i, Galinato sailed to San Francisco, California, aboard the S. S. President Lincoln, arriving on September 8, 1926. By 1940, Galinato had settled in Stockton, California, likely engaging in agricultural work along the West Coast which was common among Filipino workers of that era. The 1940 United States census documented Galinato's employment as a field laborer, working sixty hours per week with a yearly income of four hundred and fifty dollars. Galinato resided at the Daguhoy Lodge on 203 East Hazelton Avenue, where he was a member of the Legionarios del Trabajo. On April 24, 1943, he registered for United States military service listing the Daguhoy Lodge as his residence; his next of kin as Albert Doblin, likely another Legionarios member; and his employer as S. S. Sanincente, Incorporated. During the 1950s and 1960s, according to his United States Petition for Naturalization, he worked as a seaman, traveling worldwide. Galinato died on December 9, 1983, at the age of eighty-one in Stockton, California. His obituary mentioned that he was survived by brothers and sisters in the Philippines. Funeral services were conducted at Stockton's Chapel of the Palms and St. Georges Catholic Church, and he is buried at the San Joaquin Cemetery.
*Conflicting birth dates and birth places: US World War II Draft Registration card, December 18, 1902. Honolulu, Hawaii Arriving and Departing Passenger and Crew Lists, 1901 or 1904.
Sources:
National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards For California, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 623
Year: 1940; Census Place: Tulare, San Joaquin, California; Roll: m-t0627-00327; Page: 20B; Enumeration District: 39-100A
The National Archives at San Francisco; San Bruno, California; Petitions For Naturalization, 8/6/1903 - 12/29/1911; NAI Number: 605504; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: 21
Ancestry.com. United States, City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Incorporated, 2011. Original data: Original sources vary according to directory. The title of the specific directory being viewed is listed at the top of the image viewer page. Check the directory title page image for full title and publication information.
Ancestry.com. California, United States, San Joaquin, County Public Library Obituary Index, 1850-1991 [database on-line]. Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Incorporated, 2014. Original data: California, San Joaquin, County Public Library Obituary Index, 1850-1991. Salt Lake City, Utah: Family Search, 2013.
The National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving At San Francisco; NAI Number: 4482913; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85
The National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco; NAI Number: 4449166; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85
The National Archives and Records Administration; Washington, DC; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at and Departing from Ogdensburg, New York, 5/27/1948 - 11/28/1972; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715, 1897-1957
Place: San Joaquin; Date: 9 December 1983; Social Security: 555161727
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, DC; Series Title: Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving At Honolulu, Hawaii, Compiled 08/1912 - 11/1954; NAI Number: A3569; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: RG 85
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, DC; Series Title: Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels and Airplanes Arriving at Honolulu, Hawaii, Compiled 01/1954 - 12/1981; NAI Number: A3571; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: RG 85
The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Index to Naturalization in the United States, District Court For the Northern District of California, 1852 - circa 1989 (M1744); Microfilm Serial: M1744; Microfilm Roll: 55
The National Archives at Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85; Series: A4024
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, DC; Series Title: Passenger Lists of Vessels Departing From Honolulu, Hawaii, Compiled 06/1900 - 11/1954; NAI Number: A3510; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787 - 2004; Record Group Number: RG 85
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Sponsor:
Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the FY23 Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool.