¿
Milestones
June, 1974/ Cleveland Women's Counseling
"We work on the assumption that we are advocates for women. We want women to be supported by other women," declared Betsy Tabac, a spokeswoman for Cleveland Women's Counseling (CWC), a feminist referral service.
Originally, CWC started in 1971 for feminist abor tion counseling and referral when women had to go to New York and Washington for abortions. Now expanded into a mini-service center, some of CWC's services are: refers women to consciousness-raising groups; starts groups (e.g., a group for divorced women where they can learn their rights and learn how to take care of themselves); acts as a resource for information about women for the media, women speakers, etc; sponsors "Sister", a group of women
Judy Chicago's Dinner Party, is a monument to womankind, a feast for the eyes and the intellect.
John Perresult
MY. Soho Hous
cago, 1979
This monumental work of art celebrates the achievements and contributions of women to Western Civilization. FIRST MIDWEST SHOWING
May 10-Aug. 16, Cleveland
Hours: Noon to 10 pm/closed Tuesdays General admission $3.00...reduced rates
3130 Mayfield Road (216)371-2222
for seniors and for groups (over 20) Sponsored by Ohio-Chicago Art Project, Inc.
who individually go to a needy woman to help out; sponsors an emergency housing project; builds up a resource bank which is a file of women with skills.... Organized by collective work in which no one is "head," CWC sees this as an alternative to the patriarchal design of organized hierarchy.
September, 1974 / The Feminist Forum
One of the few open meeting places for women in Cleveland has been the Feminist Forum. It has functioned since November, 1973 as a Friday night gettogether for women to get acquainted. Women attending the Forum have come to meet other women as well as have the opportunity to discuss various feminist issues....
The purpose of the Feminist Forum is to provide space for women who share a feminist commitment to meet and work together in self-defined ways....We are interested in the development of strength, courage, initiative, and joy in women through a format such as the Forum which is still only an experimental form.
January, 1975 / Cleveland Coalition of Labor Union Women
At the November meeting of the CLUW chapter
here in Cleveland, the local women were officially
chartered as one of the first 7 or 8 chapters to be chartered in the country....
sanghetsV GAE IN CRI POM-HA
'Page 8/What She Wants/April-May, 1983
At its first officially chartered meeting the chapter voted new officers, voted support for the striking mineworkers, and passed the hat for their strike fund, heard about an upcoming strike by nurses at the Kaiser Community Health Centers (not the hospital), voted (just barely) to endorse the Freedom March for Human Dignity to be held in Boston...and finally marched over to the Press where they picketed in the street with striking Newspaper Guild members, singing songs and looking forward to an active and successful first year as a pioneer CLUW chapter.
May, 1975/ Food Communities
A new community service-actually a community store-has been started on Cleveland's east side: the first non-profit cooperatively run food store in this city....
Food Communities has a history nearly five years old as a cooperative buying club operating out of a church. The decision to go into a store was based on a small savings account, a desire among many of the members to increase substantially the inventory they offered, and an interest in seeing a cooperative movement begin (and hopefully expand) in this city as it has elsewhere.
June, 1975 / Ohio NOW Conference
The Ohio NOW Conference on Sexuality and Lesbianism held Saturday, May 1, in Bowling Green ranks as one of the most significant events in gay rights this year. It demonstrated the togetherness of the feminist and gay movements as members of both groups came together to discuss common problems and solutions.
July, 1975 / WomenSpace
In March of 1975, a connection was made between the fact that there were women's groups in Cleveland looking for money (Cleveland Women's Counseling, The Crisis Housing Group, etc.) and the possibility of seed money being available from the [Miami] Center for Dialogue. A meeting was held with women from Cleveland Women's Counseling, Crisis Housing, Women's Ecumenical Network, and Penny Steenblock from National Health Care Services who knew about the Center for Dialogue money....
Another meeting was set for April 10th. There was some suggestion about forming a structure to bring about the existence of a women's center, but this was postponed until more women's groups could be involved. Later meetings have had representatives from Cleveland Women's Counseling, the Crisis Housing Committee, Women's Ecumenical Network, Center for Dialogue, National Health Care, NOW, Preterm, the Free Clinic, Women's Help Center, What She Wants, Women's Self Help Clinics, the Rape Crisis Center, Feminist Forum, Cleveland State Women's Liberation, Case Western Reserve Women's Center, Greater Cleveland Inter-Church Council, University Christian Movement, YWCA, and Project Eve....
The main purpose of WomenSpace will be to support women acting together on behalf of one another's self-interest in order to foster communication, strength and independence among women in Cleveland. The following goals have been formulated: 1) to provide a women's center that will a) serve as a visible entry point for women to become aware of and involved in issues which are important to women and b) to provide varieties of space and resources to meet women's needs; 2) to provide resources and environments which will enable all the
women's groups particpating to become stronger and more effective.
Further discussion brought up the fact that as women, we are all victims-of rape, of discrimination, etc., to a major degree in our society. We need to work together. It was realized that all different kinds of women will need to use a Women's Center....As a coalition type group, we can provide space/services, and generally enhance our power as a
group.
July, 1975 / D.Y.K.E.
D.Y.K.E. (Dykes You Know Everywhere) is a new group. Originally, it had been formed as a lesbian CR group but a decision was made at the first meeting to keep the group open and growing and addressed to the need for lesbian social contacts outside of the bar, in addition to being a forum for consciousness raising.
August, 1975 / Socialist Feminist Conference The Socialist-Feminist Conference was held in Yellow Springs, Ohio at Antioch College July 4th, 5th and 6th. About 1600 women from all over the United States plus representatives from England, Canada and Germany attended....The Lesbian Caucus was the largest group, represented by 250-300 women. The Third World Caucus was represented by 100-150 Black, Asian and Latin women. Although the Third World and Lesbian Caucuses both had severe criticisms of the conference, as did other groups, there was an atmosphere of understanding and tolerance.
October, 1975 / NOW Marches Against Violence
"We are 53 percent of the population and demand the right to be safe in the streets," read the proclamation posted on the door of City Hall on the anniversary of women's suffrage, August 26, 1975. 55 years [after suffrage], the National Organization for Women (NOW) organized nationwide demonstrations to protest violence against women-sexist,
CLEVELAND WOMEN
THE
AKE BACK
TAKE
NIGHT
racist, economic, social, and legal. We are not free
yet.
In Cleveland 100 women marched in the street from St. Clair and 6th Street to City Hall. The banner in front of the march stated Women Against Violence. On the steps of City Hall the women stood
}
(continued)
1