Sophia Smith Collection. All rights reserved.
Co-founded and led by Faye Wattleton, the CFAW was "a not-for-profit institution dedicated to research-based education and advocacy for women. An independent, non-partisan organization founded in 1995," and known as the Center for Gender Equality until 2002, its mission was "to conduct national opinion research among women to measure experiences in their daily lives. This research presents a profile of women that [was hopefully] used to educate opinion leaders, policy makers and the general public." One of the significant research projects undertaken by the CFAW beginning in the late 1990s and lasting several years was "Progress and Perils: A New Agenda for Women," "a two-part landmark survey of over 3,300 American women" that measured their various opinions re: various topics such as domestic abuse, sexual assault, affirmative action, and abortion rights, in which responses were tabulated so as to reflect any differences based on race. Other research projects included the Domestic Violence Report (an outgrowth to the "Progress and Perils" results), a National Security Report in response to 9/11, the Women on Religion Survey, and the Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Report. Throughout its fifteen years, the CFAW depended on donors, large and small, to do its work and, after years of financial struggle, the organization closed down.
[source: CFAW's former Web site,
The records document the daily activities of a feminist advocacy organization. Major topics covered: women's rights, women's health, reproductive rights, women of color, affirmative action, and domestic violence. Types of materials include include research files, reports, minutes, general office files, correspondence, emails, calendars, publications, mailings, biographical information, audiovisual materials, photographs, funding, and financial records. Of particular interest are the foundation files which document the ways in which organizations such as the CFAW had to present themselves so as to receive much-needed funds. Also well documented is the way in which the CFAW, primarily through the person of Faye Wattleton, made good use of various media outlets, from television appearances to Web blogs.
[NOTE: The contents list for this collection is not online. Contact the Sophia Smith Collection if you would like one sent to you.]
The records are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection with the following caveats:
The Sophia Smith Collection owns copyright to the unpublished works in this collection created by the Center for the Advancement of Women. Copyright to materials authored by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. Permission must be obtained to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Center for the Advancement of Women Records, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
The records were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection by CFAW board members Janit Greenwood and Grada Fischer in 2010.
Accessioned by Kathleen Banks Nutter, August 2011