Happy International Women's Day!
Explore TFI Digital Archive International Women's Day Selections, register for Queer Legacies Project to digitize your materials or record an oral history with StoryCorps.
Happy International Women’s Day (IWD) from TFI! Today, IWD will be celebrated globally to advance our culture towards gender equity through solidarity and mobilization. To advance this movement, we must know and preserve our collective history. That’s where The Feminist Institute (TFI) comes in. Founded in 2016, TFI is a non-profit organization dedicated to documenting feminist contributions to culture by preserving and digitizing archival materials for students, researchers, and the public to access.
But in a time of DEI rollbacks, rising conservativism, and widespread misinformation, the feminist historical record is at risk of being erased. Independent feminist archives are the antidote.
Support TFI by clicking the button below to ensure future generations can learn from the powerful feminists who came before us.
TFI Digital Archive: International Women’s Day Selections
Sisterfire 1987 Festival: A Two-Day Open-Air Festival of Women's Culture" programs booklet
Sisterfire, “Sisterfire 1987 Festival: A Two-Day Open-Air Festival of Women's Culture" programs booklet, 1987.
Copyright held by Dindga McCannon; digitized through a partnership with The Feminist Institute, 2023.
See record.
This piece of ephemera is from Dindga McCannon’s Capsule Collection. McCannon recalls Sisterfire as one of the most welcoming spaces to sell her art and clothing. At the time, it was one of the only festivals by women and for women, with the lesbian community playing a large role in its organization. The program’s booklet spans 20 pages of performer line-ups, event details, and advertisements from aligned organizations.
WAC IS HERE, SOME ARE QUEER
WAC IS HERE, SOME ARE QUEER, 1992.
Image courtesy of the Estate of Mary Beth Edelson and David Lewis Gallery. Preserved through a partnership with The Feminist Institute, 2018.
See record.
This photograph, from the Mary Beth Edelson Collection, captures the Women’s Action Coalition (WAC) marching in the 1992 New York City Pride March, the same year the group was founded. WAC took inspiration from ACT UP and Women’s Health Action Mobilization for their sit-ins, educational campaigns, and direct actions. The group utilized art to amplify their message and to challenge the misogyny, racism, and homophobia of the mainstream art world.
Enjoying the TFI Digital Archive highlights? Stay tuned— we’ll send out Women’s History Month archival selections weekly for all of March.
Selling Fast— Queer Legacies Project with The American LGBTQ+ Museum and SAGE, Oral History with StoryCorps
Ephemera courtesy of Cassandra Grant, Lisa Cannistraci, and Wanda Acosta. The Addresses Project is a New York City-based archive of lesbian and queer space and memory, created by Gwen Shockey in collaboration with Riya Lerner.
See Addresses Project collection
Queer Legacies Project (QLP) is an in-person workshop series developed by the American LGBTQ+ Museum in partnership with The Feminist Institute and SAGE, a service and advocacy organization for LGBTQ+ elders with centers in the Bronx, Harlem, Chelsea, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. The project will convene LGBTQ+ elders to emphasize the importance of their personal archives and stories.
The March 10th and March 17th workshops are SOLD OUT, but there are still limited slots available on March 24 and March 31, from 1-4pm. Click the button below to register and learn more about the guest archivists here.
Oral History with StoryCorps
During the March 24 session, participants have an opportunity to record a conversation with a friend, family member, or StoryCorps facilitator about what queer history and culture mean to you. There is an upcoming information session on Wednesday, March 12 at 5:00pm ET.
As a participant, you have the option to archive your story at the Library of Congress. You will have 40 minutes to record a conversation with a partner and topic of your choosing. You decide whether to share your recording or keep it private. Participation is free and open to all!