*Post written by Josh Knecht, student assistant of the University Archives and Special Collections.

Front page of Issue 14 of “Heresies Magazine”, 1982. Source: Roselia N. Meny collection (MSS 303).

In commemoration of National Women’s Month, this blog post is dedicated to feminism; more specifically, the collection being discussed is the Heresies feminist magazine. Found within the Roselia N. Meny collection, these magazines were in publication from 1977-1993. The magazines were created by a feminist art movement called the “Heresies Collective,” according to Emily Wilson, author of the article “’The Heretics’: Women of the Heresies Collective.” In this article, Wilson details that the collective was a group of women who simply wanted to change the political climate insofar as it related to women, and the everyday struggles that they dealt with in a socioeconomic nation that denied them the same rights that were given to men.

Front cover of Issue 15 of “Heresies Magazines”, 1982. Source: Roselia N. Meny collection (MSS 303).

Heresies Magazine was not simply a magazine of art, however. Many topics such as violence, communication, lesbian art, sex, film, and racism were explored, allowing for a better understanding of how women were affected by these facets of life. At the time, the Heresies Magazine was a movement against the contemporary society that it stood against; now, these issues are a reminder that there existed a nation that was less tolerant that the one that stands today. Many of these topics are still discussed by feminists the world over, and the fact that they were being addressed over forty years ago by a group of brave women during the time that was more hostile than that which we are in is both commendable and brave.

If you or anyone you know is interested in feminism, then stop by the Rice Library Archives and Special Collections to check out the Heresies Magazines and all the other feminist material in the Roselia N. Meny collection.

References

Wilson, E. (2010, April 12). “The heretics”: Women of the Heresies collective. Retrieved from http://www.womensmediacenter.com/news-features/the-heretics-women-of-the-heresies-collective