Collections : [Barnard Archives & Special Collections]

Series 1 contains materials relating to Rona Wilk's academic work at Barnard including class notes, writing, curatorial projects, course registration records, syllabi and photos.

Commemorative wearables such as T-shirts and boxer shorts are a highlight of Rona Wilk's collection. There are fifteen T-shirts in Wilk's collection spanning from 1987-1991 including orientation T-shirts and local businesses promotional T-shirts. Wilk's description is included for historical context. Clothing included in this series:

• Barnard Bookforum Promotional T-Shirt, c.1990s, undated, Cotton single stitch T-shirt from Barnard Bookforum a local bookstore located between 116th and 115th Streets, on the west side of the street where many Barnard professors put in their book lists for classes (instead of at the Columbia bookstore). If you purchased $100 of books, you got a "free" T-shirt.
• Fall 1987 Orientation T-Shirt, 1987, Cotton single stitch T-shirt representing the three undergraduate colleges (BC, CC, Engineering).
• MacAc at Barnard T-shirt, undated, MacAc was the student activities board, based in the McIntosh Center student center. (McIntosh stood where the Diana Center now stands.)
• Barnard and Columbia Students for Choice (BSCS) T-shirt, 1989, T-shirt for march on Washington in support of women's reproductive rights, November 12, 1989. Took buses down to DC.
• Winterfest 1990 T-shirt, 1990, Cotton single stitch T-shirt. Winterfest was a celebration of the arts, held each year at Barnard.
• Exploration and Celebration T-Shirt, 1990, T-shirt from a Gathering of Jewish Feminist Women in or near our Twenties – March 4, 1990 – see packat of activities for this day-long conference in this collection. Day of prayer and activies with a feminist perspective on Judaism – including making an enormous tallit (prayer shawl) that all participants wrapped themselves in for the closing of the day.
• BHR Anti-Construction Party T-Shirt , 1987-88, A very sparsely attended party held in Reid dining room/common room to "celebrate" as it were the annoyance of the construction going on that year as they built the new dorm (now Sulzburger). Construction started early, as you can see from the cartoon on the back of this T-shirt. Also: many girls on the corner rooms of Reid complained about construction workers peeking in.
• Winterfest 1991 T-shirt, 1991. Cotton T-shirt.
• Senior Week 1991 T-Shirt, 1991, T-shirt commemorating senior week 1991. The theme was "Inferno" – comments from the little falling figures reflect the recession that we graduated into. ("A dollar and a dream" was the tagline for the NY Lottery at the time.) Note the little figure with a parachute says "Grad School".
• "Thesis – Just Do It" T-shirt, c.1991, Blue cotton T-shirt. On reverse: "Barnard Seniors Do It All Year Long". Just Do It had recently come out as part of Nike's ad campaign. T-shirts were the brainchild of Kristen Hoschler, our class president.
• "Thesis – Just Do It" T-shirt, c.1991, Purple cotton T-shirt.
• "What You Looking At?" Columbia Boxer Shorts, 1987-88, (probably fall 1987)– sold as a fundraiser of some sort; they came around the dorm selling them.
• Barnard Blue Key Society Boxer Shorts, c. 1990s, Blue Key was service organization.

Series 3, contains playbills and programs from plays, musicals, and performances attended by Rona Wilk during her college years 1987-1991.

Box 9, Folder 2 contains correspondence regarding Jeannette Mirsky's nomination for an honorary degree at Columbia University. Box 19, Folder 1 contains a notebook from an Anthropology course entitled "Social Organization" which Mirsky was enrolled in from 1934-1935 at Columbia University.

Series 3, Additional Materials, contains a book of writings, ephemera, and realia from 1972 to 2000. These are materials which the archivists did not identify as directly connected to Frances Whyatt's creative writing practice or correspondence, but nevertheless hold evidentiary value about the author's activities. This includes event flyers, journal entries, research materials, correspondence about animal rights activism, recipes, and a fashion project in collaboration with Mary Grosvenor Boyd, Whyatt's mother. Other significant materials include correspondence about Robert Hazel, Hazel's poetry, and a memorial article on Robert Hazel titled "Knowing Bob" written by Frances Whyatt.