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Abbreviation | VFA |
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Formation | 1992 |
Founder | Jacqueline Ceballos |
Key people | Eleanor Pam, President Muriel Fox, Chair of the Board |
Website | VFA.org |
Veteran Feminists of America (VFA) is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization for supporters and veterans of the second-wave feminist movement. Founded by Jacqueline Ceballos in 1992, Veteran Feminists of America regularly hosts reunions for second-wave feminists and events honoring feminist leaders.
Soon after their first reunion in 1992, Jacqueline Ceballos joined with Dorothy Senerchia and Mary Jean Tully to create the organization. Muriel Fox joined soon thereafter and has chaired the organization since 1994.
The original idea for a name, Veterans of Feminist Wars, was rejected because its acronym could be confused with that of the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. [1]
In 1998, VFA Board member Barbara Love, with help from VFA members, began compiling a directory of feminists, published in 2006 as Feminists Who Changed America: 1963-1975 (University of Illinois Press). The book is a collection of 2,220 biographies of second-wave feminists who accomplished significant activist work. [2] It is also available as a searchable CD. [3]
VFA has a new partnership with the New York Historical Society Museum & Library. Its newly created Center for Women's History will be the venue to showcase the artifacts and stories that document modern feminism.
The purpose of Veteran Feminists of America is to honor, record and preserve the history of the accomplishments of women active in the feminist movement, to educate the public on the importance of the changes brought about by the women's movement, to preserve the movement's history and to inspire future generations.
The Veteran Feminists of America was created with the goals of remembering and recording the faces and retrospectives of the hundreds of pioneers who launched the 1960s feminist movement, often called second-wave feminism.
VFA's major effort is the Pioneer Histories Project, which compiles interviews with hundreds of feminist activists. Support for the project is provided by the Sy Syms Foundation.
On February 4, 2021, VFA held a Zoom webinar honoring National Organization for Women (NOW) founder Betty Friedan on the 100th anniversary of her birth. "Betty Friedan's 100 Birthday: Moving the Legacy Forward". [4]
VFA has held a number of events honoring second-wave feminists. Videotapes of these receptions are archived at the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute and the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University.[ citation needed ]
Notable events include: