Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals Records must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals Records, Ms1988-080, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals Records were donated to Special Collections in 1988, 2003, and 2006.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals Records was completed in March 2011.

Historical Note

The Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals (OWA), an organization for women architects and designers in the San Francisco bay area, officially became incorporated in 1973. Originally titled, The Organization of Women Architects, it evolved from the informal gatherings of twelve women architects looking for a supportive forum to exchange their experiences in a traditionally male-dominated profession to a valuable networking resource and a mechanism to promote the professional and personal lives of its members.

The organization is run by a volunteer Steering Committee staffed by members and the programs and focus of the OWA vary with the interests and talents of the current members. Previous meetings and seminars have focused on job-sharing, flexible work schedules, childcare, portfolio review, public speaking skills, financial seminars, health care, and occupational hazards.

Over its lifetime the OWA has undertaken many important programs and actions for the benefit of architects and design professionals in general, not only women. It developed a Mock Exam to prepare and train young architects for the California State licensing exam, and it set up a health insurance plan (1976) for uninsured architects and designers. The Mock Exam was so successful that the OWA eventually sold it to the American Institute of Architects.

The OWA is also very in active in collaborating with other like minded institutions and helped to establish a new umbrella organization called California Women in Environmental Design (CWED). CWED's purpose was to lobby governmental agencies and provide designing women with public exposure through statewide conferences and exhibitions of their work.

from Horton, Inge "Presentation on the History of OWA at The Colegio de Arquitectos in Quito, Ecuador," 26 June 2003

Scope and Content

The collection contains documents, reports, agendas, membership directories, photos, slides, and publications concerning the history and activities of the Organization of Women Architects and Design Professional dating from 1965-2005.

Arrangement

The Organization of Women Architects and Design Professionals Records is divided into the following subseries: Administrative, 1972-2005; Committees and Initiatives, 1974-1986; Newsletters, 1972-1991; Financial Records, 1975-1991; Alternate Media, 1971-1991; and Professional Women's Organizations, Documents, Pamphlets, and Clippings, (non-OWA), 1965-1995. Within each subseries they are arranged in chronological order.

Related Material

See also Ms1990-059 California Women in Environmental Design Records, 1990-1994.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• California Women in Environmental Design.

Occupations:

• Architects.

Local Subjects:

• International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)

Adjunct Descriptive Data

See also Ms1990-059 California Women in Environmental Design Records, 1990-1994.