Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from Women's Development Corporation Records must be obtained from Special Collections, Virginia Tech.

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Women's Development Corporation Records, Ms2016-012, Special Collections, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Women's Development Corporation Records were donated to Special Collections in 2016.

Historical Note

The Women's Development Corporation (WDC) is a non-profit housing developer in Rhode Island. The WDC was founded in 1979 by a group of architects, designers, community planners, and historic preservation professionals. The founders included Susan Aitcheson (Program Director, Vice President from 1979-2012, and President from 2012-2016), Katrin Adam, and Joan Forrester Sprague. Alma Felix Green was the first Executive Director in 1980 and retired as President in 2014. The WDC designs, develops, constructs, and manages sustainable housing for low and moderate income families, individuals with special needs, and elderly residents. Between 1979 and 2016, the WDC had developed over 1600 housing units.

Additional sources: http://www.wdchoc.org/about-wdc http://www.wdchoc.org/FAQ

Content Description

These records document select activities of the Women's Development Corporation (WDC) of Rhode Island from 1979-2015. Materials include professional correspondence from WDC staff to peers, funding agencies, politicians, and clients; commendations received by the WDC; research notes and reports; administrative records, including meeting minutes and bylaws; public relations materials; press coverage by and about the WDC; project documentation, including design sketches, presentation drawings, photographs, and planning materials; audio-visual recordings; electronic records on DVD; and furniture models used in the participatory design planning process.

Arrangement

This collection was arranged with respect to the original order and the Shephered/Lowell Standard Series and Subseries for Architeture and Landscape Design. The collection reflects the following series and subseries:

Separated Material

Separated materials consist of books relevant to the firm's ideals preceding the work, with subjects covering aspects such as participatory design, guides to low-income housing design, housing for Low-Income single women, different types of households, and cohousing.

Titles:

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• History of Women in Architecture
• International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)
• Women architects -- Rhode Island