Described as “a Midwest newspaper of women’s liberation,” Ain’t I a Woman? (AIAW?) began in 1970 as a project of a closed collective of the Iowa City Women’s Liberation Front. In the first issue of AIAW?, the collective explains their reasoning and goals behind the publication, explaining that "until now there have been no underground or peoples papers in Iowa City," only "the usual commercial town paper and the University paper"--neither of which could be trusted sources of salient information, "being written for the people not by the people." The collective expressed the need for women to publish their own paper outside of the mainstream media, which they described as being controlled by capitalist interests and riddled with "unmitigated sexism." Uniquely, the founders of Ain't I A Woman? rejected a hierarchical organization of roles (such as editor, assistants, and staff) in favor of a collective decision-making model for the paper's creation and publication, and claimed to maintain no "professional standards."
AIAW? also aimed to increase much-needed communication between women in the Midwest, particularly between lesbians and radical women who did not benefit from the community and resources of large urban areas: "Unlike our sisters in Chicago or Detroit, who have large brown and black populations and proportionately large working class populations, most of us [in Iowa City and in smaller Midwest cities] tend to work in groups that are campus rather than community based," limiting their ability to pursue a radical feminist agenda. Although based in Iowa City, AIAW's scope encompassed the entire Midwest region, in terms of both readership and contributions to the publication.
While at first, lesbians composed a minority of the AIAW?, by fall 1971 the collective became “almost all gay" due to turn over in the collective's membership as well as existing members “realizing they were gay or choosing against their heterosexual relationships" (“Finding Direction,” Ain’t I a Woman?, Oct. 15, 1971, 2). Although content dedicated to sexuality and the lesbian movement had been a part of the publication from the start, this marked a shift in the collective's stated intentions for the publication going forward.
Issues of AIAW? typically included poetry, illustrations, 'letters to the editor,' ads for feminist lesbian businesses and organizations, and lengthy articles on feminist theory, lesbian issues, and radical politics.
This June 1973 issue of Ain't I A Woman?--described on page 1 as a "publication reflecting the opinion of...a small collective of radical gay women" in Iowa City--contains material related to the feminist self-defense movement, childcare and motherhood, violence against women, and anti-capitalism. Also included is Jane Alpert's Mother Right: A New Feminist Theory, a manifesto which Alpert originally mailed to Ms. Magazine, denouncing "the sexual oppression of the left" and detailing her conversion from militant leftist to radical feminist.
This is a souvenir photograph of Alfonso "The Human Ostrich" who performed for P.T. Barnum. A human ostrich was someone who could swallow large objects. This is what Alfonso appears to be doing in the photograph, although due to its quality and brightness, it is hard to determine what he is swallowing.
In this newspaper clipping from 1964, the Ann Arbor News visualizes statistics from a report of the Ann Arbor Board of Education’s Citizens’ Committee, which was established to investigate how race was shaping the student populations of and educational experiences at various city schools (Jones School, n.d.). This article, one of six to be printed in the Ann Arbor News, reveals the ongoing segregation and racial violence enacted against Black students through the city’s primary education system. (All The Tables From Citizens’ School Report, n.d.). Notable statistics include the overwhelming separation of Black students into the Jones and Mack schools (which reported that Black students comprised respectively 75.4% and 41.1% of their student populations), as well as the educational neglect of Black students across the school system in regards to grades. The publication of the report these statistics come from ultimately led to broad support by civil rights groups and Black families in the North Central area to close the Jones School, as well as to restructure the city’s education system (Jones School, n.d.).
It is important to note that absent from these statistics is contextualizing information about racism in the school system, such as the experience of Black students.
A flyer written, signed, and distributed by University of Michigan faculty to the student body. It promotes the teach-in protest against the war in Vietnam on March 24-25, 1965.
