Iowa Women's Archives
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa

JILL JACK (1957- )

PAPERS, 1967-2006
bulk 1975-1983
5 linear inches
and artifacts

Collection Overview

Biography

Political activist Jill Jack was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1957 to Mary T. (Hayes) Jack and James A. Jack, a detective in the Chicago police department.  Jill Jack’s parents divorced when she was young, and Jack and her two older brothers were raised by their mother, who was an office manager.   Jack graduated from Taft High School in Chicago and moved to Iowa City, Iowa, in 1975 to attend the University of Iowa; she received a BA in 1981 and an MA in 1985.  In 1995, Jack earned an MLS from Indiana University.  Jack and her partner, Diane Finnerty, have one daughter, Jennifer.  Jack and Finnerty were the second couple to register with the city of Iowa City as domestic partners.

Jill Jack’s political activism began in the civil rights, anti-war, and environmental movements of the 1960s and 1970s, which led her to work on George McGovern’s presidential campaign in 1972.  After she moved to Iowa City, Jack became involved with the feminist and lesbian movements.  She worked with organizations such as the Women’s Resource and Action Center (WRAC) and the Iowa City-based publication Common Lives/Lesbian Lives, and on issues and projects including Women Take Back the Night, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), Safe Ride, and the domestic violence shelter.  Jack headed the Lesbian Alliance from 1978 to 1992, and co-founded the local Gay/Lesbian Pride month celebration.  In addition, Jack worked at the Plains Woman Bookstore and played on softball teams sponsored by the Emma Goldman Clinic, Plains Woman Bookstore, and WRAC. Jack’s political work illuminates the connections among peace, women’s, gay, environmental, racial, and economic issues.

Jack’s professional work has included diverse jobs such as factory worker, waitress, bookseller, and office worker.  After receiving her degree in library science, Jack worked as a librarian at Cornell College, the State Historical Society of Iowa, and Kirkwood Community College.  Jack became the “unofficial” historian of the women’s and lesbian community in Iowa City, collecting and saving papers and posters documenting that community’s activities, struggles, and triumphs.  In 1995, she began her own business, Paper Trails, as a freelance archivist and consultant.

Scope and Content Note                    

The Jill Jack papers date from 1967 to 2006 and measure 5 linear inches.  The papers, arranged alphabetically by topic, document the women’s and lesbian community in Iowa City during the late 1970s and early 1980s.  They include materials relating to the institutions and organizations founded by women and lesbians to serve their needs, and the cultural and social events they sponsored, especially those involving music, education, theater, recreation, dance, and poetry.  Most of these organizations had overlapping memberships and constituents.       

About half of the collection documents the events and activities held in the early 1980s at the Women’s Coffeehouse (also known as the Studio Project), a private space where lesbians could socialize without fear of ridicule or harm.  The collection includes posters and flyers advertising events, notes from meetings, policies, original notes from the bulletin board, and a calendar showing events held at coffeehouse.   

Materials also document community discussions and controversies about discrimination against lesbians (“Co-op Showdown”), violence against women and censorship (the showing of the movies Cruising,  Peeping Tom, and Dressed to Kill at the Bijou Theater on the University of Iowa campus), and classism. The Grace & Rubie’s materials include bylaws, guidelines, and minutes from a board meeting. The Iowa City Women’s Press folder includes a call for writings on fat issues.   Several T-shirts complete the collection.

Related Collections

Women’s Resource and Action Center
            Jack was a volunteer at WRAC.

Jo Rabenold
            This collection also documents lesbian life in Iowa City.

Tess Catalano
            A friend of Jack’s who belonged to many of the same organizations.     

Common Lives/Lesbian Lives
            Jack was very involved in this publication.

Box List

Box 1
	Biographical information, 2006 “Co-op Showdown: Save Dykes Jobs,” 1981 Grace and Rubie’s Women’s Restaurant, 1975-1976 and undated Iowa City Women’s Press
		General, 1982 and undated The Greasy Thumb Automechanics Manual for Women, 1976
	Lesbians
		Flyers, newsletters, newspaper clippings, 1967-1982 and undated National gay pride publications, 1975-1987
	Softball, undated Woman-friendly businesses, 1982 and undated “Women and Bijou Films,” 1981 Women and substance abuse awareness, 1982 and undated Women’s Coffeehouse
		Events, undated Photos, undated History, policies, finances, 1981-1982 and undated Calendar pages, 1981-1983 Flyers posted, 1981-1982 and undated
	Women’s encampment for a future of peace and justice, 1983 Women’s music and dances
		Flyers, 1982 and undated Pictures for 1950s dance poster, undated
	“Working on Classism,” undated Miscellaneous, 1982 and undated
Box 2
	T-shirts
		Plains Woman Bookstore (2), undated Women’s Equality Day Walk/Run, 1978 Women’s Resource and Action Center (WRAC) 10-year, 1981 Womyn’s Land, Wimmins Space, undated

 

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Page created February 2007.