University Park, PA -- Condoleezza Rice, Sandra Day O'Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Madeleine Albright, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Nancy Pelosi-What would our federal leadership look like today without the pioneering efforts of "A Few Good Women" some thirty years ago? It was Knight-Ridder reporter Vera Glaser who pressed the issue of women appointees at one of President Richard Nixon's earliest press conferences, sparking the first concerted effort to open opportunities for women in the upper echelons of government.

Barbara Hackman Franklin (Penn State '62 BA) staff assistant to President Nixon and, later, Secretary of Commerce under President George H. W. Bush, says, "This was a watershed era for advancement of women in government that had a ripple effect through the private sector. It brought the drive for women's equality into the mainstream and brought women more completely into the political process."

On March 27, 2003, University Libraries Dean Nancy L. Eaton and Head of Public Services for Special Collections Lee Stout (Penn State '69 BA, '72 MA) joined Franklin, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Tricia Nixon, Lynne Cheney, and others for a Women's History month event at the White House to celebrate the oral history project-"A Few Good Women (AFGW). . .' Advancing the Cause of Women in Government, 1969-74."

Housed in the Penn State University Archives, 104 Paterno Library, the AFGW research collection includes interviews, transcripts, and personal papers of those involved during this important era for women. For more information, go to www.afgw.libraries.psu.edu or contact Penn State University Archives, 814-865-7931.

In addition to her efforts to make the AFGW project a reality, Franklin has recently given the Libraries $100,000 to create an endowment that will ensure maintenance of this important collection and provide access by scholars, historians, and the public.

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Editor's Contact:
Catherine Grigor, 814-865-0401