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Batya Bauman (born Bernice) was born in Brooklyn, NY, the daughter of Abraham and Gertrude Bauman. Her family moved to Rhode Island when she was still an infant and she grew up in Providence, graduating from Hope High School in 1947. Bauman came up through the ranks of the Zionist Youth Movement, having been active in Young Judaea and Junior Hadassah. She is a graduate of the Institute for Youth Leaders from the Diaspora in Jerusalem, where she studied from 1951 to 1952; she returned to Israel to live on a kibbutz from 1952 to 1954. In the 1960s, Bauman served as Director of Lecture-Program Services of B'nai B'rith's Department of Adult Jewish Education in Washington, DC. She attended Fordham University later in life and was graduated summa cum laude in 1978 with a B.A. in Religious Studies. Bauman has served for fifteen years as president of Feminists for Animal Rights and Editor-in-Chief of FAR's International Newsletter. She is a longtime animal advocate and activist and an ecofeminist ethical vegetarian. Before becoming an activist in animal and ecofeminist concerns, she was active in the 1970s and 1980s in New York City's feminist and lesbian communities, having co-founded Gay Women's Alternative and Lilith, a Jewish feminist magazine, as well as having been associated with Womanbooks, one of the first and largest women's bookstores in the country. She currently lives in Amherst, Mass.
The Batya Bauman Papers consist of biographical information and documents pertaining to her early life, her feminist lecture businesses: Batya Bauman Enterprises, Batya Bauman Lecture Bureau, and Feminist Voices, and to her activism in the realms of lesbian feminism, Jewish feminism, animal welfare and Jewish involvement in the cause. Materials include writings by Bauman and others; personal and professional correspondence; articles, correspondence, pamphlets, and clippings relating to animal rights organizations (including Feminists for Animal Rights and PETA); correspondence, pamphlets, brochures related to Jewish women and transparencies of layouts for the Jewish feminist magazine, Lilith. Business records include memoranda, clippings, articles, photographs, newsletters, clippings, personal calendars (circa 1969-2000), and awards. There are also clippings, photographs, and correspondence re: Bauman's time in Israel, 1950s.
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The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.
This collection has not been fully processed and therefore may be difficult to use.
Collection is stored offsite; researchers must give 48 hours advance notice.
The material in this collection may be protected by copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights for permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." Permission must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
Batya Bauman Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.
Periodic additions to collection are expected and may not be reflected in this record.
The Batya Bauman Papers were donated to the Sophia Smith Collection by Batya Bauman in 2006.
Processed by Burd Schlessinger, 2006.