ORGANIZING AGAINST PORNOGRAPHY:

Begun in February 1984 as the Pornography Resource Center, the organization responded to the growing perception of the relationship between pornography and violence against women, which had been highlighted by groups such as Take Back the Night, Women Against Violence Against Women, and the Neighborhood Pornography Task Force. It was also motivated by the controversy surrounding the passage and subsequent veto of an anti-pornography ordinance by the Minneapolis City Council (1983-1984) and by a course on pornography taught by Andrea Dworkin and Catharine A. MacKinnon at the University of Minnesota Law School (1983). In December 1985 the name was changed to Organizing Against Pornography: A Resource Center for Education and Action.

To identify and publicize the issue of pornography and violence against women the organization provided information on types of pornography, victims' needs, self-examination of individual attitudes towards pornography, and training workers. To accomplish these ends the organization provided speakers, slide shows, published materials, demonstrations, and other publicity aimed at all groups, but particularly teenagers and men.

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A major portion of the collection is devoted to specific actions taken by the organization against pornographic movie theaters and adult bookstores and to anti-pornography ordinances presented to the city councils in Minneapolis (1983-1984), Indianapolis, Indiana (1984-1989), and Bellingham, Washington (1988-1989). There is information on the conflict between these actions and first amendment rights. Also included are extensive files on the activities of Dworkin and MacKinnon, the co-authors of the Minneapolis anti-pornography ordinance, who together taught a class on pornography at the University of Minnesota Law School (1983).

Administrative records contain fairly detailed board minutes (1985-1989), as well as information on retreats, committees, and programs emanating from the board (1985-1990); information on the staff (1984-1987); information on community and other meetings (1985-1989); reports (1987); and newsletters (1987-1988). Financial records, including information on grants, contain budgets (1984-1989), document fund raising activities (1984-1989), and include files on twelve foundations (1984-1989) and their grants to the organization, particularly the Patrick and Aimee Butler Family, L. J. and Mary C. Skaggs, Gamble-Skogmo, the Minnesota Women's Fund, and General Mills.

The rest of the collection is devoted to the organization's many activities: speakers; slide shows to youth and community groups; surveys of battered women, neighborhood groups, and sexual assault workers; actions taken against theaters and other purveyors; and materials on lawyers Dworkin and MacKinnon. The records include subject files, newspaper clippings, and audio visual materials.

The organization was actively involved in the passage by the Minneapolis City Council of an anti-pornography ordinance, which had been prepared by Catharine MacKinnon in 1983. The ordinance was opposed by civil liberties groups, particularly the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, and supported by the OAP and other women's groups. The ordinance was passed by the Council, but vetoed by Mayor Donald M. Fraser. There are copies of the ordinance; a chronology and history; list of actions supporting the ordinance; transcript of hearings; and a scrapbook containing photographs, correspondence, and newspaper clippings. The papers reveal the conflict between First Amendment rights and the victimization of women and others by pornography.

Files labelled "Actions" detail the organization's campaigns against the pornographic movie theaters Rialto and Avalon; against the Chicago-Lake adult bookstore; against Solid Gold, a strip tease club; opposing the sale of adult publications, particularly Playboy and Penthouse, by B. Dalton Booksellers, 7-11 Stores, and on the St. Cloud State University campus; and against individual motion pictures depicting violence against women.

Materials relating to Andrea Dworkin and Catharine A. MacKinnon include transcripts of speeches, hearings, and interviews; correspondence; newspaper and magazine articles; audio tapes; and a bibliography, notes, and newspaper clippings documenting the pornography course taught by the two women at the University of Minnesota Law School (1983).

The rest of the collection contains subject files (1984-1989) on many topics including the Bellingham (Wash.) anti-pornography ordinance (1988-1989) and the St. Paul Pornography Action Task Force (1985-1989). Extensive clippings (1975-1989) from Minnesota, Canadian, and other newspapers document pornography. Of particular interest are two folders of clippings (1984-1985) relating to the Jordan (Minn.) child abuse case.

A small collection of audio-visual materials include photographs (largely undated and only partially identified) of anti-pornography activities in the Twin Cities, and audio and video tapes of meetings, national network television programs such as "60 Minutes" and "The Phil Donohue Show," and similar materials.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Organizing Against Pornography. Organizational Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number(s): 14,957

Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, October 1993

Catalog ID number: 990017302340104294

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Additional newsletters (1984-1985) of the organization (Resource Center News) are in the Minnesota Historical Society serials collection.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Abused women -- Minnesota.

Child abuse -- Minnesota -- Jordan.

Erotic films.

Freedom of speech -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Fund raising -- Minnesota.

Motion picture theaters -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Motion pictures -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis -- Censorship.

Municipal government -- Indiana -- Indianapolis.

Municipal government -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Ordinances, Municipal -- Indiana -- Indianapolis.

Ordinances, Municipal -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Ordinances, Municipal -- Washington -- Bellingham.

Pornography -- Indiana -- Indianapolis.

Pornography -- Minnesota.

Pornography -- Washington (State) -- Bellingham.

Rape -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Sex and law -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Sex in motion pictures -- Minnesota.

Sex oriented businesses -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.

Sexual abuse victims -- Minnesota.

Sexually abused children -- Minnesota -- Jordan.

Women -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis -- Crimes against.

Women's rights -- Minnesota.

Women's shelters -- Minnesota.

Youth -- Minnesota -- Sexual behavior.

Persons:

Barkey, Jeanne.

Dworkin, Andrea.

Fraser, Donald M. (Donald MacKay), 1924-2019.

MacKinnon, Catherine A.

Places:

Bellingham (Wash.) -- Moral conditions.

Indianapolis (Ind.) -- Moral conditions.

Jordan (Minn.) -- Moral conditions.

Minneapolis (Minn.).

Saint Paul (Minn.).

Organizations:

Men Against Pornography Task Force (Minneapolis, Minn.).

Minneapolis (Minn.). City Council.

Minnesota Civil Liberties Union.

Ponography Resource Center (Minneapolis, Minn.).

St. Paul Pornography Action Task Force (Saint Paul, Minn.).

University of Minnesota.

Types of Documents:

Audiotapes.

Photographs.

Video recordings.

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