Archives from Catalyst’s 60-year history offer a glimpse into the evolution of women at work.
Sixty years ago, on July 19, 1962, Felice N. Schwartz created Catalyst Inc. to advance women in the workplace. I was thrilled to celebrate Catalyst’s sixtieth-anniversary last week with my colleagues by viewing Catalyst archives at the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. Through these archives, researchers can gain critical insight into the evolution of women’s workplace participation in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Catalyst employees were able to gain a sneak peek of the archives during a private reception at the Hagley. Dr. Anne Boylan, professor emerita of history and women and gender studies at the University of Delaware, said the archives are “likely to propel forward interpretive projects that historians have had in development for the past 25 years or so,” including “challenging outdated notions about women’s historical experiences during the 1950s and 1960s, especially experiences in the economy.”
Scroll through to see a selection of photographs from the anniversary event.
I was also grateful for the opportunity to speak about Catalyst’s legacy and of our vision for the next 60 years of workplace equity and inclusion. In the six decades since Catalyst’s founding, we have evolved and expanded to advance equity for all. In honor of our anniversary, and to reflect our expanded mission, we are referring to the year 2022 as the year of The Great Reimagining: Equity for Women, Equity for All.
Thank you to the Hagley Museum for making our research available to the wider community of scholars and researchers.
The full archives are expected to open in the coming months. In the meantime, I encourage you to read about Catalyst’s history and learn more about the new archive collection. Together, with the support of the public, and our Supporters, we will continue to advance equity for women and everyone over the next 60 years and more.