The CWLU Herstory Website Project was organized to archive and share the history of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union. Using the Internet to tell the history of women's liberation from the ground up, the Chicago Women's Liberation Union (CWLU) Herstory Project documents the role of the CWLU in the movement for women's liberation and social justice of the late 1960s and 1970s.
As original members and new friends of the CWLU, we believe that women continue daily to make history and that we need to support each other. We find our lives constantly shaped by our experiences in the CWLU in our friendships and family, at work, on the streets of the city, in our travels and our quest for justice.
By sharing our history we hope others are inspired to act today. "Don't mourn, organize," said Mother Jones. We say that a small group of three to five women can make mountains move. That was a lesson of CWLU workgroups in health, education, employment, and gay rights, to name a few. There we created the ideas and actions that helped women liberate each other from oppressive beliefs and old social habits.
Our goal is to connect with women today who are becoming conscious feminists. We want to work together to develop women's leadership and improve the safety and quality of women’s lives in the larger struggle for social justice.
The purpose of our organization is to document the role of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union (1969-1977) in the movement for women's liberation and social justice of the late 1960's and 1970's. This project is history from the ground up. With the help of other women interested in feminist issues, former CWLU activists are developing a website. Though the CWLU was active just a generation ago, an understanding of its impact on women in Chicago, as well as the national feminist movement of the times, is largely unknown.
