Laura X
Laura X | |
---|---|
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Laura Shaw Murra (legal name) |
Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley |
Organization(s) | Women's History Research Center National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape |
Known for | Activism against date and marital rape |
Movement | Feminist |
Website | lauraxinstitute |
Laura X (born Laura Rand Orthwein, Jr., 1940) is a women's rights advocate. Laura X changed her name in 1962 to Laura Shaw Murra, which remains her legal name. She took the name Laura X on September 17, 1969, to symbolize her rejection of men's legal ownership of women and the anonymity of women's history, which she said was stolen from women and girls.[1] She declared that, like Malcolm X, "I don't want to have my owner's name, either."[2]
Education and background
After attending
Women's History Research Center
Laura X is the founder and was the director of the Women's History Research Center, in
By 1970 the Women's History Research Center was widely listed in early feminist publications. The Center put many of the early feminist writings on microfilm, making them available in libraries across the country.
Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press
In 1977, Laura X became an associate of the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP).[14] WIFP is an American nonprofit publishing organization. The organization works to increase communication between women and connect the public with forms of women-based media.[15]
National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape
In 1978 the Women's History Research Center established the National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape in Berkeley, California, with Laura X as director.[16]
Marital and date rape legislation
In 1979 Laura X led a successful campaign to make marital rape a crime in California.[16] She also acted as a consultant to 45 other state campaigns on marital and date rape, as well as collecting and maintaining documents about the status of exemptions from prosecution in rape laws.[16] Repeal of date and marital rape exemptions occurred in 45 states, in Federal and military law, in the laws of Guam and Puerto Rico, and the laws of twenty other countries.[17]
As the leader of NCMDR’s campaign against marital rape, Laura X appeared on dozens of local and national TV and radio shows, including 60 Minutes, The Phil Donahue Show, Seattle Today, Sally Jessie Raphael, Geraldo, the Today Show, CBS News, and the Gary Collins show.[18]
In September 1999 Laura X published her memoir "Accomplishing the Impossible: an Advocate's Notes from the Successful Campaign to Make Marital and Date Rape a Crime in All 50 U.S. States and Other Countries" in Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal. [19][20]
Awards and recognitions
As Laura Rand Orthwein, in 1959 she was Queen of the
In recognition of her achievements, Laura X received
- Commendation by the American Library Association, 1971[23]
- Woman of Achievement award (from Mademoiselle Magazine)[24]
- World Congress of Victimology Award for Innovative Programs and Services.[25][26]
- Commendation Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, 1985.[17]
- In 2009, Laura X was honored by the University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL) with the Trailblazers Award.[27]
References
- ^ admin. "VFA PIONEER HISTORIES PROJECT: LAURA RAND ORTHWEIN, JR". Veteran Feminists of America. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ a b "lauraxinstitute". lauraxinstitute. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- St. Louis Globe Democrat - January 4th, 1961. Archives of the defunct Globe-Democrat are presently housed at Mercantile Library at University of Missouri St. Louis(UMSL)
- ^ ISBN 978-1-59884-178-7.
- ^ a b stephanie. "About the Archives". www.redstockings.org. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ Bernikow, Louise (2005-03-02). "The Birth of Women's History Month". Women's eNews. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ "1970: Reviving the fighting spirit of Int'l Women's Day". www.workers.org. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ "Anniversary of Women's History Library/NCMDR". ncmdr.org. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ "Women's History in the Digital World 2015 – Ken Wachsberger's Blog". Ken Wachsberger's Blog. Retrieved 2023-03-01.
- ^ a b "Women's History Research Center - Social Networks and Archival Context". snaccooperative.org. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
- ^ "International Assembly of Women. Records of the International Assembly of Women, 1946: A Finding Aid". oasis.lib.harvard.edu. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
- ^ "Women's History Research Center resource files". Rocky Mountain Online Archive. 1845. Retrieved 2014-04-26.
- ^ X, Laura. "Opening the Info Vault: Preserving, Digitizing, and Funding the International Women's History Periodical Archive". Women's History in the Digital World. 3.
- ^ "Associates | The Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press". www.wifp.org. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
- ^ "About | The Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press". Retrieved 2022-04-07.
- ^ a b c ABOUT LAURA X, on the National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape website
- ^ ISBN 9781412918008. Retrieved 15 April 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Who We Are and What We Do". ncmdr.org. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
- ^ Abstract of "Accomplishing the Impossible: an Advocate's Notes from the Successful Campaign to Make Marital and Date Rape a Crime in All 50 U.S. States and Other Countries," by Laura X, National Clearinghouse on Marital and Date Rape website
- ^ X, Laura (September 1999). "Accomplishing the Impossible: an Advocate's Notes from the Successful Campaign to Make Marital and Date Rape a Crime in All 50 U.S. States and Other Countries". Violence Against Women: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal. 5 (9).
- ^ "St. Louis Post-Dispatch 07 Oct 1959, page Page 1". Newspapers.com.
- ISBN 978-0-8262-1601-4
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
- ^ "12 Women Who Did Something". Mademoiselle Magazine: 103. Jan–Jun 1974 – via archive.org.
- OCLC 649057809.
- ^ "About Laura X". ncmdr.org. Retrieved 2022-04-12.
- ^ "UMSL Women Trailblazers Award". Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2015-09-11.