Marjorie Bell Chambers Papers

Collection

Identifier: M124

Staff Only

Dates

1976-1978

Creator

Colorado Women's College (Organization)

Biographical / Historical

Marjorie Bell Chambers was the first woman president of Colorado Women's College (CWC), but her tenure was the shortest in CWC history. Her administration began on July l, 1976 and she was inaugurated on October 2, 1976, and it ended on February 28, 1978.

Dr. Chambers is the wife of William Hyland Chambers, a physicist in Los Alamos, New Mexico. She was graduated cum laude from Mount Holyoke College. Her master's degree is from Cornell and her Ph.D. (in history and political science) from the University of New Mexico.

Her career has included adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico, project historian for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, mayor of Los Alamos, NM, president of the American Association of University Women, and visiting professor at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma. She was a major force in the women's movement in the 1970s.

Extent

24.5 Linear Feet (49 legal document boxes)

Additional Description

Scope and Contents

The bulk of the collection contains general correspondence to and from Dr. Chambers during her tenure as president and papers concerning fund-raising efforts. Other major areas covered are interviews and employment at Colorado Women's College, Chambers' inauguration and resignation, and newspaper clippings regarding Colorado Women's College’s near-closure in 1976.

Arrangement

This collection is partially arranged.

General

When the records of CWC were acquired by DU, those records included all the archives of the College, including Presidents' papers etc. At sometime in the past the material from some of the document boxes were transferred into record boxes and they were done in numeric order, so some of the material from two collections ended up in record box labeled for only one. When the collection is processed the M130 collections needs to be coordinated with collections M114 - Sherry Manning, M116 - Eugene Dawson, M124 - Marjorie Bell Chambers, M136 Norman B. Dodge and M139 - Dumont Kelley to be sure the material end up where it really belongs (mak 6/2011)