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Collection Overview

Creator:
Snyder, Margaret C. (1929 January 30-2021 January 26)
Title:
Margaret Snyder Papers
Repository:
Public Policy Papers
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/rn3011380
Dates:
1950-2021 (mostly 1970-1990)
Size:
85 boxes and 2 items
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Boxes 1-64; S-000515; S-000518; S-000519; S-000522; S-000528; S-000529; S-000520; S-000521; S-000517; S-000524; S-000527; S-000514; S-000513; S-000516; S-000523; S-000525; S-000526; S-000530
Language:
English French

Abstract

Dr. Margaret Snyder was actively involved in women's economic and development issues in various regions of the world for more than three decades. She served as advisor to Kenya and East African Women's Seminars, Regional Advisor of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Vice President of the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund, co-founded the African Training and Research Center for Women, and was the Founding Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women. The papers document Dr. Snyder's career, the organizations she worked for, and the projects conducted to help women across the globe.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The Margaret Snyder Papers document her involvement with organizations working with African women, including the Kenya and East African Women's Seminars, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the African Training and Research Center for Women, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, and the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund. These organizations' development projects often focused on poor and rural women and included programs in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific. Some notable projects include the World Assembly of Youth, International Women's Year, the International Women's Decade, Women and Food Cycle Technologies Project, and the Green Belt Movement.

The papers contain correspondence, speeches, photographs, reports, interviews, publications, agendas and meeting minutes, United Nations documents, scrapbooks, conference and seminar papers, financial information, project proposals, brochures, and other material documenting training workshops, research, and fund raising activities.

Please see series descriptions in contents list for additional information about individual series.

Arrangement

The Margaret Snyder Papers are organized into ten series, primarily by organization. Files are arranged alphabetically within each series unless otherwise noted.

Collection Creator Biography:

Snyder

Dr. Margaret Snyder was actively involved in women's economic and development issues in various regions of the world for more than three decades. She served as advisor to the Kenya and East African Women's Seminars, Regional Advisor of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Vice President of the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund, co-founded the African Training and Research Center for Women, and was the Founding Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

Margaret Snyder, known as Peg to family and friends, was born in 1929 in Syracuse, New York. In 1950 she received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from the College of New Rochelle and in 1952 earned a Master of Arts degree in Sociology from The Catholic University of America. In 1953 at the age of 24, Snyder became the youngest Dean of Women in the United States. She served as dean at LeMoyne College for eight years. In 1961, she took a one year sabbatical to travel to Africa, where she worked with the Women's Africa Committee. Snyder's initial desire was to make a contribution to educational needs, promote an international student program, and stimulate her students' interest in international affairs. Due to the limited opportunities for African girls at the time, she soon began working to develop the Kenya African Women's Association, serving as an advisor and helping with preparations for the recently founded group. Their goal was "to raise the standard of Kenya women and girls through educational, social and cultural common interests."

At the end of Snyder's first year in Kenya, she chose to relinquish her deanship at LeMoyne and remained in Africa through 1964. As an adviser on organization and educational projects for the Women's African Commission in Tanganyika, she continued to work with groups in Kenya and Tanganyika, and was a member of the first Kenya and East African Women's Seminars. From 1965-1970 she was the Assistant Director, Programme of Eastern African Studies, the Maxwell School, Syracuse University and consultant to the State University of New York.

After earning a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 1971, Dr. Snyder accepted her first position with the United Nations as Consultant for the Economic Commission for Africa Regional Programme on Advancement of Women, which she held from 1971-1978. In this position, Snyder went on several missions throughout Africa to assess conditions of women in different countries. During this period she also co-founded the African Training and Research Centre for Women (ATRCW), which laid the foundation for women's programs ( including content, research) and training, across the world.

In 1978 Dr. Snyder broadened her work and became the Founding Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), formerly known as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women. This organization worked not just with women in Africa, but Asia, the Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean, creating new programs to help increase the status and education of rural women throughout the world. UNIFEM also worked with other organizations such as Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Women's World Banking, and the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs (CSDHA).

From 1992-1993, Dr. Snyder was a Visiting Fellow at the Centre of International Studies, the Woodrow Wilson School, at Princeton University. She was granted a Fulbright Scholar award for the 1994-1995 academic year to go to Uganda.

Dr. Synder was part of the group of individuals who organized, edited, and distributed Liberian Women Peacemakers (Africa World Press, 2004) under the name the African Women and Peace Support Group. This same group of individuals later formed the Sirleaf Market Women's Fund (SMWF), a nonprofit fund for the economic development and empowerment of Liberian women. Dr. Snyder later served as Vice President Emeritus of SMWF.

Collection History

Acquisition:

This collection was donated by Dr. Margaret Snyder in July 1993 , with additions in March 1998 , June 2008 [ML.2008.021], June 2009 [ML.2009.008], April 2014 [ML.2014.004], and December 2018 [ML.2018.023]. Additional materials were donated by Jim Snyder and Ann Bilharz in 2023. The accession number associated with the donation is ML-2023-006.

Appraisal

A box of David Sweetman research files that accompanied the 2008 donation was separated and recycled, except for a typed draft of Chapter 1 of an unpublished Sweetman manuscript. No materials were separated from the 2014 donation or the 2018 donation. No information about appraisal is available for other donations.

Sponsorship:

These papers were processed with the generous support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and the John Foster and Janet Avery Dulles Fund.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Cheryl Oestreicher in July 2005. Finding aid written by Cheryl Oestreicher in July 2005. Additional donations added by Mudd Library Staff in 2008-2014. Digital materials were processed by Elena Colon-Marrero in June 2015 and finding aid was updated. The December 2018 accession was processed by Kelly Bolding in June 2019, at which point the finding aid was updated and materials were intellectually integrated into existing topical series. The collection was reprocessed to include the 2023 accession and the finding aid was updated in July 2023 by Caitlin Abadir-Mullally.

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, any copyright vested in the donor has passed to The Trustees of Princeton University and researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of donor-created materials within the collection. For materials in the collection not created by the donor, or where the material is not an original, the copyright is likely not held by the University. In these instances, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have a question about who owns the copyright for an item, you may request clarification by contacting us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Series 7: Interviews contains six minicassettes and sixty audio cassettes from 90 to 120 minutes in length which require appropriate playback machines. his collection contains materials acquired from a DVD. Researchers are responsible for meeting the technical requirements needed to access these materials, including any and all hardware and software.

Credit this material:

Margaret Snyder Papers; Public Policy Papers, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/rn3011380
Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Boxes 1-64; S-000515; S-000518; S-000519; S-000522; S-000528; S-000529; S-000520; S-000521; S-000517; S-000524; S-000527; S-000514; S-000513; S-000516; S-000523; S-000525; S-000526; S-000530