A Memory for Women’s History: Problems of Method and Interpretation

Abstract

This essay describes an oral history project that accompanied the establishment of an archive on the history of recent feminism in the region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The archive, which contains both written and oral historical sources, is now in existence at the library of the Bologna’s Women’s Center, the Centro di Documentazione delle Donne . Raffaella Lamberti (1989) has explained why it was politically important for the Women’s Center to establish such an archive. It should be noted that the Centro di Documentazione , since it was officially proposed in March 1982, has been a totally independent institution, although it draws financial and administrative support from the Regional Administration of Emilia-Romagna.