Janet Parks women's sports collection

The Janet Parks women’s sports collection spans the period 1901-2014, with the bulk of the material spanning the years 1968-2008. The collection comprises ten cubic feet of material created and/or collected by Dr. Janet Parks over the course of her career at Bowling Green State University, as well as materials created and/or collected by Dr. Parks after her 2004 retirement. In addition, a smaller amount of material in the collection had been collected by the BGSU Athletic Department, primarily by Mickey Cochrane, a former coach in the men’s soccer and lacrosse programs, professor in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (a predecessor of BGSU’s School of Human Movement, Sport, and Leisure Studies), and later a steward of documents and artifacts relating to the history of BGSU Athletics. This latter material was later transferred to the Center for Archival Collections and integrated into Dr. Parks’s collection.

Materials contained within the collection include Dr. Parks’s professional and academic papers and subject files; records, photographs, and printed materials and ephemera relating to BGSU’s Athletic Department and its women’s athletics programs; records of women’s athletics organizations, particularly the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW); articles, reports, studies, and subject files concerning Title IX legislation and its enforcement; and copies of historical guides and rulebooks that have been seminal in the development and professionalization of women’s sports. Collectively, these materials primarily document Dr. Parks’s activities and interests as a teacher, scholar, and coach at BGSU, as well as her involvement and leadership in the wider professional and academic field of sports management.

Subjects well-represented within the collection include Dr. Parks’ academic and professional career, the development and enforcement of Title IX legislation, conflicts between the AIAW and the National Collegiate Athletic Association concerning the governance of women’s intercollegiate sports programs, and the history of BGSU’s women’s athletics programs, particularly prior to the institution of NCAA governance over such programs in 1982. Much of the material relating to Dr. Parks’s scholarship concerns her interest in equity and fairness in women’s sports programs in relation to men’s programs, particularly the development of practices utilizing gender-neutral and inclusive language to preclude the prevalent usage of gender-biased language.

General subject files; 1975-2013. Files documenting several aspects of Dr. Parks’s career, including her scholarship in the field of sports management, awards and honors received, attainment of her Doctor of Arts degree, and retirement from BGSU.

Sexist Language in Sport; 1980-2012. Materials relating to Dr. Parks’s research and scholarship in the use of gender-biased language in sport and society, including articles and studies co-authored with Mary Ann Roberton, conference papers, and audio and video recordings of presentations and educational videos facilitated by Dr. Parks.

Forward Falcons; 1901-2014. Research and publicity files relating to Forward Falcons, a history of BGSU women’s sports from 1914-1982, published by the BGSU Center for Archival Collections in 2010 and coauthored by Dr. Parks, Ann Bowers, and Adelia Hostetler Muti.

General subject files; 1972-2005. Articles, publications, reports, studies, conference papers, and clippings collected by Dr. Parks and relating to the development of Title IX legislation, its passage in 1972, and its enforcement and implementation after being signed into law.

"Women and Sport: Before, During, and After Title IX" symposium; 1999-2008. Administrative and planning documents, correspondence, photographs, and video recordings from the "Women and Sport: Before, During, and After Title IX" symposium held at BGSU in 2005 February to honor women athletes and coaches at BGSU who were active prior to the 1972 passage of Title IX legislation, and of which Dr. Parks was instrumental in implementing. Planning documents also concern the conducting of filmed interviews with former BGSU athletes and coaches, which occurred during the symposium and were later used in the documentary Title IX: Implications for Women in Sport and Education, for which Dr. Parks was a producer and writer.

Title IX: Implications for Women in Sport and Education; 2000-2008. Transcripts of interviews with BGSU women athletes and coaches, as well as national experts in women's sports and Title IX, conducted for the Title IX: Implications for Women in Sport and Education documentary of which Dr. Parks was a writer and producer. Also contains publicity material for the documentary and photographs from the documentary DVD release party.

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women; 1973-1984. Minutes, conference materials, correspondence, reports, surveys, and printed materials collected by Dr. Parks and concerning the activities of the AIAW, particularly its negotiations and disputes with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) over the governance and oversight of women’s intercollegiate athletic programs, and the eventual ceding of the AIAW to the NCAA in 1982.

Other organizations; 1968-2008. Administrative documents and printed materials collected by Dr. Parks and relating to several national, regional, and state women’s athletic organizations.

Minutes, reports, correspondence, and other administrative documents of the BGSU Athletics Committee and Athletic Department, as well as administrative documentation, photographs, and printed ephemera documenting several BGSU women’s sports teams.

Several published guides and rulebooks collected by Dr. Parks and providing information for playing and coaching sports for women. Many of these publications are part of well-known guidebook series that were significant in the development and professionalization of women’s sports.