Atkinson was a feminist, writer, and teacher. In 1967 she entered the Ph.D. program in philosophy at Columbia University and while in New York became an early member of the National Organization for Women, serving on the national board and as president of the New York Chapter. She left the organization in 1968, protesting its unwillingness to address lesbian issues, and founded the October 17th Movement, which later turned into The Feminists. Atkinson was the author of a number of pamphlets on feminism, including “The Institution of Sexual Intercourse” (1968) and “Radical Feminism and Love” (1969). She was also the editor of Amazon Odyssey (1974). This collection includes speeches by Atkinson on pornography and sex work.

Barlow was a New York City judge who presided over many prostitution cases. He also served as president of the Florence Crittenton Home, an organization assisting women in New York City.

An actress, entertainer, professional wrestler, roller derby skater, and fetish sex performer, Deanna Booher (aka Queen Kong, Matilda the Hun, Queen Adrena, and Juicy Joy) grew up in Lake Arrowhead, California. Her 42-year-long marriage was an open one, and she and her husband developed a telephone sex business catering to individuals’ tastes. She skated for five years with roller derby teams such as the Chicago Hawks and the Texas Outlaws and was on numerous game shows including The Gong Show, which she co-hosted for fourteen episodes. At 6'4", she made a career mud wrestling and wrestling bears, and in the 1980s she was a leading figure in the all-female wrestling show Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. She created and marketed numerous sex fetish videos and is the author of Glamazon Queen Kong: My Life of Glitter, Guts, and Glory.

Brownmiller was a writer, feminist, and activist. She became active in the women's liberation movement during the late 1960s. Brownmiller became inspired to explore the topic of rape after helping to organize a 1971 conference on rape with the New York Radical Feminists (an organization of which she was a co-founder). In 1975, she published the feminist classic, Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape. The product of four years of research, the controversial but bestselling Against Our Will argued that rape was a "conscious process of intimidation by which all men keep all women in a state of fear." In 1975 she was named one of Time magazine's twelve Women of the Year. After publishing Against Our Will, Brownmiller lectured widely on the topic of rape. Her continuing interest in women's issues led her to help found Women Against Pornography in 1979. This organization sought to educate people about what it saw as pornography’s harmfulness to and degradation of women.

Deming studied drama at Bennington College (B.A., 1938) and earned an M.A. from Cleveland's Western Reserve University (later Case Western Reserve) in 1941. In 1959, inspired by Mohandas Gandhi's writings, Deming became politically active, advocating nonviolence in all spheres of life. Periodicals such as The Nation and Liberation (for which she was an editor) published many of her political essays. She was active in several peace organizations, demonstrated for peace and civil rights, and was jailed several times for acts of civil disobedience. In the early 1970s, Deming developed a radical feminist consciousness. Eradicating sexism, she believed, would not only end wars but also free men and women alike. She and her partner, Jane Gapen Verlaine, helped organize a branch of Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW) in Monticello, NY. Deming came out publicly as a lesbian and began to write about women's and lesbian issues in left-wing and feminist publications (including Sinister Wisdom and Quest). She never lost her interest in nonviolent tactics, however, and urged feminists to use them. Deming’s files on WAVAW and other organizations serve well to document the anti-pornography movement.

Dummer was a philanthropist and social welfare leader who worked with prostitutes and unwed mothers during World War I. This collection includes correspondence, speeches, photos, reports, minutes, and articles documenting Dummer's efforts on behalf of juvenile delinquents, prostitutes, and illegitimate children, as well as her interest in progressive education and Chicago public schools and her work with leaders of the mental hygiene movement.

Dworkin was an author, critic, and radical feminist. She was arrested in 1965 in New York City for protesting against the Vietnam War and spent four days in the Women's House of Detention. She later made headlines publicizing her brutal treatment at the hands of staff, which led to a grand jury investigation of the prison. Dworkin fled her abusive husband in 1971 and publishing Woman Hating (1974) and Our Blood: Prophecies and Discourses on Sexual Politics (1976). Her 1981 book, Pornography: Men Possessing Women, argued that "male power is the raison d'être of pornography; the degradation of the female is the means of achieving this power." In 1983, with lawyer Catharine MacKinnon, Dworkin drafted a controversial civil rights ordinance defining pornography as sex discrimination, which was later overruled in 1986 as a violation of the First Amendment. Dworkin lectured widely and contributed to numerous periodicals and anthologies, working on behalf of many causes, including abortion rights, rape, battery, pornography, and incest. See also the papers of Kathleen Norris for letters to Norris from Dworkin and drafts of writings by Norris and Dworkin.

In her work as a poet, essayist, playwright, and screenwriter, Susan Griffin addresses many contemporary issues including climate change, war, colonialism, the body, democracy, and terrorism. As an eco-feminist she has described her work as drawing "connections between the destruction of nature, the diminishment of women, and racism." Her books include Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her (1978), Pornography and Silence: Culture's Revenge Against Nature (1981), The Eros of Everyday Life: Essays on Ecology, Gender and Society (1995), and Wrestling with the Angel of Democracy: On Being an American Citizen (2008). She has lectured widely in the United States and abroad and has volunteered her time as a speaker and consultant for feminist, social justice, and environmental causes and organizations. She is also a founding member of a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice organization, Code Pink.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Henrotin was active in reform movements including social welfare, labor, and suffrage. The collection includes some of her speeches about prostitution reform.

Hite is an American-born German author, sex educator, and feminist. Early in her career, Hite worked as a model and posed nude for Playboy magazine. In the 1970s, she became active in feminist circles and began her groundbreaking research relating to women’s sexuality. From 1972 to 1982, she directed the feminist sexuality project for the New York Chapter of the National Organization for Women, and in 1976 she published The Hite Report: A Nationwide Study of Female Sexuality, which was based upon anonymous responses to questionnaires in which women detailed their sexual experiences. This was followed by other works based on responses to questionnaires, including The Hite Report on Male Sexuality (1981), The Hite Report on the Family: Growing Up Under Patriarchy (1994), and The Hite Report on Women Loving Women (2007). Due to criticism of her research and methodology, Hite renounced her United States citizenship in 1995 and became a German citizen. This collection includes Hite’s writings and notes about sex work and pornography.

Kennedy was a lawyer, feminist, activist, and civil rights advocate. Kennedy represented the estates of jazz legends Billie Holiday and Charlie Parker and became involved in the defense of various high-profile criminal cases including Black Panthers H. Rap Brown and Assata Shakur, as well as Valerie Solanas (the woman who shot Andy Warhol), before eventually becoming a professional activist and lecturer. Her colorfully articulated views of the constraints of marriage and her stance on decriminalizing prostitution led the 1970s popular press to dub her "radicalism's rudest mouth." Her more outspoken actions include protesting the Miss America Pageant, organizing a “pee-in” in Harvard Yard, co-founding the Feminist Party, which nominated Shirley Chisholm for president, and initiating a law suit against the Catholic Church, protesting that its strong anti-abortion stance violated the principles governing tax-exempt organizations. In 1976, she founded the Victoria C. Woodhull Memorial Foundation, which established the ad hoc committee known as the National Task Force on Prostitution.

Laidlaw was a teacher, writer, and leader in the campaign for women's suffrage. She was also active in the prostitution reform movement.

Leonard was a feminist, pornographic film star, and free speech advocate. After working as a Wall Street broker and publicist, she appeared in hardcore pornography beginning in 1974, starring in such films as The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976) and Odyssey: The Ultimate Trip (1977). In 1977 Leonard was hired as publisher of High Society magazine, where she was credited with two ideas: the publication of risqué photographs of celebrities and the magazine's Living Centerfold Telephone Service, one of the first phone sex lines. Leonard also directed films and hosted her own television shows, The Leonard Report: For Adults Only and Gloria Leonard's Hot Shopper Hour. She was a founder of the feminist consciousness-raising group Club 90 and served as administrative director of the Adult Film and Video Association of America until that organization merged with the Free Speech Coalition. She defended the pornography industry and her participation in it on talk shows and in debates on college campuses with representatives from organizations such as Women Against Pornography.

MacKinnon is a feminist lawyer and professor. She earned her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1977 and her Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in 1987. While in law school, she organized the first course to be taught in the Yale women's studies program and conceived and worked to establish the legal argument that sexual harassment in the workplace is sex discrimination. Her legal framework was adopted by the United States Supreme Court in 1986 in its first sexual harassment case, on which she was co-counsel and wrote the brief. In 1983, with Andrea Dworkin, MacKinnon drafted a controversial civil rights ordinance defining pornography as sex discrimination, which was later overruled in 1986 as a violation of the First Amendment. She saw pornography as a form of sex discrimination that fosters the exploitation and abuse of women. She wrote (with Andrea Dworkin) Pornography and Civil Rights (1988), Only Words (1993), and In Harm's Way: The Pornography of Civil Rights Hearings (1998), among others.

Throughout the 1960s, Robin Morgan published poetry and contributed articles to literary journals such as The Sewanee Review and leftist publications such as Rat, Win, and Liberation. By the late 1960s she committed herself to feminism, first becoming involved with the New York Radical Women and later identifying as a radical feminist. During her time in New York Radical Women, she organized public actions with the group WITCH (Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell). By 1974 Morgan had become involved with Ms. magazine, serving as a columnist and eventually as contributing editor, editor-in-chief, and international contributing editor. This collection includes subject files and correspondence on political issues surrounding pornography.

Pinzer was a Jewish prostitute in Philadelphia who left the profession and became a stenographer in White Plains, NY, Wilmington, DE, and Montreal. In 1915 she founded the Montreal Mission for Friendless Girls, a halfway house for young prostitutes. The bulk of the collection consists of letters (1910-1922) from Pinzer to essayist Fanny (Quincy) Howe about Pinzer's past, her marriages, her training and work as a stenographer, and her efforts to establish and maintain the Montreal Mission for Friendless Girls.

Radical lesbian activist, professor, and author Janice G. Raymond received a BA in English literature from Salve Regina College in 1965, an MA in religious studies from Andover Newton Theological School (1971), and a PhD in ethics and society from Boston College (1977). She joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1978, retiring as Professor of Women's Studies and Medical Ethics in 2002. From 2000 to 2007, she served as adjunct professor of International Health at Boston University's School of Public Health. From 1994 to 2007, Raymond was the Co-Executive Director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), and continues to serve on their board of directors. This collection includes correspondence, writings, talks, reports, etc., documenting Raymond's work as an author and advocate. Some materials document Raymond's views on transsexuality and reproductive technologies, but the majority of materials represent her work as a member of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), often in close collaboration with Dorchen Leidholdt and H. Patricia Hynes, lobbying for legislation and mounting public awareness campaigns in an effort to end sexual exploitation and human trafficking.

A pornographic actress and producer/director of erotica for women, Candida Royalle was born as Candice Marion Vadala in Brooklyn, New York. Royalle graduated from the High School of Art and Design in New York City and attended Parsons School of Design. She moved to California and in 1975 began her career in pornographic films, appearing in about 25 productions before retiring in 1980. In 1984, with Lauren Niemi, she founded Femme Productions with the goal of producing erotica based on female desire as well as films for couples to enjoy together. Her husband, Per Sjosted, produced films for Femme. In response to the AIDS epidemic, Royalle advocated the use of safe sex practices in her films, in contrast to much of the adult entertainment industry. Royalle was a founder of Feminists for Free Expression, a sex-positive organization opposed to censorship. In 1983 she was also one of the founders, along with Veronica Hart, Annie Sprinkle, Veronica Vera, and Gloria Leonard, of Club 90, a support group for actresses in erotic films. In 1989 she signed the Post Porn Modernist Manifesto, a statement embracing sex-positivism. A member of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, Royalle lectured widely at conferences and institutions including the World Congress on Sexology and the Smithsonian Institution. She was the author of How to Tell a Naked Man What to Do (2004).

Feminist and social worker Florence Rush created a sensation in her talk "The Sexual Abuse of Children: A Feminist Point of View," presented at the April 1971 conference of New York Radical Feminists. Arguing against prevailing Freudian theories which saw children as the seducers of adults, Rush based her paper on her observations as a psychiatric social worker at a facility for delinquent girls and at the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. She subsequently published The Best Kept Secret: The Sexual Abuse of Children (1980), which pointed to the sexual abuse of children as a political and patriarchal issue. Rush was a founder of and speaker for Women Against Pornography (1979-1987), chair of the Media Reform Committee of the National Organization for Women (1980-1985), and a member of the board of directors of New York Women Against Rape. When her younger son was stricken with AIDS in the mid-1980s, she formed one of the first mothers' support groups and was involved with the People With AIDS Coalition of New York.

Margo St. James was the founder of COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics), a civil rights organization that called for the decriminalization of prostitution. St. James resided in San Francisco for most of her life, and was involved in numerous organizations, in addition to COYOTE, advocating for free speech and sex-positive feminism. In 1996 she unsuccessfully ran to be a San Francisco City Supervisor. In 1999 she founded the St. James Infirmary Clinic, which provides health care for sex workers. The collection gives insight into the life and activism of St. James, particularly from the 1970s through the early 2000s. Aspects of her personal life are reflected in the collection, most notably through the substantial correspondence. St. James' professional activities, including organizing the Hooker's Ball and her campaign for San Francisco Board of Supervisors, are well documented. However, the COYOTE materials within this collection are by no means comprehensive. Rather, they supplement the Records of Coyote also held by the Schlesinger Library.

Journalist and feminist Ellen Willis graduated from Barnard College (B.A. 1962) and later did graduate work in comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley. Willis was a founder of Redstockings, a radical feminist group begun in 1969, and, in the 1980s, of No More Nice Girls, a street theater and protest group that focused on abortion rights. A professor of journalism at New York University, Willis was known for her political essays which appeared in The Nation, Dissent, and elsewhere, as well as for her writings on rock music which were published in Rolling Stone, the New Yorker, and the Village Voice. She was critical of feminists who campaigned against pornography, and she was on the planning committee of Barnard College's "The Scholar and The Feminist Conference IX" in 1982, which took up questions of sexuality, pleasure, and pornography. Her books include Beginning to See the Light: Pieces of a Decade (1981), No More Nice Girls: Countercultural Essays (1992), and Don't Think, Smile! Notes on a Decade of Denial (1999).

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Fashion designer, publisher, film maker, and event producer Jeanette Zinkan (aka Mistress Antoinette) was a pioneer in the fetish fashion industry, bringing authentic wasp waist corsets and bullet bras to the wider market. In the 1980s Zinkan and her husband, photographer Richard Zinkan (aka Master Zorro), created Versatile Productions, which published the magazine Reflections and made videotapes with BDSM and fetish themes. She produced a series of Dressed to Thrill Balls that featured leading burlesque artists, and she created Versatile Fashion, a label specializing in skintight PVC garments for men, women, and transvestites.