General Records

This collection contains the records of Sisters in Crime (1988-present), an organization dedicated to combating discrimination and bringing recognition to woman writers in the detective and mystery genre. Most of the material in the records is in paper format. The collection also contains audiovisual materials, in the form of photographs and VHS videocassettes, and several items of memorabilia. The collection is approximately nine cubic feet in size and is composed of six records center cartons, seven manuscript boxes, one phase box and a map folder. It spans the period 1979 to 2004, with the bulk of the records dating from 1988-1998.

The collection is organized into several subgroups. One subgroup is the General Records, which includes the series BY-LAWS, MINUTES, ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORTS, PUBLICATIONS, PUBLICITY AND PRESS COVERAGE, PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEOTAPE RECORDINGS and MEMORABILIA. In addition, a separate subgroup is included for each officer whose records are in the collection. The officers thus represented are Sara Paretsky (one item only), Annette Meyers, Elaine Raco Chase, Barbara D'Amato, Linda Grant, P.M. Carlson, Margaret Maron and Eve Sandstrom, each of whom, as vice-president and as president, kept files that document the activities of the organization during her term of office.

Because each vice-president progressed into the presidency the following year, and most presidents were highly involved in other offices or activities within the organization, their records often overlap and interrelate on a wide array of subject matter. The variety of issues represented within each officer's files include but are not limited to SinC projects, local chapters, finances, publicity, nonprofit status, special interest groups, SinC publications, steering committee issues, SinC by-laws, major conventions and conferences, board meetings, membership, trademark protection, the Internet chapter, the Sisters in Crime writers retreat, the nominating committee and liability insurance, as well as general and specific correspondence. Some of the records also contain SinC-related documents that precede or postdate the years in which a person served as an officer of the organization.

The records of Sisters in Crime provide insight foremost into the formation, organization and upkeep of a successful, supportive advocacy and self-promotional group for women authors at the national and regional levels. They also depict the efforts taken by a group of women authors writing within a specific genre to document and counteract gender-based discrimination, still extant in the 1980s. In more general terms, the records provide insight into various aspects of publishing detective, crime or mystery fiction from the author's perspective.