Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
Sylvia Spring Fonds
General material designation
- Multiple media
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
Level of description
Fonds
Reference code
CA ON0034 10-182
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
1969-[201-] (Creation)
- Creator
- Spring, Sylvia
Physical description area
Physical description
14.5 cm of textual records
1 postcard
58 photographs
167 slides
2 cardboards
1 calendar
17 posters
21 buttons
6 cd-roms
3 audio cassettes
10 vhs
1 videotape
1 rpm (45)
3 t-shirts
1 piece of clothe
stamps
1 postcard
58 photographs
167 slides
2 cardboards
1 calendar
17 posters
21 buttons
6 cd-roms
3 audio cassettes
10 vhs
1 videotape
1 rpm (45)
3 t-shirts
1 piece of clothe
stamps
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
(1942-)
Biographical history
Sylvia Spring is born in Galt, Ontario on July 14, 1942. She is a Canadian feminist writer, filmmaker, and activist. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at Buffalo in English Literature and Drama. After graduating, she wrote poetry and worked in advertising, journalism, radio, and television. In 1970, she produced Madeleine is…, the first Canadian English-language feature film directed by a woman since Nell Shipman in 1919. A segment of the film was released as a short feature under the name Madeleine and won an award at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 1970.
In 1979, she was appointed to the Task Force on Sex-Role Stereotyping in the Broadcast Media established by the Canadian minister responsible for the status of women. The Task Force was meant to examine the portrayal of women in popular media and developed guidelines for its improvement. Then, Sylvia Spring co-founded MediaWatch Canada, a watchdog organization dedicating to eliminating sexism in the media and became its first National Director. Sylvia Spring has spoken in national and international forums to raise awareness about the representation of women in the media. She has designed and facilitated workshops and lectures for agencies such as the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In January 2000, as a communication consultant, she travelled to China with Bonnie Diamond, NAWL’s executive Director, to conduct workshops with grassroots Chinese women on the information dissemination techniques used by women’s group in Canada (Nawl.ca, consulted 2021-06-02).
In 1995, she produced Voices and Visions, a documentary series from the UN World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China. In 1996, she produced the documentary Breaking the Silence: Stories from AIDS Activists in Southern Africa. The documentary tells the stories of women working at the front lines of the AIDS epidemic. In 2000, she produced 20th Century Gals (According to Babe), which explored the women's movement of the 20th century. In 2005, she co-produced Our bodies...their battleground, a documentary about the sexual violence crisis facing women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia.
In 1979, she was appointed to the Task Force on Sex-Role Stereotyping in the Broadcast Media established by the Canadian minister responsible for the status of women. The Task Force was meant to examine the portrayal of women in popular media and developed guidelines for its improvement. Then, Sylvia Spring co-founded MediaWatch Canada, a watchdog organization dedicating to eliminating sexism in the media and became its first National Director. Sylvia Spring has spoken in national and international forums to raise awareness about the representation of women in the media. She has designed and facilitated workshops and lectures for agencies such as the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In January 2000, as a communication consultant, she travelled to China with Bonnie Diamond, NAWL’s executive Director, to conduct workshops with grassroots Chinese women on the information dissemination techniques used by women’s group in Canada (Nawl.ca, consulted 2021-06-02).
In 1995, she produced Voices and Visions, a documentary series from the UN World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China. In 1996, she produced the documentary Breaking the Silence: Stories from AIDS Activists in Southern Africa. The documentary tells the stories of women working at the front lines of the AIDS epidemic. In 2000, she produced 20th Century Gals (According to Babe), which explored the women's movement of the 20th century. In 2005, she co-produced Our bodies...their battleground, a documentary about the sexual violence crisis facing women and girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The fonds consists of various materials related to Sylvia Spring's involvement as an activist, filmmaker, and conference speaker. It contains various types of textual, graphic, audio and video documents. It is divided into six series. The first series contains various material related to women’s issues. It includes posters, buttons, and stamps collections. The second series shows Sylvia Spring's various interventions in national and international conferences. The third series contains publications as comic books, dealing with topics related to women and the law, which texts were written by Sylvia Spring. The fourth series consists of records related to Sylvia Spring’s involvement to improve representation of women in the media. It reflects her implication in the MediaWatch organisation. The fifth series highlights Sylvia Spring’s films and productions as “Madeleine is…” (1969-1971), “Breaking the Silence. Stories from Aids Activists” (1996), “20th Century Gals (According to Babe)” (2000). It includes photographs of her meetings with different women filmmakers. The sixth series contains materials collected by Sylvia Spring on issues related to violence against women and includes Sylvia Spring’s documentaries on “Razor's Edge. The Controversy of Female Genital Mutilation” (2005) and “Our bodies… their battleground. Gender Based Violence During Conflict” (2004).
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
- Chinese
- French
- Mongolian
Script of material
- Latin
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Open