October can represent many things to different people. It can mean pumpkin spice flavored everything for those die-hard fans of the Starbucks PSL. It can mean watching scary movies, dressing in costumes and eating tons of candy for the Halloween enthusiasts. It is the start of cooler temperatures (hopefully) and the holiday season.
But for others, October can also mean survival and a time of remembrance of lost loved ones. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Housed in the DeGolyer Library’s Archives of Women of the Southwest are the personal papers of Susan G. Komen and the records of the Foundation. It began in 1980 with Nancy Brinker’s promise to her sister Susan to end breast cancer, and it culminated with the founding of the organization that now bears the sister’s name.
Susan Goodman Komen was born on October 31, 1943 in Peoria, Illinois. In 1977 her doctors diagnosed her with breast cancer. Despite nine operations and three courses of chemotherapy and radiation, she died at age 36 on August 4, 1980. Her sister, Nancy Brinker, founded the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation on July 22, 1982 in Dallas, Texas. That next year the first Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure® took place in Dallas, Texas, with 800 participants.
The Susan G. Komen collections consist of correspondence, advertisements and news articles, scrapbooks and photographs, clippings, publications, awards and artifacts which document the organization’s history from its start as a grassroots effort to global leader of breast cancer awareness and the fight to find a cure.
Some of my favorite pieces include the records related to the Races for the Cure held around the world. Costa Rica became the first country outside of the United States to host a Race for the Cure event in 1998.
Researchers interested in Dallas philanthropy, women’s health leaders, breast cancer education and outreach initiatives, or even women’s fashion will find the Komen records invaluable.
Contact Samantha Dodd, curator of the Archives of Women of the Southwest for additional information or assistance with accessing the collections.
For access to these collections or to learn more about the adventurous women of the southwest, be sure to visit the DeGolyer Library and check out our books, manuscripts, pamphlets, and photographs.
