and to further develop her philosophy concerning women in history, which frequently set her at odds with the feminist movement. Mary and Charles Beard were active supporters of the "New History" movement, which sought to include social, cultural, and economic factors in written history—an important step towards including the contributions of women. Mary Beard expanded on this concept, contending that the proper study of women's "long history", from primitive pre-history to the present, would reveal that women have always played a central role in all civilizations. She also emphasized that women were different from men, but that did not make their contributions of any less value, only that their significance was simply not being recognized. In the 1930s, Beard disagreed with feminists of the era, whom she believed viewed their history as one of oppression. She also created a controversy over her rejection of the feminist goal of equality with men, feminists sought to achieve through passage of an Equal Rights Amendment, which Beard opposed, among other activities. To Beard, the traditional feminist view of women's oppression was not only inaccurate but unhelpful, and that striving for equality with men was an inadequate goal, especially in relation to education. Beard felt the women can and should offer something different and more socially beneficial to society, and that women should be providers of "culture and civilization". Archivist In 1935, international peace activist and feminist Rosika Schwimmer suggested the idea to Beard of establishing the World Center for Women's Archives (WCWA), which held its first organizational meeting in New York City in October 1935. As director of the center for the next five years, Beard broadened the scope of the project beyond collecting the documents related to women in the peace movement. She hoped to collect in a central repository any and all manner of women's published and unpublished records and other archival materials related to women's history at an international level. She also planned to establish an institution for women's research, education, and political initiatives, as well as supporting efforts to aid in the writing of history. Beard chose the center's motto, "No documents, no history," from a quote by French historian Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges. Through Beard's contacts, the center accumulated project sponsors. In addition, Carrie Chapman Catt, Jane Addams, Harriet Stanton Blatch, and other prominent women such as Alice Paul, Georgia O'Keeffe, Fannie Hurst, and Inez Haynes Irwin