Mazer Archives August 2021 Newsletter | Out of the Archives: Margaret A. Porter

This month, we’re excited to feature the Margaret A. Porter collection shared by our Communications Director, Angela Brinskele.

Margaret Porter’s Library contains over 20 boxes of books. Much of her library contains books about the lesbians in Paris at the turn of the last Century. She studied them for most of her life and even published some of the few translations of of the works of Renee Vivian and Natalie Barney as well as collecting some of the rare other few translations made, such as the book included below by Karla Jay and Yvonne M. Klein.

Writer, poet, linguist, researcher, musician.

Margaret A. Porter 1911-1989

Margaret A. Porter’s collection is one of the most comprehensive collections at the Mazer. My favorite thing in this large collection are her journals of over 60 years (1933-1989). It is through these journals that I became acquainted with Margaret.

Her journals start where she began, in the early 1900’s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There are specific things you notice about her journals right away and these are consistent throughout. She writes so poetically that even when describing the weather, it sounds beautiful. Also, she writes in that classic “perfect”cursive so nothing is too difficult to make it out. If she had been my friend we would have agreed on many things. But I would have found her acceptance of the racist and anti-Semitic attitudes that were so prevalent of that time and place unbearable. Margaret, like me, was a life long lesbian. Even though the world around her told her it was sick and wrong to be that way, she felt certain that it was right and natural.

"Gabrielle L'Autre" and "Pierre E. Renet were psuedonyms Margaret used as a writer.” I think she used the name Pierre specifically so that she could write more freely about her life long fantasy lover named Alys. There is hardly a journal that goes by without an entry about loving Alys and making love with Alys. She writes so passionately yet, there is nothing explicit. But it still sounds very exciting and intriguing. “Oh did we have a time last night!”

Of her many journals, I will talk about two that stand out in my mind. In her 1935 journal she answers an ad in the newspaper to drive a new car to San Francisco. She is sure they won’t accept her for the job because she is a woman, but they do! She is allowed to bring a friend with her as well. This journal is about dropping off the new car and then Margaret and her friend hitch hiking all over the State of California. Margaret writes all about the places they see and the people who pick them up. She writes about her experience eating at restaurants (which she rarely does), and about the people they meet and interact with on the road. She also writes of the struggles she has traveling with another person.

Much of her life, Margaret is yearning to get to Paris to experience all that she has read about it. She wants to feel what it was like for those lesbians who were there at the turn of the century. In fact, she is wanting to meet Natalie Barney. She saves up for years and finally goes to Paris. She makes a plan to go to Barney’s house and says she will knock on her front door when she gets there! Another goal on this trip is to take French classes in France from a real French teacher. In her 1950 journal, she accomplishes almost everything she planned. It is quite a ride. This journal starts out with Margaret learning French in a French school in Paris. The first pages are filled with French language exercises, that is, until she falls in love with the teacher. The rest of that journal is Margaret swooning over her instructor and the feelings she has during daily interactions with her. This is all just a small part of Margaret’s collection.

Above image: Margaret’s journal page in 1950. She goes to Paris to learn French and falls in love with the teacher. The last section says, “Madame, I adore you. And it is becoming increasingly imperative to have you know.”

Margaret A. Porter in her WAC (Women’s Army Corps) uniform during World War II.