Cheryl Nassar was a photographer and active member of the lesbian activist community in Southern California. The majority of the collection comprises photo albums documenting the West Coast Women’s Music Festivals, Michigan Womyn’s Music Festivals, and other lesbian and feminist events.
Read MoreZoe Nicholson is a prominent feminist activist, artist, speaker, educator, author, and organizer. She centered much of her activist work on fighting for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). She has contributed to Peace, Labor, Civil Rights, Pro-Choice, Public Health, Women, and LGBTQ movements, rooted in her commitment to nonviolent direct action. The collection includes written books, activist awards, and political and activist presentations.
Read MoreMary Norcross was a therapist and social service worker assisting the elderly, as well as a lesbian active in the Los Angeles community after coming out later in life. Her materials include her dissertations, some personal photographs and ephemera, her degree plaques, and an interview conducted by the Mazer in 2013.
Read MoreJess Hawk Oakenstar (1957-2022) was a notable lesbian feminist guitarist, singer, and songwriter. She put out two acclaimed albums as a solo artist, "Your Heart Will Show You," and "Leave a Little Light Behind". The collection includes publicity materials, recordings, concert programs, and Jess’s collections of music and songbooks.
Read MoreSharon Raphael and Mina Kay Meyer organized for old lesbians and the Gay Rights Movement in Los Angeles in the 1970s-2000s. They co-founded the first LGBT synagogue in Los Angeles, CA, Beth Chayim Chadashim, the AIDS Hospice Committee, and the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Gerontologists.
Read MoreThe Margaret Porter collection contains materials relating to the personal and professional life of the poet and translator, Margaret Porter. In the 1960s and 1970s, Porter published her writing in small press lesbian and feminist publications and in 1977 became one of the first to publish Renée Vivien’s poetry in English.
Read MoreVaughan Rachel is an artist, photographer, feminist organizer, and founding member of the Pasadena Women's Political Caucus and a member of XX, a Feminist Women's Artist Collective in Los Angeles. The collection is comprised of original artist books and photographs; and production materials and photographs from the documentary “Visible Lives - Vintage Voices”.
Read MoreJuanita Sanchez was a celebrated poet who organized writing spaces for other women and the elderly community in Albuquerque. The collection houses Sanchez’s personal journals spanning over 40 years about her life as a Mexican and Native American woman experiencing racism and sexism during her career in the U.S. Air Force and Army. Her journals also feature her poetry, drawings, and descriptions of her everyday life.
Read MoreSharon Siegel (b. April 9, 1943) is a psychotherapist, community organizer, and a lifelong advocate for women’s health in the Los Angeles area. The bulk of the collection consists of materials from two organizations in which Sharon was involved: the Los Angeles Women’s Community Chorus and Connexxus Women's Center/Centro de Mujeres.
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