Finding Aids

The Lillian Faderman papers contain materials related to the internationally-known lesbian historian's professional life. It includes drafts of her published papers and book reviews and manuscript and typescript versions of three of her books: Surpassing the Love of Men (1981); Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers (1991) and Chloe Plus Olivia (1994). The collection also includes background research for her various publications; correspondence relating to her publications and speaking engagements; publicity materials; lesbian, gay and women's periodicals produced by now-defunct small presses and various organizations; and audio interviews with lesbian activist Barbara Gittings and artist Mariana Romo-Carmona.

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Diane F. Germain is a lesbian psychiatric social worker cartoonist with ties to activist communities in Vermont, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Not wanting any pieces of lesbian history to end up in a dumpster, she wrote down everything and saved and cataloged her own documents, as well as those given to her by other lesbians. In the late 1980s, while living in San Diego, Germain would often drive to Los Angeles to visit her sister, always bringing along a box of ephemera for the Mazer Archives. As a result, this collection includes pieces of many moments in lesbian history, including documents from the Califia conferences, cartoons published in a variety of lesbian newspapers, buttons, audio cassettes, video footage of a beauty pageant protest, a jean jacket complete with a peace sign patch stitched on, and even a copy of Germain’s master’s thesis. This collection represents an overview of life in the lesbian community in Southern California beginning in the 1980s.

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