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The Lesbian in Literature - Episode 3 of 4
This tape contains the third panel from the Gay Academic Union Conference at NYU, the "Lesbian in Literature" Panel. Panelists are Janet Cooper, speaking on female crushes and friendships in children's literature, and Cynthia Secor, speaking about Gertrude Stein and James Joyce. The moderator was Virginia Caputo.
Janet describes that the first room in a library targeted specifically for children was in the Pratt Library in Brooklyn in 1895. The librarian Anne Carole Moore worked there, and would become a very influential children's librarian. She speaks on the monopoly of children's literature in publishing and book awards, with Anne Carole Moore at the center due to her connections with other powerful librarians. Since Anne Carole Moore's appointment, child friendships and friend crushes in literature have disappeared. The removal of content in library books where children physically touched each other, Janet says, was a direct result of the fear of lesbianism.
Cynthia Secor speaks about Gertrude Stein and James Joyce. She asserts that Stein is an oft-overlooked figure in literature. Gertrude Stein was a sort of hidden figure, while James Joyce was taught everywhere. Stein was read by many lesbian women, but Cynthia did not read Stein until she joined the lesbian community. Cynthia reads a passage by Stein, "Cow come out...", discusses Stein's novella, Q.E.D., and her "Patriarchal Poetry" essay. -
Women's Political Education Coalition with Carol Rogers
Carol Rogers is interviewed on the broad goals and current policy interests of the Women's Political Education Coalition. Discussed topics include the 1974 Washington D.C. mayoral election, childcare, employment, the minimum wage, Crime, Women's Health, and Title 34. -
Stephanie Singer Interview
Recording of a Zoom event "Life Passages" where Stephanie Singer speaks on her experience as a transwoman and a Lesbian and discussed her early life, her coming out, and her family dynamics. After Stephanie speaks, there is a Q&A with other people on the Zoom meeting who are part of the Rossmoor Lesbian Social Club. -
I Was a Lesbian Child [Desireena Almoradie]
In this segment of I Was a Lesbian Child, Desireena Almoradie shares photographs from her childhood in the Philippines and stories of her life while growing up there. -
I Was a Lesbian Child [Jocelyn Taylor]
In this segment of I Was a Lesbian Child, Jocelyn Taylor shares photographs from her childhood and stories of her life while growing up. She shares a memory from when she attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC. -
Dyke TV Episode
This video serves as a valuable resource to understand what a full episode of Dyke TV would have looked like when it aired. In addition to a segment titled, “From the Archives,” which spotlights the experience of lesbians in Harlem, and further illustrates the community presence outside of the well documented activism surrounding Stonewall. Next was an “Arts” segment, in which filmmaker Su Friedrich discusses her background and experience making films. Finally, there are two segments of “I was a Lesbian Child,” a segment which is represented in clips on this site. These segments aimed to normalize the lesbian experience; interviewees discuss their childhoods and showcase childhood photos. The video closes with credits, contact information, and a Public Service Announcement about street harassment.Tags Anna Maria Simo, Archives, Art, Children, Humor, Linda Chapman, Mary Patierno, Media, Su Friedrich -
Marion Zimmer Bradley Interview, October 17, 1988
Marion Zimmer Bradley talks about her experience growing up, her marriage and children, being a woman writer in science fiction, writing for The Ladder, and discrimination in publishing. She also touches upon her struggles as a lesbian mother. -
Linda Lopez Interview, October 22, 1988
Linda Lopez is interviewed in 1988. She talks about growing up in the South and how she fared as a lesbian living in a conservative community. She discusses the Dallas DOB and how the membership consisted of a number of women who had been married, divorced and had kids (including herself). She talks about the custody battle she had with her parents over her son and how many women faced similar battles but with their spouses. She also talks about how she and a number of women lost their jobs when it was discovered that they were lesbians. She discusses the Dallas DOB's events.
On tape 2, she talks about the impact of the Dallas DOB in Dallas and beyond, how it inspired activism and other organizations. She talks about Rob [Shivers]' leadership and its role in DOB's strength. She discusses Dallas and the South in General - how lesbians were treated and how they lived. She talks about the need for job security, the roles and expectations of women. -
Lou, October 21, 1981 (Tape 2)
Lou discusses her experience raising children as a lesbian woman, discussing at length her love of children, and wanting them to have a better life then she did. She also discusses her experience with police harassment as both a black women, and a lesbian.
Side B includes songs about lesbians, their lives and realities, and their relationships with children and their families. -
Debra, February 20, 1980 (Tape 2)
Discusses her child, a son. He was the product of her one-day marriage. She kept him for about 8 months and then her brother and his wife took him and raised him. He would spend the summers with her until he was 12 and then he lived with her and spent the summers with her brother and his wife.
Believes lesbians make better mothers because they know more. She didn’t want her son to go into gay life because she felt it would be difficult for him, she doesn’t believe that gay men relationships last. She believes you can teach someone not to be gay.
They talk about gay men and lesbian relationships and social interactions. She would call upon her gay male friends to be her date to events that she needed a date, also sometimes family events. They talk about marriages between a gay man and gay woman. Debra says that she knew quite a few couples who had done that to put up a front, but that those relationships always worked out well. Debra also talks about marriage between two women. She never wanted to get married but knew women who did.
They also discuss alcoholism and drugs among the gay community.
On the second tape, Debra further discusses fights in the lesbian community. Madeline asks if she knew any lesbians who played sports in the 1940s and 1950s. Debra believes lesbians played sports but cannot definitely say so. -
Judy, February 5, [year unknown]
Judy describes her experiences over the past thirty years up to the point of the interview. Topics discussed include cheating (“playing around”), polygamous lesbian relationships, fights in bars, holiday celebrations, friendship, same-sex marriage, religion, drinking, drugs, crime, mental health and treatment of lesbian women, the commonality of lesbian women seeking psychiatric treatment, the working environment for lesbian women, living alone, families of lesbian women, and one case of a lesbian woman raising a son. Judy believes that lesbian women should not raise children and has an extensive discussion about her reasoning. She ends the interview by discussing movie stars and entertainers that were popular among the lesbian community in the 1930s and 1940s. -
Bobbie, June 30, 1984 (Tape 2)
Bobbie speaks on the nature of her various relationships, including patterns of sex and cohabitation, being confused about her significant other identifying as a man in public, she addresses the existence of her children, using men after prison to live and make money, attending gay reorientation church, her sexual practices, and the subject of the "Untouchable". -
Mabel Hampton, 1982 (Tape 1)
Side A: Some discussion of when Mabel first heard the word lesbian, her experiences as a dancer. Side B: Mable describes her experiences caring for children, finding freedom as a child, running away from her aunt and uncle to New Jersey to live with the White family, and her spirituality. -
Cindy and Joan
Cindy or Joan (speaker unclear) discusses her experience of growing up in a working class family. She also discusses going to bars as she got older, and her relationships with women. She describes lesbians being harassed by police officers in the past. She also describes how her car was vandalized once, which she thinks was because she is a lesbian.
Speakers' identities are unclear throughout. Recording label identifies Cindy and Joan but it is hard to tell if there are actually two separate speakers.
Sound quality is poor. Tape cuts off abruptly at the end.