Contents

Collection Overview

Historical Note

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Organization of the Collection

Search Terms

The Lesbian Calendar Records, 1985-1994

Finding Aid

Finding aid prepared by Jack Slowriver.

Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

2003

Historical Note

The Lesbian Calendar, founded in 1987, has its origins in Lesbians of Greater Springfield (LOGS), an organization and publication founded in Springfield, MA by Marie Louise Francoise (formerly Marie Patten) in 1985. After only one year in print, Francoise discontinued LOGS. In 1987, she relocated to Northampton, MA, a town later dubbed "Lesbianville, USA" by a 20/20 news report. There she joined with Pamela Kimmell to launch a new publication, The Calendar, later that year. Although there was editorial continuity between the two publications, there are significant differences between them. The LOGS newsletter was several pages in length and included a calendar of events, poems, short articles, and political viewpoints that often revolved around themes such as parenting and "wimmin of color." LOGS also functioned as an organization that hoped to provide area "womyn" with "alternatives to the limited social resources available" in Springfield. After its first year of existence LOGS, both the newsletter and the organization, disbanded as a result of internal personal and political divisions. Perhaps to avoid the pitfalls of divisive differences of opinion, The Calendar had a policy not to print literary or political submissions from its inception. Originally, a one page fold-out monthly calendar of lesbian and women's events, advertisements, and announcements, The Calendar quickly grew into a more lengthy newsletter that included detailed descriptions of events, classified ads, and for a brief period in 1987-88, letters to and from the community. In 1994, it adopted a new name, The Lesbian Calendar (TLC). TLC Productions publishes the newsletter and sponsors many area events. The organizers co-founded the Northampton Area Lesbian and Gay Business Guild. Patten left TLC in the early 1990s but as of 1999, Kimmell remained the editor.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Lesbian Calendar collection is 4.5 linear feet and dates from 1912 to the 1990s, with the bulk of the material concentrated between 1985 and 1994. Divided into three series, this collection contains the records and newsletters of LOGS and The Calendar as well as the personal subject files of Marie Patten, Pamela Kimmell, and local printer and activist, Willow Lamont. Types of material include newsletters, submissions, correspondence, periodicals, flyers, programs, newspaper clippings, and memorabilia. Throughout this collection, the original arrangement and labeling of files, if it existed, has been left intact in order to reflect the organizational methods and categories used by their creators.

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Search Terms

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into three series:

• I. Lesbians of Greater Springfield
• II. The Calendar
• III. Subject Files
• Oversize Materials

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SERIES I. LESBIANS OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD (LOGS) (1973, 1985-86) .5 linear feet.

The LOGS series contains records of Administration and a complete set of issues, including material for a 1986 newsletter that was never published. Minutes, correspondence, publicity, and submissions to the newsletter reflect the internal structure of LOGS and the ways in which some members of the community responded to the publication. Creative work, including the drawings of Patten's daughter, Aimee Marie Patten, are also part of the administrative files. Marie Patten was also known to write poetry and it is likely that some of the poetry contained in the submissions file was written by her. Much of the correspondence documents LOGS' effort to build its community library and to defray the cost of that endeavor by trading subscriptions with lesbian newsletters from other localities. Newsletters from Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and other areas in Massachusetts can be found in SERIES III. SUBJECT FILES. Controversy erupted in March 1986 when the New Alexandria Lesbian Library (NALL), located in Northampton, accused LOGS of censoring events and discussions related to sado-masochism. Although this issue was not mentioned specifically, the LOGS collective voted to dissolve the organization, and hence discontinue the newsletter in August 1986 because of internal differences and lack of adequate financial support.

SERIES II. THE CALENDAR (1987-93) 2 linear feet.

The records of The Calendar are also divided into two subseries, Administration and Issues. The administrative files are comprised of correspondence, fundraising records, personal ad submissions, and the miscellaneous material of editor Pamela Kimmell. The Calendar newsletters in this collection date from the first issue in May 1987 to December 1989 and are arranged chronologically. With the exception of the personal ads, the advertisements, announcements, graphics, and other materials collected for the monthly publication are filed together, reflecting their original arrangement. There is very little material pertaining to the organizational structure or struggles of the newsletter, but the "Celebration of our Lesbian Sexuality" fundraising event is an exception. Organized, in part, by Kimmell and Patten, some people alleged that the event excluded sado-masochism from its range of topics. Another controversy revolved around The Calendar's lesbian separatist policy to only publish events and advertise businesses that were self-identified as lesbian. The policy sparked a heated debate over the role of the newsletter in the community that is evidenced in the summer and fall issues of 1988. Unlike LOGS, The Calendar was able to weather both controversy and financial peril and continues to be published as The Lesbian Calendar (TLC). Beginning in 1994 and continuing to 2000, a complete run of TLC is included in the periodical collection housed at the Sophia Smith Collection.

SERIES III. SUBJECT FILES (1912-94) 2.5 linear feet.

The subject files are the largest component of this collection and are arranged alphabetically. Containing publicity, articles, newspaper clippings, correspondence, programs, publications, resource material, and catalogs from a variety of business, organizations, locations, and time periods, the subject files are quite diverse. In addition to the more contemporary documents, there are several publications dating from the first decades of the twentieth century. Women of All Nations, an international ethnographic survey of women published in ten parts in 1912, is perhaps the most interesting example of this material. The bulk of the material pertains to women in the United States and emphasizes feminism, "herstory", local and national lesbian culture, sexuality, women's music festivals and retreats, and activism. The range of material offers insight into the ways in which "women's spaces" are established and maintained, the construction of a local community history, and the broader changes in feminist and queer identity politics over time.

SERIES I. LESBIANS OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD (LOGS) (1973, 1985-86)

SERIES II. THE CALENDAR (1987-93)

SERIES III. SUBJECT FILES (1912-94)

OVERSIZE MATERIALS