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Finding Aid for the Judy Freespirit papers, 1971-1983
1956
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Title: Judy Freespirit papers
Date (inclusive): 1971-1983
Collection number: 1956
Creator:
Judy Freespirit né Judith Ackerman
Extent:
1 box (.5 linear ft.)
Abstract: Judy Freespirit was born Judith Louise Berkowitz in 1936 in inner city Detroit, Michigan to a working class Jewish family
of Eastern European descent. She often points to her early life as formative for her political and activist work later as
well as crediting theatre and dancing as positive outlets for frustration. An incest survivor who was pressured to diet beginning
at age eight, she developed a love of the stage and a well defined sense of humor. Judy Freespirit was a lifelong activist
and advocate for Jewish, lesbian and fat rights. With a background in radical therapeutic theory and practice as well as a
community organizational ethic, she formed the Fat Underground in 1976, an organization devoted to both informing and mobilizing
the public. Freespirit was also a writer and performer, lending her talents to a traveling Anti Briggs Initiative show and
continuing to perform in both group and individual contexts. She continued to perform, educate, and counsel up until her death
in 2008. This collection includes materials with her married name, Judith Ackerman because she continued to use it for legal
purposes after her marriage. It contains written and published materials by Judy Freespirit, as well as other materials that
are part of her personal collection of political writings and community information. The bulk of the writings in this collection
are focused on Freespirit's fat activism, specifically through her involvement with both Radical Therapy practices and the
Fat Underground.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Language of the Material:
Materials are in English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Judy Freespirit, 1992. This collection is part of an outreach and collection-building partnership between the June
L. Mazer Lesbian Archives, the UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW) and the UCLA Library.
Processed by Stacy Wood, 2011.
The
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive at UCLA is an outreach and collection-building partnership between the
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives , the
UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW) and the
UCLA Library . These collections expand the pool of primary source materials available to researchers and to the community at large. This
partnership was initiated by CSW and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to inventory, organize,
preserve, and digitize more than eighty Mazer collections pertaining to lesbian and feminist activism and writings.
[Identification of item], Judy Freespirit papers (Collection Number 1956). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young
Research Library, UCLA.
Judy Freespirit was born Judith Louise Berkowitz in 1936 in inner city Detroit, Michigan to a working class Jewish family
of Eastern European descent. She often points to her early life as formative for her political and activist work later as
well as crediting theatre and dancing as positive outlets for frustration. An incest survivor who was pressured to diet beginning
at age eight, she developed a love of the stage and a well defined sense of humor. She attended Michigan State University
for two years and majored in drama before marrying. She moved to Japan with her husband after he was drafted, giving birth
to her son Joe abroad. She, Joe and her husband moved to Los Angeles in 1960 where she finally finished college and began
her work in the psychiatric field, finishing her Master's Degree at the age of 35. Through her discovery of the Women's Liberation
Movement in Los Angeles and her professional background, Judy developed and began to share her Radical Therapy skills with
the feminist community in small group settings. During this period she came out as a lesbian and left her husband. Along with
four others, Judy founded the Fat Underground in 1976. When she moved up to the Bay Area she also founded the Fat Lip Reader's
Theatre, a collective of fat women writing and performing comedic, dramatic and musical theatre. In 1978, Judy became involved
in working to stop the Briggs Initiative and travelled around California raising awareness and funds for its defeat. After
its defeat, she moved to the Berkeley/Oakland area and Judy began to become more focused on her Jewish identity, involving
herself in a Jewish Lesbian Writer's group in 1982 and going on to perform and participate at the Jewish Feminist Conference
in San Francisco. After suffering from a struggle with asthma and the discovery of severe allergies, Judy became active in
the disability movement, working with the World Institute on Disabilities. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Judy wrote and
performed prolifically, creating one woman shows dealing with her life as a fat, Jewish, lesbian incest survivor with disabilities.
She published in journals, spoke at health conferences, provided counseling and made people laugh. Up until her death she
remained an advocate, calling for more visibility of the gay and lesbian community in elder care housing, specifically in
San Francisco's The Jewish Home where she passed away in 2008.
| 1936 | Born Judith Louise Berkowitz |
| 1960 | Moves to Los Angeles |
| 1976 | Fat Underground is founded |
| 1978 | Fat Lip Theatre is founded |
| 1978 | Briggs Initiative and subsequent Anti Briggs Initiative traveling show. |
| 1982 | Becomes involved with the Jewish Lesbian Writer's group |
| 2008 | Judy Freespirit passes away |
This collection contains written and published materials by Judy Freespirit, as well as other materials that are part of her
personal collection of political writings and community information. The bulk of the writings in this collection are focused
on Freespirit's fat activism, specifically through her involvement with both Radical Therapy practices and the Fat Underground.
This collection includes materials with her married name, Judith Ackerman because she continued to use it for legal purposes
after her marriage.
Arranged chronologically.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Lesbian actresses --California --Archival resources.
Lesbian activists --California --Archival resources.
Jewish lesbians --California --Archival resources.
Body image in women --Archival resources.
Discrimination against overweight women --United States --Archival resources.
Radical therapy --Archival resources.
There are recordings of Judy Freespirit speaking in the Burke (Kevin) Sound Recordings 1975-1979 collection as well as materials
in the Alfred (Randy) Subject Files and Sound Recordings 1974-1990 collection. Both of these collections are found at the
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.