Finding aid to the Carolyn Weathers photographs and papers, 1961-2015
Coll2014-008
Kyle Morgan, revised by Loni Shibuyama in 2018
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
2014
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
askone@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Carolyn Weathers photographs and papers
creator:
Weathers, Carolyn, 1940-
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014-008
Identifier/Call Number: 662
Physical Description:
3.8 Linear Feet
4 boxes + 2,400 digital images
Date (inclusive): 1961-2015
Abstract: Personal papers, professional records, and digitized photographs of LGBT and feminist activist Carolyn Weathers, 1961-2015.
The collection includes documentation of the Alcoholism Center for Women, and information about Brenda Weathers, Jenny Wrenn,
among others.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series:
Series 1. Personal and professional papers, 1970-2013
Series 2. Audiovisual resources, 1970-1992
Biographical / Historical
Carolyn Weathers was active in the gay and lesbian bar scene in the 1960s in San Antonio, Texas. She moved to Los Angeles
in 1968 where she became involved in the emerging gay liberation movement. As a member of the Gay Liberation Front, Weathers
held feminist issues workshops, helped form the Gay Women's Speakers Bureau, performed in agitprop events, and participated
in protests such as the takeover of the Behavior Modification Conference at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles to protest the
use of aversion therapy on gay people.
In 1970, she joined the Lesbian Feminists group at the Crenshaw Women's Center in Los Angeles, where she was involved in protests
and workshops on lesbian and feminist issues. She wrote "The True Story of Lesbianism by Frank Straight" and spoke at conferences,
festivals, and other events. She became one of the first out lesbians on Los Angeles television when she appeared on Regis
Phibin's "Tempo Show." She protested for abortion rights, women's equality, and the end of sexist/racist labor practices.
In 1975, she joined her sister, Brenda Weathers, to protest against fiscal mismanagement at the Gay Community Services Center
in Los Angeles and helped her establish the Alcoholism Center for Women (ACW). Weathers was a printer at the ACW Press and
helped create promotional material to fight Anita Bryant and the Briggs Initiative. She worked at the café at the Women's
Building in Los Angeles and was an original member of the Southern California Women for Understanding. In 1984, she inaugurated
the Lesbian Writers Series at A Different Light Bookstore in Silver Lake. Weathers has written and published numerous works,
including the books "Leaving Texas: A Memoir," "Shitkickers and Other Texas Stories," and "Crazy." In 1986, Weathers and her
partner Jenny Wrenn founded Clothespin Fever Press to publish books by lesbian writers. In 1987, Weathers and Wrenn formed
the Los Angeles Committee to Free Sharon Kowalski. Carolyn Weathers has remained active in LGBT and feminist causes, speaking
to researchers and the community regarding LGBT and feminist history.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Existence and Location of Copies
A sample of Weather's approximately 2,400 digitized photographs, 1961-1990, can be accessed online at http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/search/collection/p15799coll4/searchterm/weathers/order/nosort.
Existence and Location of Originals
Carolyn Weathers has retained the original photographs from this collection.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Carolyn Weathers in June 2012.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Carolyn Weathers Photographs and Papers, Coll2014-008, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC
Libraries, University of Southern California.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Kyle Morgan and volunteers, 2014. In 2017, upon request of the donor, some materials from this collection
were separated to become two other distinct collections: Clothespin Fever Press Records (Coll2013-092) and the Los Angeles
Committee to Free Sharon Kowalski Records (Coll2014-048).
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, clippings, flyers, pamphlets, programs, event records, financial records, bankruptcy records, conference records,
published materials, book reviews, writings, awards, contacts, meeting minutes, court records, research records, ephemera,
photographic prints, and digitized photographs documenting the activities and interests of Carolyn Weathers, 1961-2015. The
collection includes the administrative records of the Alcoholism Center for Women, and information about Brenda Weathers,
Jenny Wrenn, among others.
Separated Materials
Separated to the ONE Archives poster collection:
UGLA, University of Gay and Lesbian Achievers, Spring Semester 1988, The Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center.
Separated to the ONE Archives pamphlet collection
About our Parents, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Los Angeles, 1986.
Kepner, Jim. Gay Los Angeles: The Early Days. Los Angeles: International Gay and Lesbian Archives, 1988.
Roberts, Shelly. Make News! Make Noise!: How to Get Publicity for your Book. San Diego: Paradigm Publishing Company, 1994.
Read This Before Coming Out To Your Parents, T.H. Sauerman, 1984.
Separated to the ONE periodical collection
Connexxus, v.2, no.2, 7, 9, 10 (1986).
Dare, Tennessee's gay and lesbian newsweekly, v.3, no.31 (August 3, 1990).
Feminist News, v.6, no.7 (July 1988).
GALTA News, Los Angeles, v.1, no.1 (February 1988).
Gay Flames Pamphlet, no.1-13. (includes information on the Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention)
GLAS-LA, Gay and Lesbian Arab Society of Los Angeles, v.1, no.4 (September 1991).
Happenings, Whitman-Brooks, v.10, no.6 (July/August 1989).
Lesbian Central Newsletter, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center (October 1988).
Lesbian Herstory Archives, no.13 (June 1992).
Lesbian Tide, v.14, no.3 (October 1988).
San Diego Lesbian Press, v.5, no.6 (August/September 1990).
The Visionary, v.4, no.1 (March/April 1991).
Separated to the ONE audiovisual collection
Alcoholism Center for Women, Inc., part 1 and 2, December 4, 2008. (2 DVDs)
Alcoholism Center for Women jug band and lighten-up group sitting around playing live music, September 12, 1980. (open-reel
videotape, Betacam, DVD)
Alcoholism Center for Women staff in-service training with Barbara Kearney, circa 1975. (open-reel videotape, VHS, DVD)
"The Alcoholic Woman," Ad Lib show, Althea Scott interviews Brenda Weathers, Pauline Baxton, Bea Jorgensen, and Jean S. Vandervort,
1975. (open-reel videotape, Betacam, and 3 DVDs)
Barbara Kearney at the Alcoholism Center for Women talking about chain drinking, undated. (open-reel videotape, VHS, DVD)
Ann Bradley, Robin Podolsky, Carolyn Weathers, and moderator Thais Rothman on KPFK radio IMRU, March 9, 1985. (audiocassette)
Brenda Kay Weathers memorial service, July 30, 2005. (DVD)
Brenda Weathers, Director of the Alcoholism Program for Women at the Gay Community Services Center, at the San Francisco conference
of addiction treatment, circa 1974-1975. (open-reel audiotape, 1 CD)
Carolyn Retter of the Alcoholism Center for Women interviewed by Stony Richards, 1993. (audiocassette, CD)
Carolyn Weathers home videos, July 1995. (VHS)
Carolyn Weathers poetry reading (inaugural reading of the Lesbian Writers Series at A Different Light bookstore with organizer
and host Ann Bradley), February 18, 1984. (VHS and DVD)
Carolyn Weathers reading excerpts from "Cheers Everybody!", "Crab Apple Summer," and Leaving Texas: A Memoir, March 26, 1989.
(audiocassette)
Conversation with Laurie Drabble on Spring Conference, February 2, 1990. (audiocassette)
Dara Robinson, Marsha Salisbury, Nancy Robinson, and Carolyn Weathers on the early lesbian feminist movement from 1969-1971,
IMRU, 1983. (audiocassette, 2 CDs)
Diane Mariechild, "Mother Wit for Children of All Ages," Healing Stars. (audiocassette)
Dyke TV, 100th show. (VHS and DVD)
First National Conference on Lesbian and Gay Aging, California State University, Dominguez Hills. Sharon Raphael, 1981. (3
audiocassettes)
The Historic March on Washington, 1987. (DVD)
"On Honky Tonk Trail...," a talk by Carolyn Weathers. Includes "You Bring the Bible" and "Cheers Everybody," undated. (2 audiocassettes)
Gay and Lesbian Authors at the Los Angeles Central Library, June 6, 1991 (also includes Karen Thompson on W57th Street, March
4, 1989). (DVD)
Gay Liberation Front, lesbian feminists reunion at ONE, July, 25, 2004. (DVD)
"Learning to Be," filmed at the Alcoholic Center for Women, June 1976. (1 DVD)
"Learning to Be," filmed at the Alcoholic Center for Women, May 17, 1976. (4 open-reel audiotapes, 2 DVDs)
"Learning to Be: Funknown," with a voice over introduction, women speaking, and final credits. (Betacam)
NALGAP (the Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Addiction Professionals and their Allies) Conferences (includes
a talk by Robert Williams titled "Shame and Particulars for Gay Men and Lesbians"), 1987-1988. (2 audiocassettes)
OutWrite Conference, San Francisco, 1990. (7 audiocassettes)
Party on Avenel Street, Los Angeles, with Kaye O'Brien, Carolyn Weathers, Nancy Kelly, and June Hurlee of the Gay Liberation
Front; and Brenda Weathers taping caseloads; 1970. (audiocassette)
Pat Collins Show, April 1, 1974. Interview with supportive parents of lesbian and gay children (includes interview with Jeanne
Manford, founder of PFLAG). (open-reel videotape, VHS, DVD, mini digital videocassette)
Rader's "The Gay 1980s," six part series, October 29-31, 1980. (U-matic)
S Diane Bogus reading poem "Lady Godiva." (audiocassette)
Strike against the Center, part 1 and 2, KPFK Gay Radio Collective, August 26, 1975. (open-reel audiotape, CD)
"To Jenny [Wren] from Carolyn [Weathers]," a little play for Christmas, December 17, 1985. (audiocassette)
Vicki Randle and Diane Lindsay singing and performing on piano and guitar, parts 1 and 2, circa 1976-1977. (2 open-reel videotapes,
2 VHS, 2 DVD)
Vicki Randle, "Naturally High," a benefit performance for the Alcohol Center for Women's hotline staged at the Women's Building
on Spring Street, February, 28, 1976. (open-reel audiotape, CD)
"The Woman in your Life is You," Alcoholic Center for Women resident skit, October 4, 1980. (open-reel videotape, VHS, DVD)
Women's Music Tour, circa February 13, 1976. (2 open-reel audiotapes, 2 CDs)
Yolanda Retter interviews Brenda Weathers, October 30, 2004. (audiocassette, CD)
Separated to the Non-LGBT newspaper front page collection
Reader, Los Angeles' Free Weekly, "Sisters," v.10, no.28 (April 29, 1988).
Other Finding Aids
Clothespin Fever Press Records, Coll2013-092, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern
California.
Los Angeles Committee to Free Sharon Kowalski Records, Coll2014-048, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Alcoholism counseling
Lesbian activists -- United States
Lesbian authors
Lesbian feminism -- Archival resources
Weathers, Brenda
Wrenn, Jenny (Jennifer Joy Wrenn)
Alcoholism Center for Women (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Personal and professional papers
1970-2015
Scope and Contents
Photographs, correspondence, clippings, flyers, pamphlets, programs, event records, writings, awards, contacts, meeting minutes,
court records, research records, and other materials documenting the activities and interests of Carolyn Weathers. Includes
the foundational records of the Alcoholism Center for Women.
Arrangement
The series is arranged in alphabetical order.
Alcoholism Center for Women (ACW) records
1976-2012
Box 1, Folder 1
Documentation and ephemera
1976-2012
Box 1, Folder 2
Flyers, pamphlets, and programs
circa 1976-1995
Box 1, Folder 5
Organizational correspondence
1983-2004
Box 1, Folder 6
Organizational models
1976
Box 1, Folder 7
Still Like Family event
2004
Box 1, Folder 8
We All Have our Reasons movie
1978
Box 1, Folder 10
Brenda Weathers award from the Alcoholism Center for Women
1986
Box 1, Folder 11
Brenda Weathers obituaries and funeral materials
2005
Box 1, Folder 12-20
Clippings and subject files
1970-2015
Box 1, Folder 21
Collection descriptions
2013
Box 1, Folder 22
Collection development records, women's studies
1987
Box 1, Folder 23
Collection development records, gay and lesbian libraries
1988-1992
Box 1, Folder 25
Contacts in journals
undated
Box 1, Folder 26
Conventions and conferences
1970-1976
Box 1, Folder 27-28
Correspondence, personal
1983-1990
Box 1, Folder 29
Directory of women's media
1987-1989
Box 1, Folder 30
A Different Light Bookstore, Lesbian and Gay Men Writers Series
1980-1996
Box 1, Folder 31
Ephemera
undated
Scope and Contents
Includes business cards, a name tag, a Costco membership card, a bookmark, and a bankbook with the Los Angeles Feminist Federal
Credit Union.
Box 4, Folder 4
Ephemera
1972, 2008
Physical Description: [Oversize]
Scope and Contents
Includes a handmade birthday card from O'Brien to Carolyn Weathers and Los Angeles certificates of commendation for Brenda
and Carolyn Weathers
Box 1, Folder 32
Feminist subject files
1979-1991
Box 1, Folder 33-34
Flyers
1970-1995
Scope and Contents
Includes flyers promoting Carolyn Weathers, Brenda Weathers, Jenny Wrenn, and other LGBT people and events.
Box 2, Folder 4
Gay Liberation Front, Los Angeles Women's Liberation
1970
Box 2, Folder 5
Key West Women in Paradise materials
1992
Box 2, Folder 6
Lesbian Now materials
1970
Box 2, Folder 7
Library activism records
1984-1991
Box 2, Folder 8
Los Angeles lesbian history research
circa 1998
Box 2, Folder 9
Mouse Soup play reviews
1987
Box 4, Folder 1
Music of the Spheres, by Mary Marsha Cloud
undated
Physical Description: [An oversize drawing on cloth of a smiling yellow sphere with musical notes orbiting and "Music of the Spheres" written below]
Box 2, Folder 11
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) materials
1987-1988
Box 2, Folder 12
Performance event materials
1970-1991
Box 4, Folder 5
Photograph, black-and-white, of Carolyn Weathers and Jenny Wrenn
1989
Physical Description: [Oversize]
Box 2, Folder 13
Photographs and photocopied images
circa 1976-1991
Scope and Contents
Includes 2 photographic prints and a CD with the same 2 digital images of Carolyn Weathers outside the Acme Bar in San Antonio.
Box 4, Folder 2
Photographs, mounted
1975-1976, undated
Physical Description: [Oversize]
Scope and Contents
Includes black-and-white images of Mary Adair at the Alcoholism Center for Women Festival, October 25, 1976; Paige Morgenthal,
undated; Denise Crippen, early 1970s; an International Women's Year Celebration button, 1975; and Travis Foote in her office,
August 1975.
Box 2, Folder 14
Revolutionary People's Constitutional Convention materials
1970
Box 4, Folder 3
Scrapbook album of clippings and fliers publicizing Brenda Weathers, Carolyn Weathers, Jenny Wrenn, or Clothespin Fever Press
1986-1987
Physical Description: [Oversize]
Box 2, Folder 15
Southern California Women for Understanding materials
1987-1989
Box 2, Folder 16
Transsexual liberation materials
circa 1970
Box 2, Folder 17
Writings and artwork
1971-1991
Scope and Contents
Includes a sketch by Carolyn Weathers and writings by SDiane A. Bogus, Dottie Wine, Carolyn Weathers, Jenny Wren, Brenda Weathers,
and Kate O'Brien.
Audiovisual resources
1970-1992
Scope and Contents
The majority of the audiovisual materials in this series are related to the Alcoholism Center for Women.
Arrangement
The series is arranged in alphabetical order.
Box 3
Assessment, VHS38
1992
Physical Description: [1 VHS]
Scope and Contents
The NCADI Videotape Resource Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse: An Alliance or the 21st Century, videotape series
VHS38, 19 minutes.
Box 3
Carolyn's Picks
undated
Physical Description: [1 CD]
Scope and Contents
Music compilation created by Carolyn Weathers.
Box 3
Changing Images of Drinkers
1976
Physical Description: [1 Betacam]
Scope and Contents
Addiction Research Foundation, 26 minutes.
Box 3
Disabled Women and Substance Abuse, Susan Forster
undated
Physical Description: [1 audiocassette}
Box 3
India, #1
undated
Physical Description: [1 videotape (open reel)]
Box 3
It's Only Booze, Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center's Alcoholism Program for Women (APW)
circa 1970-1975
Physical Description: [1 videotape (open reel) and 1 DVD]
Scope and Contents
Blue Cross of Southern California, Youth and Alcohol, 28 minutes.
Box 3
The Mike Douglas Show, season 18, episode 157
May 15, 1980
Physical Description: [Betacam]
Box 3
Music and Bob Boots with news from Denver
undated
Physical Description: [CD]
Scope and Contents
The CD is labeled "Reel to Reel Audio Denver Competition." When opened on the computer, the title reads "God's Leading Ladies."
Box 3
Music for the Alcoholism Center for Women
1975, undated
Physical Description: [3 open-reel audiotapes, 9 CDs]
Scope and Contents
Primarily dance music for ACW. One of the audiotapes contains 53 seconds of "Misses in Skin Tight Britches."
Box 3
Ruth and Delia
undated
Physical Description: [1 VHS]
Scope and Contents
The Recovery Series, 14 minutes for "Ruth," 12 minutes for "Delia."
Box 3
Sarah T.: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, parts 1-3 (ACW)
1975
Physical Description: [3 videotapes (open reel)]
Scope and Contents
Television movie, 96 minutes.
Box 3
Seventh Annual Alcoholism in the Black Community Conference, East Orange General Hospital, New Jersey
undated
Physical Description: [6 audiocassettes]
Box 3
When We Fall, Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center's Alcoholism Program for Women (APW)
undated
Physical Description: [1 videotape (open reel)]
Scope and Contents
Addiction Research Foundation, 17 minutes.
Box 3
Working with the Multiple Role Client with T. Davis and I. Sittler
undated
Physical Description: [4 audiocassettes]
Box 3
Unlabeled open-reel audiotapes
undated
