These records trace the history of Diana Press, a lesbian/feminist printing and publishing house started by Coletta Reid and Casey Czarnik in Baltimore, Maryland in 1972, and relocated to Oakland, California in 1977. Most notably, Diana published works by Rita Mae Brown and Judy Grahn, and reprinted Dr. Jeannette Foster’s pioneering Sex Variant Women in Literature. Plagued by financial troubles, a crippling incident of vandalism, and disagreements within the leadership, Diana ceased publishing in 1979. The collection contains a rich assortment of administrative materials; author and project files; manuscripts and poetry; press and distribution materials; and a sizeable amount of correspondence. Items date from 1970 to 1994, with the bulk of materials dating from 1972-1979.

Diana Press was a women’s print shop and feminist publishing house began by Coletta Reid and Katherine “Casey” Czarnik in Baltimore, Maryland in 1972. Originally an instant print shop, the first publishing effort took place in 1973 with Rita Mae Brown’s Songs to a Handsome Woman. Over the next three years Diana Press grew into a full service publishing house, releasing an assortment of feminist books and calendars, most notably works by Rita Mae Brown and Judy Grahn; The Lesbians Home Journal- an anthology of stories from celebrated lesbian magazine The Ladder; and a reprinting of Dr. Jeannette Foster’s pioneering Sex Variant Women in Literature.

6.6 linear ft. (16 document boxes, 1 half document box)

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. 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.

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.