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Table of contents What's This?
  • Restrictions on Access
  • Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
  • Provenance/Source of Acquisition
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing Note
  • Biography
  • Chronology
  • Scope and Content
  • Organization and Arrangement
  • Related Material
  • Online Items Available

  • Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Title: Margaret Cruikshank papers
    Creator: Cruikshank, Margaret
    Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1847
    Physical Description: 6.5 linear feet (13 manuscript boxes and 1 oversize box)
    Date (inclusive): 1971-1986
    Abstract: The Margaret Cruikshank Papers consist of drafts, background/research notes, correspondence and publicity materials for three published works edited by Cruikshank: Lesbian Path (1980, 1982, 1985), a collection of autobiographical writings; Lesbian Studies (1982), a women's history and lesbian studies text and New Lesbian Writing (1984), a lesbian literature anthology. The Cruikshank papers also consist of background/research files for women's studies and lesbian studies courses taught by Cruikshank and related correspondence and publicity materials. Personal correspondence is also included in the collection.
    Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
    Language of Material: English .

    Restrictions on Access

    Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
    Series 7: Cruikshank Personal Correspondence (1971-1976) is open for reading by lesbians only.

    Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

    Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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 Margaret Cruikshank, 1997.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9964111033606533 

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Margaret Cruikshank Papers (Collection 1847). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

    Processing Note

    The collection was processed by Janine Liebert, 10/5/2007.
    Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
    We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.  

    Biography

    A longtime lesbian activist and distinguished academic, Margaret Cruikshank (b. 1940) began her work in the 1970s at a time when lesbian studies barely existed and was one of the few lesbian academics in the U.S. to identify herself professionally as a lesbian. Her work has centered on raising awareness of lesbians within the academic profession and addressing the exclusion of lesbian literature and criticism from traditional canons and women's studies.
    A native of northern Minnesota, Cruikshank came out as a lesbian in the Minneapolis lesbian-feminist community in the mid-1970s. She lived in the Midwest until 1977, when she moved to San Francisco. During the 1970s, Cruikshank played an active role in the explosion of lesbian feminist politics and culture and she began publishing on lesbian topics in 1975. Writing under her own name as well as various pseudonyms, Cruikshank has written numerous essays, articles and reviews that have appeared in a wide variety of periodicals including Gay Community News, Motheroot Journal, The Radical Teacher, Focus, Journal of Homosexuality and The Advocate.
    With a Ph.D. in Victorian literature from Loyola University in Chicago, IL, Cruikshank began teaching English in 1969 at various colleges and universities in the Midwest. In 1975, she began teaching at Mankato State University (now called Minnesota State University, Mankato), which at that time, did not have a women's studies program. Cruikshank helped establish the first women's studies department at Mankato State University, for which she served as director between 1975 and 1977. Her experience arriving at Mankato State University in 1975 as a closeted academic and leaving the university in 1977 as an open lesbian in a university setting began a life-long commitment to increasing the visibility and solidarity of lesbians within the academic profession.
    In 1977, Cruikshank moved to San Francisco where she worked as a resources director for a short-lived grassroots project, the Gay National Educational Switchboard, which provided a toll-free information line. In August 1980, Cruikshank became head of a small program in Continuing Education at the University of San Francisco (USF). Five months after she was hired at USF she was fired. Subsequently, Cruikshank taught in the English department at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) where she taught English as a Second Language (ESL) and worked with other CCSF faculty and administrators to incorporate lesbian and gay studies into the curriculum. These efforts resulted in the organization of CCSF's Castro/Valencia Campus and, in 1982, the appointment of Cruikshank as the first woman to teach CCSF's gay and lesbian literature course. Cruikshank taught an introductory women's studies course and lesbian and gay literature at CCSF for many years (1982-1996). She was also an affiliate scholar at the Center for Research on Women at Stanford University (1981-1988).
    Cruikshank later taught courses on aging and women (1992 – 1997), in addition to gay and lesbian studies at CCSF, before moving to Maine in 1997. Cruikshank's introduction to working with older people came when she was did a graduate studies internship in gerontology at San Francisco State University, where she received an M.A. in gerontology in 1992.
    Cruikshank has edited three major anthologies on lesbians: The Lesbian Path (1980, Angel Press; 1982, self-published; 1985, Grey Fox Press); Lesbian Studies, a women's history/lesbian studies text (1982, The Feminist Press) and New Lesbian Writing, a lesbian literature anthology (Grey Fox Press, 1984). In her papers, Cruikshank explains the three anthologies, their genesis and their inclusions. She traces their origins in the women's studies movement and through the lesbian academics' network created by the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) and details the editorial process.
    Cruikshank's correspondence and publications in the collection often discuss her experiences in teaching lesbian studies/women's studies and her life-long efforts to integrate lesbian and gay material into the college curriculum. Her correspondence in the collection also traces the networks of lesbian critics, academics and writers that were established through panels at the Modern Language Association's (MLA) and Gay Academic Union's (GAU) annual conventions, pioneering lesbian feminist periodicals of the 1970s, lesbian groups, women's studies programs, writing workshops, and women's publishing presses.
    Cruikshank currently teaches women's studies at the University of Maine, where she is also affiliated with the Center on Aging (1997-present). She lives in a small fishing village on the eastern coast of Maine. Her most recent anthology, Fierce with Reality: an Anthology of Literature about Aging (1995, 2007) grew out of her master's thesis in gerontology at San Francisco State University. Her other books include Thomas Babington Macaulay (1978), The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement (1992), and Learning to be Old: Gender, Culture, and Aging (2003). She was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct seminars and lectures on women and aging at the University of Victoria Centre on Aging, in British Columbia, during the fall 2007 semester.

    Chronology

    1940 Born, Duluth, MN.
    1962 Received a B.A. in English from St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN.
    1969 Received a Ph.D. in Victorian literature from Loyola University in Chicago, IL; wrote dissertation on Thomas B. Macaulay.
    1969 - 1970 Taught English at Loyala University in Chicago, IL.
    1970 - 1972 Taught English at Central College in Pella, IA.
    1974 Taught English at St. John's University in Collegeville, MN.
    1975-1977 Started teaching English at Minnesota State University (MSU), Mankato; helped establish the first women's studies department at MSU, for which she served as director.
    1977 In the Fall, moved to San Francisco, CA; worked as a resources director for a short-lived grassroots project, the Gay National Educational Switchboard.
    1978 Published dissertation called Thomas Babington Macaulay as part of the Twayne English authors series.
    1980 The Lesbian Path was first published by Angel Press in Monterey.
    1980, Aug Became head of a small program in Continuing Education at the University of San Francisco (USF).
    1980, Dec Got fired from teaching job at USF.
    1981 Started teaching in the English department at City College of San Francisco (CCSF); taught English as a Second Language (ESL).
    1981 - 1988 Served as an affiliate scholar at the Center for Research on Women at Stanford University.
    1982 Self-published first work on a lesbian topic, Lesbian Path, a collection of autobiographical writings.
    1982 Published Lesbian Studies, a women's history and lesbian studies text (The Feminist Press).
    1982 - 1997 Appointed as first female faculty member to teach CCSF's gay and lesbian literature course; taught an introductory women's studies course and lesbian and gay literature at CCSF for many years.
    1984 Published New Lesbian Writing, a lesbian literature anthology (Grey Fox Press).
    1985 Lesbian Path published in a revised and expanded edition by Grey Fox Press.
    1992 Received an M.A. in gerontology from San Francisco State University.
    1997 - Present Moved to Maine and began teaching in the women's studies department at the University of Maine, Orono; also affiliated with the University of Maine Center on Aging.
    2003 Published Learning to be Old: Gender, Culture and Aging.
    2007 Published Fierce with Reality: an Anthology of Literature about Aging.
    2007 Awarded Fullbright Fellowship to conduct seminars and lectures on women and aging at the University of Victoria Centre on Aging, in British Columbia during the fall 2007 semester.

    Scope and Content

    The Margaret Cruikshank collection is a mixture of professional and personal papers. Papers date from 1971-1986, with the majority spanning the period 1979-1986. Among the papers are manuscripts and notes for books, articles and reviews authored by Cruikshank; drafts and revisions with correspondence relating to the editorial process; publicity materials, notes by Cruikshank, printed matter, course syllabi and readings, bibliographies, photographs and personal correspondence.
    Publications, 1977-1986, (Series 1, Boxes 1-10), include drafts of Cruikshank's published and unpublished papers and book reviews and manuscript drafts of three of her books: Lesbian path (1980, 1982, 1985), a collection of autobiographical writings; Lesbian Studies (1982), a women's history and lesbian studies text and New Lesbian Writing (1984), a lesbian literature anthology. Among Cruikshank's notes are revisions relating to the editorial process, names, addresses and phone numbers; mailing lists and list of readers and contributing authors. Publicity materials and correspondence relating to Cruikshank's books are also included here.
    Research files and notes, 1971-1986, n.d., (Series 2, Box 11), consist of publicity materials from various lesbian, gay and women's publications, books/bookstores and organizations. This includes flyers, pamphlets and brochures; newspaper and magazine clippings; newsletters; bibliographies and related correspondence. Notes and conference proposals by Cruikshank for panels at the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA), Modern Language Association (MLA) and Gay Academic Union (GAU) annual conferences, proposed submissions for articles and book reviews by Cruikshank and calls for papers and requests to write and review are also included here. Also included are articles that mention Cruikshank that are not related to her publications.
    Course syllabi and readings, 1982-1985 (Series 3, Box 11), relates to Introduction to Women's Studies and Lesbian Gay Literature courses taught by Cruikshank at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) and includes course syllabi and readings, bibliographies, notes by Cruikshank and student papers.
    Publications not authored by Cruikshank, 1979-1983, n.d., (Series 4, Box 11, 14), consists of drafts of published and unpublished papers, bibliographies and galley proofs.
    Personal correspondence, 1971-1976, (Series 5, Boxes 12-13), consists of personal correspondence from Sue Ebbers to Cruikshank and several photos.

    Organization and Arrangement

    The collection is organized into the following series:
    • Series 1. Publications, 1977-1986. Boxes 1-10
    • Series 2. Research files and notes, 1971-1986, n.d.. Box 11
    • Series 3. Course syllabi and readings, 1982-1985. Box 11
    • Series 4. Publications not authored by Cruikshank, 1979-1983, n.d.. Box 11, 14
    • Series 5. Personal correspondence, 1971-1976. Boxes 12-13

    Related Material

    This collection forms part of the The June L. Mazer Archive at UCLA .

    Online Items Available

    Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online: Margaret Cruikshank Papers (78 items) .

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Cruikshank, Margaret