Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- National Lesbian Feminist Organization (U.S.)
- Abstract:
- The National Lesbian Feminist Organization (NLFO) was founded in 1978 as a grassroots organization in order to "act on a feminist platform which deals with the oppression of lesbians in all its manifestations,including but not limited to discrimination based on sexual preference, sex, race, age, class, and physical disability". As a grassroots organization concerned with accountability, the NLFO committed itself to fighting racism and classism both inside and outside the organization. Membership was open to all lesbians and women identified women whose beliefs aligned with the organization's mission. This collection contains an organizational history, founding convention notes, correspondence, ad hoc and steering committee memos, financial statements, and newsletters. The papers also contain information on local and state chapters, resources, and lesbian rights marches. Highlighted are behind the scenes efforts to organize local chapters, the formation of the Lesbians of Color Caucus and statements, and disagreements over the credibility of "representative organizations."
- Extent:
- 0.4 Linear Feet (1 document box)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], National Lesbian Feminist Organization Records (Collection 1944). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The National Lesbian Feminist Organization Records contains organizational documents, including meeting minutes, financial statements, and documents relating to the founding convention, and information on the Women of Color Caucus. It also contains correspondence and newsletters.
- Biographical / historical:
-
According to their literature, the National Lesbian Feminist Organization (NLFO) was founded in 1978 as a grassroots organization in order to "act on a feminist platform which deals with the oppression of lesbians in all its manifestations,including but not limited to discrimination based on sexual preference, sex, race, age, class, and physical disability. There is a need to achieve equal rights and legal protections for all lesbians...a need for developing lesbian culture." An Ad Hoc Committee formed in Los Angeles and took on the responsibility for the planning of the national convention to be held in July of 1978. A nationally based steering committee was selected at the convention, whose responsibility was to guide the organization through the first crucial months.
As a grassroots organization concerned with accountability, the NLFO committed itself to fighting racism and classism both inside and outside the organization. The group called for a "minimum of 50% of all the women involved in the level of planning and decision making to be women of color of various backgrounds and 50% of all white women of various class backgrounds." Membership was open to all lesbians and women identified women whose beliefs aligned with the organization's mission. The structure of the NLFO consisted of local memberships known as the "locals," whose representatives were sent to state and national conventions. The Los Angeles chapter was named the Alice Paul Chapter.
- Acquisition information:
- Provenance unknown. 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.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Molly S. Jacobs, 2011. Description enhanced and further physical processing completed by Jessica Tai in 2016.
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.
- Arrangement:
-
Materials in this collection are arranged chronologically.
- 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.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Terms of access:
-
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.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], National Lesbian Feminist Organization Records (Collection 1944). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988