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Title: Louise Merrill papers
Dates: 1906-2002
Collection Number: 2003-40
Creator/Collector:
Merrill, Louise, 1925-2002
Extent: 3 cartons, 1 box, 1 oversize box (5.1 linear feet)
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: The Louise Merrill papers document nearly 60 years of the life and political activities of this lesbian leftist feminist who
lived in Oakland. The collection provides information about class struggle, racism, and feminism through the lens of a lesbian
activist. There are materials related to Merrill’s activism and involvement with the Inez Garcia Defense Committee, the Berkeley
Women’s Affirmative Action Union, The Feminist newspaper, and the Workers World Party.
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research with the following exception. Researchers may not publish or publicly disclose names of individuals
in the consciousness raising manuscript entitled Now It’s Our Turn to Speak for 20 years, until January 1, 2034.
Funding for processing this collection was provided by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).
[Identification of item]. Louise Merrill papers. Collection Number: 2003-40. GLBT Historical Society
Gift of Jody Rivera in September 2003.
Biography/Administrative History
Born Louise Ellis in 1925, Louise Merrill was a lesbian socialist feminist and lifelong fighter for social justice. Merrill
was active in many political causes, including civil rights, labor rights, welfare rights, and women’s and gay liberation.
Merrill ran for State Senator in New York in 1954 as a Socialist Workers Party candidate, and she was part of a group of socialists
who went on to found the World Workers Party in the state 1959. She also was a member of the Inez Garcia Defense Committee
in the mid-1970s. Louise Merrill passed away in Oakland, California in 2002.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Louise Merrill papers document nearly 60 years of the life and political activities of this lesbian leftist feminist who
lived in Oakland. The collection provides information about class struggle, racism, and feminism through the lens of a lesbian
activist. There are materials related to Merrill’s activism and involvement with the Inez Garcia Defense Committee, the Berkeley
Women’s Affirmative Action Union, The Feminist newspaper, and the Workers World Party. Included are correspondence, notes,
writings, journals, legal documents, subject files related to her political activities, publications by other feminists and
activists, photographs, news clippings, and personalia including family documents and photographs that date back to 1906.
The collection has been divided into five Series: Correspondence; Activism; Writings and Research Files; Writings by Others;
and Personalia.
Original folder titles were retained. Folders were not always checked to verify that their contents matched the label. A small
portion of the photographs were water damaged. GSSO Linked Terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000381; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_002229
Lesbians
Feminism