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Title: Gael Sapiro papers
Dates: 1974-1987
Collection Number: 1996-32
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 2 linear feet (2 cartons)
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: The Gael Sapiro papers contain materials related to her involvement with women's music in the 1970s, and her anti-violence
work and political activism in the 1980s.
Language of Material: English
The records are open for research, with the exception of one folder of personnel records.
Funding for processing this collection was provided by the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Copyright has been trasferred to the GLBT Historical Society.
[Identification of item]. Gael Sapiro papers. Collection Number: 1996-32. GLBT Historical Society
Gift of Gael Sapiro on August 18, 1996.
Biography/Administrative History
Gael Sapiro was involved in women’s music in the mid-seventies, and in anti-violence work in the early 1980s. As a college
student at UC Riverside, Sapiro put on a women’s music radio program inspiring her to produce a festival for the Bay Area.
Sapiro found other women interested in organizing a festival by posting flyers; the resulting group was organized as Succulent
Productions in 1976. Succulent presented three local concerts of women’s music in an effort to gain experience in organizing
music events. However, these concerts proved difficult to produce and the group disbanded around 1978.
In 1982, Sapiro become a member of the board of Community United Against Violence (CUAV). As a board member, Sapiro coordinated
security for the annual Halloween event in the Castro, working with police and organizing 200 volunteer security monitors
to protect against anti-gay violence. She was also involved in security at various other local events. Through her involvement
with CUAV, Sapiro maintained close relationships with other anti-violence groups. She continues to be involved with CUAV until
1985. In this period, Sapiro also ran a successful campaign to become the Public Relations Director for the Alice B. Toklas
Memorial Democratic Club, and worked as a consultant for the Board of Frameline during that organization’s early attempts
to formalize their structure.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection is divided into two series: women’s music, and anti-violence organizing. The women’s music collection contains
the papers of Succulent Productions, including meeting minutes, correspondence, and promotional material. The rest of the
music collection consists primarily of clippings and research on women and music, and on women’s music. There are also some
class notes and syllabi, as well as radio playlists from Sapiro’s college radio program. Sapiro also collected a number of
publications covering women’s music, some of which have been removed from the collection.
The records of Sapiro’s anti-violence activism include CUAV administrative materials, flyers and related material covering
some of the security work the organization performed. There are also records, including newsletters and correspondence, of
a number of other anti-violence organizations with which CUAV worked. Finally, Sapiro held fairly extensive records of the
Lesbian Abuse Issues Network, which created a survey of lesbian domestic violence in ca. 1984.
See also the Gael Sapiro collection (#2016-17). GSSO Linked Terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000381; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_004300
Lesbians
Music