Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Biography/Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Indexing Terms
Additional collection guides
Descriptive Summary
Title: Carol Truscott papers
Dates: 1984-1992
Collection Number: 1994-07
Creator/Collector:
Extent: 3 linear feet (5 manuscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box)
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: Carol Truscott was part of San Francisco’s kink scene in the 1980s and early 1990s, and edited the Sandmutopia Guardian and
Dungeon Journal, a S&M how-to publication written for all genders and sexual orientations. The collection contains material
from the Outcasts, the 15 Association, KISSSM and the Society of Janus, as well as extensive records from the Sandmutopia
Guardian and Dungeon Journal.
Language of Material: English
Access
Collection is open to researchers with certain restrictions on certain materials. Contact the archivist for more information.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Carol Truscott papers. Collection Number: 1994-07. GLBT Historical Society
Acquisition Information
Gift of Joann Lee, also known as Carol Truscott, 2003-2006.
Biography/Administrative History
Carol Truscott was part of San Francisco’s kink scene in the 1980s and early 1990s, and edited the Sandmutopia Guardian and
Dungeon Journal, a S&M how-to publication written for all genders and sexual orientations. Truscott was the founding editor
of the journal, which was first published by Desmodus, Incorporated in 1988. She was a member of the Outcasts, the 15 Association,
KISSSM, and the Society of Janus.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains material from the Outcasts, the 15 Association, KISSSM and the Society of Janus, as well as extensive
records from the Sandmutopia Guardian and Dungeon Journal. There are also materials from S&M organizations and anti-censorship
groups active outside of California. These include BAYFACT; the Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties; the
Eulenspiegel Society; Shelix, the Chicagoland Discussion Group; the National Leather Association; L&L; Safe, Sane Consensual
Adults (SSCA); and Beyond Vanilla. Materials related to Sandmutopia Guardian and Dungeon Journal and its publisher, Desmodus,
Incorporated, include correspondence, legal records, meeting agendas, production files, source material, subject files, photographic
materials, and artwork. Finally, there are materials related to the creation of an S&M Community Contingent in the San Francisco
Pride Parade, including flyers, clippings, memos and correspondence, financial records, notes, and a Womanlink resource list
and history.
The collection is arranged in three series: organizations, publications, and the S&M Community Contingent. The first box holds
records of groups from the Bay Area S&M community. Among
these are the Outcasts, a social and educational organization that served the lesbian, heterosexual, transgender, and bisexual
women’s S&M community. Outcasts records include meeting minutes, financial records, flyers of activities, and a run of their
newsletter, The Lunatic Fringe, from 1985 to 1989. The collection also includes records from the 15 Association (1986-89),
KISSSM (1985-87), and the Society of Janus (1986 and 1990).
The second box contains records of anti-censorship organizations and kink groups and activities outside of California. The
former include BAYFACT and the Committee to Preserve Our Sexual and Civil Liberties, two of the most active anti-censorship
organizations in California in the 1980s. Truscott also collected information on kink groups active in other cities in the
US. Among these are the Eulenspiegel Society in New York City; Shelix in Northampton, Massachusetts; and the Chicagoland Discussion
Group. The Shelix file contains a record of the interactions between the women’s S&M groups and other feminist organizations.
Finally, there are three files that contain information on S&M organizations that worked on a national level. Smaller amounts
of material are held related to the National Leather Association; L&L; Safe, Sane Consensual Adults (SSCA); and Beyond Vanilla.
Boxes 3-5 contain materials related to Desmodus, Incorporated and Sandmutopia Guardian and Dungeon Journal. GSSO Linked Terms:
http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_001236; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000381; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_008497
Indexing Terms
Kink
Lesbians
Journalism
Additional collection guides