Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Accession note
Materials Discarded
Biographical Note
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
Title: Barbara Cameron Papers
Date (inclusive): 1968-2003
Identifier/Call Number: GLC 63
Creator:
Cameron, Barbara M.
Physical Description:
2 boxes + 5 oversized folders
(2 cubic feet)
Contributing Institution:
James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: Barbara M. Cameron was a Native American lesbian writer, speaker, photographer, and political activist. Her papers include
speeches, writings, subject files, photographs, audiotapes, and printed materials on the subjects of: rights for lesbians,
for women and for Native Americans; race; HIV education; and homophobia.
Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English, with one item in German.
Access
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours, with photographs available during Photo Desk
hours.
Publication Rights
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Barbara Cameron Papers (GLC 63), LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Accession note
Donated by Rhys Boyd-Farrell, July 10, 2006.
Materials Discarded
The following newspaper sections about the deaths of Harvey Milk and George Moscone have been discarded as they duplicate
holdings in the San Francisco History Center's collection:
San Francisco Chronicle, November 29, 1978 Section 1;
San Francisco Examiner, November 27, 1978 Section 1; and,
San Francisco Examiner, November 30, 1978 Section 1.
Biographical Note
Barbara M. Cameron was a Native American lesbian writer, speaker, photographer, and political activist. She was born on May
22, 1954 in Fort Yates, North Dakota. She was raised on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota principally by
her grandparents. After high school graduation, Cameron moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where she attended the Institute of
American Indian Arts. She majored in photography and film and won many awards. In 1973 she moved to San Francisco to attend
the San Francisco Art Institute.
In 1975 Cameron co-founded the group Gay American Indians. She was a principal organizer of the Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Parade
and Celebration (1980-1985), the executive director (1989-1992) of CUAV (Community United Against Violence), and a delegate
to the 1988 Democratic Convention. She was appointed by Mayor Dianne Feinstein to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission
and the Citizens Committee on Community Development, and by Mayor Frank Jordan to the Commission on the Status of Women. She
also served on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the American Indian AIDS Institute; and she
was a member of the Alice B. Toklas Lesbian/Gay Democratic Club.
In 1986 Cameron traveled to Nicaragua as a member of Somos Hermanas, a group of women who went to learn about, and show solidarity
with, the women working to improve life there. She went to Berlin in 1993 to the International Conference on AIDS, participating
in the International Indigenous AIDS Network. Throughout 1993 she traveled to reservations in the continental U.S. and Hawaii,
working to further AIDS education.
Cameron's writing is published in several anthologies, including both versions of
Our Right to Love and
This Bridge Called My Back. Her writing is included in the curriculum in many colleges and universities.
Barbara Cameron died in San Francisco on February 12, 2002. She was survived by her partner of twenty-one years, Linda Boyd,
and their son Rhys Boyd-Farrell.
Scope and Contents
The papers primarily document Cameron's life in San Francisco. The collection is strongest in Cameron's speeches and writings.
Additional materials demonstrate her involvement with several organizations that provided support to the Native American,
lesbian, and women's communities.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into six series: Series 1. Personal Papers; Series 2. Speeches and Writings; Series 3. Subject
Files; Series 4. Printed Materials; Series 5. Photographs; and, Series 6. Ephemera and Audiorecordings.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Lesbian authors -- California -- San Francisco -- Biography.
Indian Women -- North America -- Biography.
Chrystos
Cameron, Barbara M. -- Archives