Finding aid to the Nancy Stockwell Papers, [1956?]-2006
GLC 47
Finding aid prepared by Tim Wilson.
James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-557-4567
info@sfpl.org
2007
Title: Nancy Stockwell Papers,
Date (inclusive): [1956?]-2006
Date (bulk): 1975-1998
Collection Identifier: GLC 47
Creator:
Stockwell, Nancy
Physical Description:
2 boxes, 1 oversized flat box, 1 document case
(2.5 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: The collection documents the life of Nancy Stockwell through her correspondence, subject files, diaries, and draft and printed
copies of her writings. Stockwell was an author and professional golfer. She was one of the founders of
Plexus, a San Francisco Bay Area feminist magazine. Stockwell's
Out Somewhere and Back Again contains some autobiographical material.
Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English.
Access
The collection is open for research except for Series 5 which is closed to research until 2060 per Nancy Stockwell.
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. Copyright and literary
rights for Stockwell's published and unpublished works were bequeathed to the Kansas University Endowment Association, P.O.
Box 928, Lawrence, Kansas, 66044-0928.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Nancy Stockwell Papers (GLC 47), LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Provenance note
The Nancy Stockwell Papers were donated to The San Francisco Public Library by Deanna L. Nikodym for the Estate of Nancy Stockwell
in May 2000. 11 additional items were donated by Nikodym in April 2010.
Biography
Nancy Stockwell was born in Paola, Kansas on September 8, 1940. She was diagnosed with bronchiectasis, a congenital pulmonary
disorder in 1951. In 1966 she graduated from the University of Kansas with a Master's degree in Speech/Theatre. That same
year she moved to Boston, Massachusetts and began her career as a writer. The unpublished novella "Lucky Girls" chronicles
her early days in Boston. She taught high school, was an editor at Arthur D. Little, Inc. from 1970-1973, and was a grant
writer and administrator at the Girls' Club in Lynn, Massachusetts from 1972-1973.
In 1973 Stockwell moved to Berkeley, California where she became one of the founding mothers of the journals
PLEXUS (1974-1977) and
The Bright Medusa. It is at this time that she made the acquaintance of members of the early lesbian-feminist movement. In 1977 she returned
to the east coast. In 1978
Out Somewhere and Back Again: the Kansas Stories was published. In 1979 she attended the first gay and lesbian March in Washington, DC where she was living. In 1980 she began
managing the Lambda Rising Bookstore in Washington, DC and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. A piece of
hers was published in
A True Likeness edited by Felice Picano, Seahorse Press. In 1981 she founded The Good Earth, a landscaping and construction business (1981-1985).
In 1985 she was admitted into the Ladies Professional Golf Association and returned to the west coast.
In 1987 Stockwell became the first female golf club professional in San Francisco at Harding/Lincoln Parks. Later that year,
she was hired as head teaching professional at the Stony Run Sports Center in Denver, Pennsylvania, and opened the PRO shop
in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. In 1990 she was hired as the manager and teaching professional at Blue Skies Country Club in Yucca
Valley, California.
In 1992 Stockwell moved from the desert to Paola, Kansas due to failing health. She founded the Old Faithful Trading Company
and taught college-level sociology. In 1996 she purchased a home and moved to Kansas City, Kansas to be near KU Medical Center.
A piece of hers was published in
Best Lesbian Erotica 1996 edited by Tristan Taormino, Cleis Press. She read from "The Telling Kind" at OUTWRITE on February 25, 1996 in Boston.
In 1998 Stockwell arrived in San Diego, California in January to await a double lung transplant at UCSD Medical Center. On
September 18, 1998 she underwent successful double lung transplant surgery and was discharged from the hospital in 10 days.
In December she returned to Kansas to assist with the care of her mother who had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Nancy
Stockwell died at the Kansas University Medical Center on March 13, 1999 due to complications from the lung transplants and
immuno-suppression.
Scope and Contents Note
The collection contains correspondence, subject files, diaries, and draft and printed copies of Stockwell’s writings. Most
of the material covers the years 1975 through 1998.
Arrangement Note
The material is arranged in five series: Series 1. Correspondence; Series 2. Subject Files; Series 3. Works; Series 4. Audiovisual
Materials; and Series 5. Diaries/Journals.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Stockwell, Nancy -- Archives
Feminism--Periodicals.
Gays--California--San Francisco--Social life and customs--20th century.
Lesbian authors--California--San Francisco--Biography.
Lesbian authors--United States--Biography.
Lesbians--California--San Francisco--Social life and customs--20th century.
San Francisco (Calif.)--Biography
Women golfers--California--San Francisco--Biography.
Women golfers--United States--Biography.
Series 1
Correspondence,
1963-1999
1975-1998
Physical Description:
111.0 folders
Scope and contents note
This series contains correspondence with many significant women in the lesbian and feminist publishing communities, among
them: Nancy Bereano, Sandy Boucher, Sandra Dasmann, Cynthia Gair, Barbara Grier, Bertha Harris, Helaine Harris, Ann Meredith,
Ann Stokes. There is a small amount of correspondence with such notables as: Jane Rule, Adrienne Rich, Eudora Welty, Minnie
Bruce Pratt, Felice Picano, Kate Millett, Susan Griffin, Peg Cruikshank, Tee Corinne, Charlotte Bunch, and Margie Adam. There
is also some correspondence with family. Subjects are often specific to pieces of writing by Stockwell or the correspondent,
or a community publishing project such as
Plexus or
The Bright Medusa. Occasionally the subjects include various writing workshops, such as Women in Print, other community gatherings, and common
friends and acquaintances. In later correspondence, Stockwell's health issues become increasingly important.
Arrangement note
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent.
Box 1, Folder 4
Arnold, June,
1976-1977, undated
See also:
Box 1 / Folder 10 Boucher, Sandy
Box 1, Folder 5
Assiter, Nyla,
1977-1978, undated
Box 1, Folder 6
Barry, Marion, Jr., Mayor of Washington, D.C.,
1980-1981
See also:
Box 1 / Folder 16 Chorlton, Tom
See also:
Box 1 / Folder 40 Hockenberry, Clint
Girls Club of Lynn (Mass.), Inc.
Box 1, Folder 8
Bereano, Nancy,
1992-1998
Box 1, Folder 9
Bolsterli, Margaret,
1977
Box 1, Folder 10
Boucher, Sandy,
1977-1998
Bowman, Parke--See: Box 1 / Folder 4 Arnold, June
Bowman, Parke--See: Box 1 / Folder 10 Boucher, Sandy
Box 1, Folder 11
Breathitt, Mary Fran,
1980
General Note
House of Reps. Committee on Education and Labor, 1980
Box 1, Folder 12
Brownmiller, Susan,
undated
Box 1, Folder 14
Bunch, Charlotte,
1976
See also:
Box 1 / Folder 28 Gair, Cynthia
FEN [Feminist Economic Network]
Box 1, Folder 15
Chatelle, Bob,
1977, 1983
Barry, Marion, Jr., Mayor of the District of Columbia
Commission on Arts and Humanities
Gay Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.
Commission on Arts and Humanities--See: Box 1 / Folder 16 Chorlton, Tom
Box 1, Folder 19
Costanza, Margaret "Midge,"
1978
Box 1, Folder 20
Cruikshank, Margaret (Peg),
1977-1978
Box 1, Folder 21
Dasmann, Lauren,
1989-1996
Box 1, Folder 22
Dasmann, Sandra,
1983-1998
Daughters, Inc.--See: Box 1 / Folder 4 Arnold, June
Daughters, Inc.--See: Box 1 / Folder 10 Boucher, Sandy
Diana Press--See: Box 2 / Folder 1 Reid, Coletta
Box 1, Folder 24
DuBois, Jan Marie,
1976-1996
Box 1, Folder 25
Duff, Diana,
1983-1998, undated
Box 1, Folder 26
Fauntroy, Walter E. (Congressman),
1981
Feminist Economic Network--See: Box 1 / Folder 14 Bunch, Charlotte
FEN [Feminist Economic Network]--See: Box 1 / Folder 14 Bunch, Charlotte
Firebrand Books--See: Box 1 / Folder 8 Bereano, Nancy
Box 1, Folder 28
Gair, Cynthia,
1976-1980
See also:
Box 1 / Folder 37 Harris, Helaine
See also:
Box 2 / Folder 74 (photographs).
Gay Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.--See: Box 1 / Folder 16 Chorlton, Tom
Girls Club of Lynn (Mass.) Inc.--See: Box 1 / Folder 7 Beaton, Susan
Box 1, Folder 32
Grier, Barbara,
1976-1983
Box 1, Folder 33
Griffin, Susan,
1975-1979
Box 1, Folders 34-35
Gugino, Jeanne E.,
1974-1999
Hard Labor--See: Box 1 / Folder 13 Brueske, Judy
Box 1, Folder 36
Harris, Bertha,
1976-1997
See also:
Box 1 / Folder 10 Boucher, Sandy
Box 1, Folder 37
Harris, Helaine,
1976-1995, undated
Haynes, Nan--See: Box 1 / Folder 17 Conley, Sue
Hellman, Daryl--See: Box 1 / Folder 7 Beaton, Susan
Box 1, Folder 38
Hershey, Annie,
[1979]-1998
Box 1, Folder 39
Hess, Leah,
1983, undated
International Gay Association
International Gay Association--See: Box 1 / Folder 40 Hockenberry, Clint
Box 1, Folder 43
Keller, Marcia Lynn,
1978-1979
Kempley, Rita--See: Box 2 / Folder 9 Schneider, Ed
Box 1, Folder 48
Layton, Elizabeth,
1980-1992, undated
Box 1, Folders 50-52
Lester, Marianne,
1978-1998, undated
Levy, Becky--See: Box 1 / Folder 33 Griffin, Susan
Box 1, Folder 55
J.B. Lippincott Company,
1963
Box 1, Folder 59
Meredith, Ann,
1978-1998, undated
Box 1, Folder 60
[Messinger], Lynne,
undated
Box 1, Folder 64
Moskin, Julia,
1993
General Note
Re:
Lucky Girls.
Naiad Press--See: Box 1 / Folder 32 Grier, Barbara
Box 1, Folder 66
Norton, Camille,
1992-1993
Box 1, Folder 67
O'Connell, Jeanette,
1975-1989
Box 1, Folder 69
Ostrow, Joanne,
1983-1999, undated
Parrent, Joanne--See: Box 1 / Folder 14 Bunch, Charlotte
Box 1, Folder 70
Picano, Felice,
1980-1995
Box 1, Folder 71
Plexus,
1976-1996
See also:
Box 1 / Folder 22 Dasmann, Sandra
Box 1, Folder 73
Pratt, Minnie Bruce,
1995-1996
Quindaro--See: Box 2 / Folder 32 Whitehead, Fred
Box 2, Folder 1
Reid, Coletta,
1977
General note
Re: Diana Press.
Box 2, Folder 2
Reynolds, Malvina,
[1977?]
Box 2, Folder 5
Rothaizer, Susan,
1975-1998, undated
General note
Also known as "Tequila" and "Shoshana." Stockwell was "Kahlua."
Box 2, Folder 8
Samuelson, Brooke,
1976-1977, undated
Box 2, Folder 10
Shackelton, Polly (Council of the District of Columbia),
1980
Box 2, Folder 12
Shelley, Martha,
1996, undated
Box 2, Folder 14
Sorrels, Rosalie,
1975-1976
Box 2, Folder 17
Staten, Pat,
1983-1984, undated
Box 2, Folder 18
Stewart, Sue,
1978-1984, undated
Box 2, Folder 19
Stockwell, Herbert (grandfather),
1977, undated
Box 2, Folder 20
Stockwell, Melvin and Sara (parents),
1976-1998
Box 2, Folder 24
Taormino, Tristan,
1995, 1998
Box 2, Folder 26
Tilchen, Maida,
1996-1998
Box 2, Folder 27
Tomb, Aaron and Bronwyn,
1990-1993
[Tomb], Bronwyn--See: Box 1 / Folder 21 Dasmann, Lauren
Box 2, Folder 31
White, Kate ("de Kansas"),
1996-1998, undated
Box 2, Folder 33
Williamson, Mary,
1976-1998
Women in Print Conference
Box 2, Folder 34
Winslow, Margaret,
1979
See also:
Box 2 / Folder 74 (photographs)
Box 2, Folder 35
Winter, Nadine (Council of the District of Columbia),
1981
Women in Distribution--See: Box 1 / Folder 28 Gair, Cynthia
Women in Distribution--See: Box 1 / Folder 37 Harris, Helaine
Women in Print Conference--See: Box 2 / Folder 33 Williamson, Mary
Yeats, Leighton--See: Box 1 / Folder 42 Jones, Sparky
Box 2, Folder 36
Young, Evelyn (aunt),
1977
Series 2
Subject Files,
1978-2006
Physical Description:
9.0 folders
Scope and contents note
Of particular interest are the interview of Stockwell which appeared in
The Hill Rag and the article by Susan Brownmiller. The biographical outline and list of published works are a helpful synopsis of Stockwell's
life and work. The collected memories of Stockwell's life are touching and really illustrate the impact of her work and her
personality. The official ballot for the Democratic National Committee includes Stockwell as a candidate.
Arrangement note
Arranged alphabetically by folder title. Items larger than 8-1/2 x 14 inches are filed in Box 3.
Box 2, Folder 38
Biographical outline,
undated
Box 2, Folder 39
An Exceptional Gift: remembrances of Nancy Stockwell,
2000
Box 3, Folder 1
"From Kansas to Capitol Hill: A feminist writer’s views" by Celeste McCall,
1978
General Note
Interview of Stockwell published in
The Hill Rag, vol. 2 (7), June 10-July 8, 1978 (Washington, DC).
Box 2, Folder 40
List of correspondents,
undated
Box 2, Folder 41
Nancy Stockwell Scholarship announcement,
2006
Box 2, Folder 42
Official ballot...Election of delegates to the Democratic National Committee. District of Columbia. Congressional District
II,
1980
Box 2, Folder 43
Old Faithful Trading Co. business card,
undated
Box 2, Folder 44
Publications list,
undated
Box 2, Folder 45
References to Stockwell in: Brownmiller, Susan.
In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution (Dial Press, 1999),
1999
Series 3
Works,
1974-1998
Physical Description:
33.0 folders
Scope and contents note
There are several short stories, and drafts and proofs of a number of printed pieces including
Out Somewhere and Back Again. A few of the pieces are autobiographical. Of interest are the paste-ups of
The Bright Medusa and the printed copies of
Plexus; both titles document early publishing by the San Francisco Bay Area's feminist community.
Arrangement note
Arranged alphabetically by title. Items larger than 8-1/2 x 14 inches are filed in Box 3.
Box 3, Folder 2
"Beaver Dams" in
Washington Review, vol. 6 (2), (Washington, DC),
August-September 1980
Box 2, Folder 46
The Bright Medusa, v. 1 (1), [paste-up],
Fall 1976
Box 2, Folder 47
The Bright Medusa, v. 1 (2), [paste-up],
Spring 1977
Box 2, Folder 49
Deadman's Curve,
1983, [1995]
Box 3, Folder 3
"The Diva" in
Washington Review, vol. 10 (2), (Washington, DC),
August-September 1984
Box 3, Folder 4
"The Economics of Art / Myths and Rituals" in
Amazon: a Midwest journal for women, vol. 5 (4), (Milwaukee, WI),
October/November 1976
Box 2, Folder 52
Grace (
Quest editorial),
undated
Box 2, Folder 53
How Virginia Bought-it in California,
undated
Box 2, Folder 54
[Letter to friends],
October 1996
Box 2, Folder 55
Lucky Girls: a novel,
1993
Box 2, Folder 56
Lucky Girls [excerpt] in
Best Lesbian Erotica 1996, selected and introduced by Heather Lewis, edited by Tristan Taormino (Pittsburgh, Pa.: Cleis Press, 1996),
1996
Box 2, Folder 57
Our Queer Future: a new species emerges, or, who are we and when will we know?
undated
Box 2, Folder 58
Out Somewhere and Back Again. Page proofs,
undated
General note
For correspondence, see: Box 1 / Folder 62 Meyers, Joan C.
Box 2, Folder 59
Out Somewhere and Back Again. #1 proof copy,
undated
Box 2, Folder 60
Out Somewhere and Back Again. Reviews and promotional postcard,
1978-1979
Box 2, Folder 61
Out Somewhere and Back Again [button],
undated
Box 3, Folder 5
Plexus, vol. 1 (4-10, 12-13),
May-November 1974, January-February 1975
Box 3, Folder 6
Plexus, vol. 2 (1-11),
March-December 1975, January-February 1976
Box 3, Folder 7
Plexus, vol. 3 (1-2, 4-5, 7-9),
March-April, June-July, September-November 1976
General note
Article clipped from page 5-6 of November 1976 issue.
Box 3, Folder 8
Plexus, vol. 4 (1),
March 1977
General note
Piece clipped from back cover.
Box 2, Folder 62
Plot Outline, [Katherine Jenkins, vice-president elect, murdered by husband],
undated
Box 2, Folder 63
Prairie Fairies at Gay Games (in
Freedom Coalition Bulletin, v. 3 (2),
1994 August
Box 2, Folder 64
The Ruby Shoe Rebellion,
[1992]
Box 2, Folder 66
Seven Hours from the Border,
[1998]
Box 2, Folder 67
Tell Your Mother,
undated
Box 2, Folder 69
"An Uphill Lie" in
A True Likeness: lesbian and gay writing today, edited by Felice Picano (New York: Sea Horse Press, 1980),
1980
Box 2, Folder 70
"We are the pot-of-gold theory of like kind of family,"
undated
Series 4
Audiovisual Materials,
[1956?]-1998
Physical Description:
4.0 folders
(2 audiotapes, 1 videotape, 5 photographs, 4 newspaper clippings of photographs)
Scope and contents note
This series contains an audiotape of Stockwell's talk at the Outwrite conference in 1996 and a videotape of
The Challenge of Nancy Stockwell produced by Ann P. Meredith in 1997. The photographs include a small oval high school era photo, a snapshot with Cynthia
Gair, an 8x10 photo of Stockwell at the October 1979 national gay rights march on Washington, D.C., and two 1998 Polaroid
shots of Stockwell post-lung transplant. The clippings are of Stockwell as an adult: one on the steps of her Washington, D.C.
home, two in golf attire, and one playing fiddle.
Arrangement note
Arranged alphabetically by title.
Box 2, Folder 72
The Challenge of Nancy Stockwell by Ann P. Meredith,
October 1997
Physical Description:
1.0 videotape
General note
VHS videotape. Kansas City, KS. Producer: Ann P. Meredith. Distributor: Dyke TV.
Box 2, Folder 73
OutSpoken Reading Series. OutWrite '96 (Boston, Massachusetts: 1996),
February 25, 1996
Physical Description:
2.0 audiotapes
General note
The 6th National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Writers' Conference. Features: Laura Koplewitz, Mona de Vestal,
Alan Brown, Michael Thomas Ford, Rochelle Schwab, Charlene Allen, Jackie Lapidus, Alvia Golden, David Stein, Ellen Farmer,
Nancy Stockwell, Alan Helms.
Box 2, Folder 74
Photographs,
[1956?], 1979, 1998, undated
Physical Description:
5.0 images
General note
Cynthia Gair, Margaret Winslow.
Box 2, Folder 75
Photographs clipped from newspapers,
undated
Physical Description:
4.0 items
Series 5
Diaries/Journals,
1986-1998
Physical Description:
8.0 volumes
Access
This series is closed to research until 2060 per Nancy Stockwell.
Scope and contents note
This series contains journals and diaries that document Stockwell's activities, thoughts and feelings in the twelve years
prior to her death. Unfortunately, her early journals from the 1960s through the 1980s were destroyed by the family in the
years between her death and when her other papers were donated to the library.
Arrangement note
Arranged chronologically.
Box 4, Item 1
Journal #17,
January 1986, July 1986-January 1992
Box 4, Item 2
Journal #18,
January 1992-July 1992
Box 4, Item 3
Journal #19,
July 1992-February 1993
Box 4, Item 4
Journal #20,
February 1993-May 1994
Box 4, Item 5
Journal #21,
May 1994-May 1995
Box 4, Item 6
Journal #22,
May 1995-December 1996
Box 4, Item 7
Journal #23,
January 1997-June 1998
Box 4, Item 8
Spiral Bound notebook,
September 1998