Finding aid to the Lynn Lonidier Papers, 1958-1993

Finding aid prepared by David Hatfield Sparks
James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA, 94102
(415) 557-4400
info@sfpl.org
1996


Title: Lynn Lonidier Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1958-1993
Date (bulk): 1967-1993
Collection Identifier: GLC 1
Creator: Lonidier, Lynn
Physical Description: 9 cartons + 1 oversized box (9.0 cubic feet)
Contributing Institution: James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Abstract: The papers include correspondence, manuscripts, drafts, research materials and notes, financial and publishing documents, and photographs that relate to Lonidier's career as a teacher, writer/poet, and lesbian-feminist activist. It also includes objects used in two of her performance pieces.
Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English.

Access

The collection is open for research, with photographs available for viewing during Photo Desk hours: Tuesday: 1-5; Thursday: 1-5; Saturday: 10-12, 1-5.

Publication Rights

Copyright retained by Fred Lonidier.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Lynn Lonidier Papers (GLC 1), Gay and Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Provenance

The Lynn Lonidier Papers were donated to The San Francisco Public Library by Fred Lonidier in 1995.

Biographical note

Lynn Lonidier was born in Lakeview, Oregon on April 22, 1937. Often describing herself as a "card-carrying anarchafeminist," Lonidier was a teacher, author and multimedia and theater performance artist. As a West Coast writer, she was active in the San Francisco literary scene, especially within the lesbian/feminist community, during the 1970s until the time of her death in 1993. Also a musician, she studied composition and collaborated with Pauline Oliveros at the University of California at San Diego. She also attended San Francisco State University where, as a cellist, she majored in performance. She also received a M. A. in Media/Education in 1975 from the University of Washington at Seattle.
While teaching public school in Northern California in the 1960s, Lonidier participated in the "Poet in the Schools" program. She also helped coordinate the Pegasus Program, sponsored by San Francisco State University, that encouraged public school students to write poetry and publish, under Lonidier's direction, numerous chapbooks. In the mid-1960s, Lonidier helped to design a new series in this program that emphasized the use of audiovisual equipment and techniques in the student creation and performance of poetry and "light show-happenings." She was also interested in encouraging the writing of bilingual poetry, especially Spanish/English, to children in San Francisco's Mission District. During the 1970s and 1980s, she also taught, and lectured on feminist topics in writing and multimedia performance in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California, especially at the San Francisco Women's Building, of which she was a "Founding Mother." She was also a "light-optics artist" in 1969 for the Electric Circus in New York City and also worked in the same capacity at the 1970 World's Fair, held in Japan. This kind of "multimedia" aspect, reflected in the combination of poetry, film, animation, two and three dimensional visual arts and music, in a theatrical or "performance art" setting, characterizes her approach to her life work reflected in this collection.
Lonidier was the recipient of a California Arts Councils grant, a member of the Mission Alliance for a Popular Culture. She was associated with the Feminist Writers Guild as well as other Bay Area based writers' organizations and projects, such as the Lavender Rose Collective founded by Judy Grahn. She performed, read, and lectured extensively throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area at such venues as the Women's Building, Intersection for the Arts, Mission Cultural Center, Small Press Traffic as well as many other San Francisco cultural spaces and cafes. She also participated in the 1988 National Poetry Week Festival held in San Francisco. In the early 1990s, she also attended the International Women Writers Conference held in Argentina.
Lonidier's published collections of poetry include Clitoris Lost: A Woman's Version of the Creation Myth (1989), The Female Freeway (1970), A Lesbian Estate (1977), Po Tree (1967), and Woman Explorer (1979). Published broadsides include A Jellyfish Swim (1972); Christmas Kitty in Bilingualand, or, What I Did This Year (1986), For Sale: Girl Poet Cheap (1977). She was also published in numerous important poetry journals including The Ladder and the San Francsico Review and poetry collections including She Rises Like the Sun (1989) edited by Janine Canan. Lonidier was also the author of several unpublished novels, plays, and multimedia/theater works which are found in this collection.
Although her work is eclectic, reflecting an interest in eroticism, satire, surrealism as well as politics and popular culture, she considered her poetry mentors to be Robert Duncan and Jerome Rothenberg. Her work, however, consistently presents a lesbian and feminist consciousness and experience, that enriches lesbian literature, especially in its irreverent postmoderism. Lonidier's friends and colleagues included Karen Brodine, Jess Collins (Robert Duncan's long-time companion), Robert Gluck, Barbara Grier, Judy Grahn, Noni Howard, Pauline Oliveros, and Betty Wong. Lonidier died in San Francisco on May 18, 1993.

Scope and Contents

The Lynn Lonidier Papers include correspondence, manuscripts, drafts, research materials and notes, financial and publishing documents, and photographs that relate to her career as a teacher, writer, and lesbian feminist activist. Materials related to her personal life and relationships are not numerous in this collection.
The creative works, found in Series 1. Works, consist of manuscripts (often including multiple annotated and corrected drafts) of poems, short stories, novels, multimedia theater works, including works for live performance, television and film. Also found in this series is correspondence, notices of public performances, and forthcoming publications. This series is divided into three Subseries: 1A. Poetry and Prose; 1B. Multimedia and Theater Pieces; and 1C. Works by Others. While drafts of poems, novels, and short prose dominate the Works series, also present are numerous creative notes and outlines for plots of proposed fiction, poetry and other genres, such as opera. Nonfiction works include book reviews and essays. Notes for and partial drafts of works are often interfiled with manuscripts and also found in other series such as Subject Files and Personal Papers.
Correspondence with friends, literary agents, and publishers is not numerous in this collection and is found throughout the collection. Within the Personal Papers series, however, is found correspondence related to Lonidier's publishing and writing career. Correspondence with Ilse Kornreich, found in Subseries 1C. Works by Others, is of a more personal nature. Letters present do reflect Lonidier's literary career and mutual influence women writers, artists, and organizations had on Lonidier's personal life and career. Significant correspondents include: Karen Brodine, Barbara Grier, George Hitchcock, Noni Howard, Ilse Kornreich, Paul Mariah, Pauline Oliveros, Jane Rule, and Betty Wong. A list of correspondents can be found at the end of this finding aid.
Series 2. Subject Files reflect Lonidier's varied research interests including feminist theory and politics, the environment, education, lesbian and transgender experience and culture, occult and ancient cultures (Egyptian and Mayan), writing and publishing. Series 3. Teaching Materials consists of a variety of educational material from Lonidier's student and teaching career. Series 4. Personal Papers focuses on her academic, publishing, performance and writing career. Documents found here include publishing and financial records as well as manuscripts and research notes for Lonidier's Master's exam and thesis. Also found here are other class notes and creative drafts originating from her educational experience and include the work of Pauline Oliveros. Business or publishing records include such items as daybooks of publishing addresses, submission records, maps, travel guides, personal and publicity photographs. Some general finances including records and photographs of her personal possessions are also found in this series. Series 5. Printed Matter includes printed materials that consist of the numerous magazines, journals, newspapers in which Lonidier's work was published. Also present are several pamphlets and booklets that explicate the types of audiovisual equipment which she used when performing her theater pieces.
There are two additional cartons of materials, props, and objects used in the multimedia/theater performance pieces. These include "The Dolls' Piece" props found in carton 8 and "The Jar Piece" props found in carton 9. The Lonidier papers represent aspects of her work and life from early in her career to her death in 1993. Beyond the study of Lonidier and her writings during part of the most prolific times of her life, this collection also provides insight into the process of writing and publishing of women and lesbian writers, especially in San Francisco and California, in the last half of the twentieth century.

Arrangement note

The collection is arranged in five series: Series 1. Works; Series 2. Subject Files; Series 3. School and Teaching Materials; Series 4. Personal Papers; and Series 5. Printed Matter.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Lonidier, Lynn--Archives
Oliveros, Pauline, 1932-
American poetry--Women authors.
Feminism--Poetry.
Feminist fiction.
Gays--California--San Francisco--Social life and customs--20th century.
Lesbian feminists--California--San Francisco.
Lesbian poets.|2henn
Lesbians--Poetry.
Performance artists--California--San Francisco
Teachers--California--San Francisco.

 

Series 1 Works, 1959-1993, undated

Physical Description: 4.25 cubic feet

Scope and Contents

The Works series is divided in three subseries: Subseries 1A–Poetry and Prose; Subseries 1B–Multimedia and Theater Pieces; and Subseries 1C–Works by others. It consists of drafts (original and carbon copy) proofs of poems, short stories, screenplays, novels, book reviews, speeches, as well as scripts or instructions for performance of multimedia theater pieces and includes numerous corrected and annotated versions. The manuscripts found here, both holograph and typescript, represent drafts, modified with corrections, annotations, and inserts as well as complete drafts that Lonidier described as "original" and "master" copies.
The folders often contain numerous manuscripts and/or related notes, proposals, and correspondence. Many of the drafts of poems are written verso (reverse side) of other incomplete manuscripts by Lonidier or various printed materials (some generated by the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay and feminist communities). This series contains both published and unpublished material, which are identified whenever possible. Also found here is correspondence that relates to the publication of materials or Lonidier's writing process.

Arrangement note

This series is alphabetically arranged by published titles or Lonidier's folder headings.
 

Subseries 1A Poetry and Prose, 1959-1991, n.d.

Scope and Contents

This subseries consists of drafts, annotated and corrected typescripts, notebooks, notes, book reviews, plays or dramatic treatments, poems, novels, and other short creative prose works. Also found here are files that contain creative, biographic, or career-oriented notes, drafts of works, and proposals for future work in various formats (holograph, typescript, photocopy) and stages of preparation (whole pages and page fragments). Lonidier's poetry collections and chapbooks, that often include front matter and publicity materials, in this series include A Lesbian Estate, 1977. Manuscripts for early poetry collections ("Sigrid") and individual poems, 1959-1964 as well as similar later materials, such as "My Newest Poetry 1990-1991," are also found here. There are also numerous drafts of unfinished collections of poems found in folders labeled by "working title." These include "Pocho Poems," "Partita and Other Poems," "2nd Landmark Poem," "Unfinished Seattle Poetry," and "The Making of a Mayan." Also found here are folders, such as that labeled "Pop Poems," that include a variety of materials (newspaper clippings of ads and other visual materials) often clipped together with drafts of poems. Two folders of proofs for poems are also found in this collection. Also found here is an unbound copy of Poetry from Violence (1976), edited by Lonidier, accompanied by folder of related materials and a copy of her 1970 chapbook, The Female Freeway.
Manuscripts of Lonidier's unpublished novels found here include: The Banana Lady (1984, 1986), Candy's Cane (revised 1970), The Hanged Man (undated), The Nursery (undated), Phantom of the Organ (undated), Sacrificial Lambs [1976], and A Very Faerie Tale [1986]. Many of these materials are accompanied by numerous holographic fragments, revisions, critical notes and related correspondence. Manuscripts of short prose found in this series include drafts of four short stories tentatively entitled "Lesbian Dreams," the drafts and newspaper clipping of a book reviews of The Once and Future Goddess by Elinor Gadon (1990), and Young Robert Duncan (1973) by Ekbert Faas as well as various versions of an essay, "The Facts Are, The Poem Is." Journals and notebooks created by Lonidier are present in this series and include "Surfaces On" and "Journal of Myself: The Land of Quintana Roo." Other bound journals and notebooks that include notes, drafts of poems and materials related to Lonidier's writing career are found in Subject Files and Personal Papers.
Box 1, Folder 1

Artists Liberation Front For What?—Typescript, pp. 1-8; also includes newspaper clipping, undated

Box 1, Folder 2

Attic (Excerpt from The The)—Typescript with corrections (3pp.), undated

 

The Banana Lady, 1975-1993, undated

Physical Description: 4.0 folders
Box 1, Folder 3

"Master" typescript, pp. 1-142, 1984-1993

Box 1, Folder 4

"Master" typescript, pp. 143-192; includes synopsis and "eliminated pages," 1984-1993

Box 1, Folder 5

Editing notes and revisions; includes critique and correspondence, 1975; also includes "The Berkeley Novel" by Raymond Rice, 1975, undated

Box 1, Folder 6

Photocopy, pp. 3-192, title page numbered #9, undated

Box 1, Folder 7

Bette Davis Dream—Carbon copy draft (4 pp.), undated

Box 1, Folder 8

Birds of Permanent Residence—Typescript with printers marks and corrections; includes unbound print copy, pp. 46-52, undated

Box 1, Folder 9

[Book Review] The Once and Future Goddess—Corrected typescript, pp. 1-3 and newspaper clipping, 1990

Box 1, Folder 10

["Broken Dolls" by Jennifer Onstott]—Introduction and editing notes by Lonidier—typescript and photocopy; also includes clippings and correspondence, 1978

 

Candy's Cane, 1979, undated

Physical Description: 4.0 folders
Box 1, Folder 11

Revised draft—Typescript with annotations, corrections, pp. 1-120 and various chapter drafts, pp. A-G, 41-46, undated

Box 1, Folder 12

Revised draft—Carbon copy with annotations, corrections, pp. 1-117; also includes "old revised copy," undated

Box 1, Folder 13

Revised—draft with corrections and notes, November 1979

Box 1, Folder 14

Revised version—Photocopy, pp.1-116, undated

Box 1, Folder 15

Clitoris Lost—Publicity and front matter, includes photographs, slides, and correspondence, 1989

Oversized Box 1

Computer poem with Fred Lonidier, undated

Box 1, Folder 17

Continuo—Typescript with correction, pp. 1-17, 19, 20 and two final p. 19's; also includes a second annotated typescript draft version, undated

Box 1, Folder 18

A Dream of Mask—Typescript with annotations, pp. 1-5, undated

Box 1, Folder 19

The Facts Are, The Poem Is—Typescripts and photocopies includes three versions of essay; also includes untitled manuscript (2 pp.), undated

Box 1, Folder 20

The Female Freeway—Self-published chapbook (cover consists of a large hand-glued photograph of Lonidier), 1970

Box 1, Folder 21

Feminist Articles—The Coming Together of Multifarious Women—Typescript, pp. 1-5; You Can Write Better With Leather Breasts Than You Can With Lead Ears—Typescript, pp. 1-5; also includes a book review of Woman on the Edge of Time, and a typed transcription of a journal entry piece by Betty and Shirley Wong (2pp.), undated

Box 1, Folder 22

Film as a Dream of a Poem for Women—Typescripts (2), pp. 1-4, undated

Box 1, Folder 23

Flight Cap with Detachable Goggles—Typescript with corrections, pp. 1-28, includes two carbon copies, one edited in 1989, 1989

Box 1, Folder 24

For Sale: Girl Poet Cheap—Broadsheet of poem with advertising, 1977

Box 1, Folders 25-26

The Hanged Man (Revised draft, pp.1-235), undated

Box 1, Folder 27

Headley and the Headhunters—Typescript, pp. 1-10, undated

Box 1, Folder 28

Higher Learning—Collected poems, typescript; includes multiple copies, pp. 1-34, undated

Box 1, Folder 29

I Always Wanted—Typescript (two versions) with corrections, pp. 1-8, undated

Box 1, Folder 30

In the Air Milk Pain—Typescript draft, pp. 1-16, undated

Box 1, Folder 31

Japanese Horror Tale—Typescript draft, pp. 1-5 and photocopy, pp. 70-75, undated

Box 1, Folder 32

Journal of Myself: The Land of Quintana Roo—Bound journal; also includes inserted notes, clippings and programs, [ca. 1975]

Box 1, Folder 33

[Journal, Untitled]—Bound journal concerning Mexico and South America, undated

Box 1, Folder 34

A Lesbian Compendium—Typescript and holograph notes, includes photocopy with corrections, [ca. 1984]

Box 1, Folder 35

Lesbian Dreams—I Always Wanted; Elephant Mystery; Stint in the Antarctic; Sampler—Typescripts and photocopies, undated

 

A Lesbian Estate, 1977

Box 1, Folder 36

Typescript with corrections and annotations, 1970-1973

Box 1, Folder 37

Critical response to John Jacob's review; includes correspondence, 1978

Box 1, Folder 38

Little Girl, Little Girl (story and play)—Typescript, corrected and annotated, and photocopies; also includes a second version for play or film script, undated

Box 1, Folder 39

The Losers—Typescript of poems with corrections, pp. 1-5, undated

Box 1, Folder 40

The Making of a Mayan—Typescript with corrections and notes; includes chapter entitled Sky Pilot Messages, undated

Box 2, Folder 1

Marty McNary From Seneca Missouri—Typescript with illustrations, pp. 1-20, undated

Box 2, Folder 2

Mayan poetry, Unfinished—Typescript with corrections and notes, undated

Box 2, Folder 3

The Miss Cruthers Story—Typescript, pp. 1-22; second version with annotations and corrections, pp. 1-23; also includes miscellaneous notes and untitled typescripts, undated

Box 2, Folder 4

Multimammia—Typescript, pp. 1-15 and photocopy, undated

Box 2, Folder 5

Mutations (Poems, Nuclear Fallout, Fell Upon)—Typescript with holographic inserts, undated

Box 2, Folder 6

My Newest Poetry 1990-1991—Gretel and Gretel (2 pp.); Camilla on a Couch, with introductory notes (3 pp.); Greta Garbo Leaves California..., pp. 1-5; and I was a Teenage Lesbian, Age Thirty-Five—typescripts with holograph notes, annotations and corrections, 1990-1991

Box 2, Folder 7

[Notes]—Miscellaneous creative holograph and typescript notes, undated

Box 2, Folder 8

Novel About Work—Miscellaneous drafts and research notes for novel; includes a note from Karen Brodine [see Sacrificial Lambs], undated

Box 2, Folder 9

[Novel Excerpts]—Typescripts with corrections and proposed changes for The Banana Lady, A Very Faerie Tale, The Phantom of the Organ and "master" of Banana Lady, undated

Box 2, Folder 10

[Novel Excerpts]—Typescript with annotations and corrections, pp. 66-269; includes leaflets for Lonidier performance, undated

Box 2, Folder 11

Novel Notes—Typescript and holograph drafts and fragments for proposed and current novels, undated

 

The Nursery, undated

Physical Description: 3.0 folders
Box 2, Folders 12-13

Carbon Copy draft with corrections, pp. 1-321, undated

Box 2, Folder 14

The Nursery: Novel Notes—Miscellaneous notes from a spiral bound teacher's plan book, undated

Box 2, Folder 15

Ordinary Oranges/Pop Poems—Typescript with holograph corrections, annotations and additional notes, undated

Box 2, Folder 16

Partita: A Collection of Verse in Progress—Typescript with holograph corrections in non-sequential numbering pp. i-vi, xv, x, vii, viii, undated

Box 2, Folder 17

Partita and Other Poems—Annotated typescript on 5x8" paper, undated

Box 2, Folder 18

People Feeling Loving Bell Jars ["Letter to a Lover"]—Typescript of chapbook with annotations and corrections, undated

 

Phantom of the Organ, 1985, 1990

Physical Description: 7.0 folders
Box 2, Folders 19-20

"Master, in order and complete,"—Typescript with corrections, pp. 1-340, 1985, 1990

Box 2, Folders 21-22

Draft with corrections, pp. 1-340, 1990

Box 2, Folder 23-24

Second copy, pp. 1-340, 1990

Box 2, Folder 25

Revised drafts of chapters and notes, undated

Box 2, Folder 26

Pocho Poems: La Language Bandida (Spanish Immersión—Bilingual poems for a proposed chapbook—Typescript with annotations, corrections, and additional notes; also includes Christmas Kitty en Bilingualand, broadsheet with illustrations, undated

Box 3, Folder 1

Poems—Typescript with corrections and annotations, June 1960-April 1964

Box 3, Folder 2

[Poetry Drafts and Notes]—The Murals—holograph draft; From the Lost Land of Quintana Roo—Typescript and photocopy; also includes miscellaneous holograph and mimeograph drafts of poems and creative notes, undated

 

Poetry From Violence, 1976

Oversized Box 1

Unbound copy of chapbook edited by Lynn Lonidier, et al., 1976

Box 3, Folder 4

[Notes]—Miscellaneous creative holograph and typescript notes, 1976; includes list of poems; draft of "Dream;" "The King of Oxidental" with a note to "Dear B."; also includes an annotated draft of Owed to Joy typed verso of a flyer for a benefit for Poetry from Violence; and "Love Poem" typed verso of a business letter dated July 16, 1976, 1976

Box 3, Folder 5

Poetry Projects—Poets are Sometimes such Pricks—Typescript verso of A Little Detective Work; also includes miscellaneous notes and drafts of poems, undated

Box 3, Folders 6-7

Poetry Proofs—Printed pages from unidentified chapbook, undated

Box 3, Folder 8

Pop Poems—Holograph and typescript drafts and notes poems clipped to related magazine advertisements, undated

Box 3, Folder 9

Portrait of the Long Boys—Photocopy of miscellaneous poems and notes, some verso of other typescripts drafts, undated

Box 3, Folder 10

Quartet grotesque with coda—Typescripts (2) with corrections and annotations, pp. 1-15, undated

Box 3, Folder 11

Quipu Diary by Quintana Roo—Carbon and photocopy with corrections and annotations, undated

 

Sacrificial Lambs, 1976, undated

Physical Description: 7.0 folders
Box 3, Folder 12

"Original" Typescript, pp. 1-192, undated

Box 3, Folders 13-14

Typescript draft with corrections and annotations, pp. 1-199; some pages verso of other untitled drafts of works, as well as newsletters and political posters; also includes correspondence, 1976

Box 3, Folder 15

Typescript draft and carbon copy with corrections, pp. 1-90, 2-20, 2-11, undated

Box 3, Folder 16

Photocopy draft, pp. 1-208, undated

Box 3, Folder 17

Photocopy draft with critical annotations, undated

Box 3, Folder 18

Photocopy with annotations on title page, undated

Box 3, Folder 19

The Saint Hanging in the…—Typescript with corrections and annotations, pp. 1-12, includes photocopy, undated

Box 3, Folder 20

Sampler—Typescript with corrections and annotations and two carbon copies, undated

Box 3, Folder 21

Saturdays Clockwork—Typescript with corrections and annotations, pp. 1-2, undated

Box 3, Folder 22

Schubert [poetry notebook]—Typescript with corrections; includes miscellaneous holographic notes, undated

Box 3, Folder 23

Seattle Poetry, Untitled—Typescript with miscellaneous holographic notes, undated

Box 3, Folder 24

2nd Landmark Poem—Holographic creative notes for poems, verso of photocopies of other poems and leaflets, [ca. 1990]

Box 3, Folder 25

Sigrid (Poems Starting January 1959)—Drafts of poems for a chapbook; typed copies of reviews, and correspondence, 1959, 1961, undated

Box 3, Folder 26

Sigrid—Typescript draft of chapbook, pp. 1-64, undated

Box 3, Folder 27

Stint in the Antarctic—Underlined draft copy (pp. 159-165) and photocopy, pp. 1-6, undated

Box 3, Folder 28

Surfaces On [poetry notebook]—Carbon copy with corrections, pages use non-sequential numbering, undated

Box 3, Folder 29

[Two Stories]—Teacher Have Dirty Minds, typescript, pp. 6-10; Elmer and the Shell, typescript, pp. 11-13, undated

 

A Very Faerie Tale, 1985-1993

Physical Description: 8.0 folders
Box 3, Folder 30

"Master, in progress, 1985"—Typescript draft with annotations and corrections, pp. 1-162 and pp. 163-275, 1985

Box 3, Folder 31, Box 4, Folder 1

Typescript draft with corrections and annotations, undated

Physical Description: 2.0 folders
Box 4, Folders 2-3

Earlier version—annotated typescript and photocopy, pages numbered non-sequentially, undated

Box 4, Folder 4

[Revisions and notes, ca. 1987]—includes photocopy excerpt, pp. 180-258 and correspondence (1986), 1986-1987

Box 4, Folder 5

[Three Revisions]—Miscellaneous pages with holographic notes; includes photocopy dated January 1990, 1990, undated

Box 4, Folder 6

[Excerpt]—Typescript; includes correspondence, 1993

Box 4, Folder 7

When a Poet Writes Prose [book review of Young Robert Duncan]—Typescript and corrected photocopy; includes correspondence, 1984; also includes program of Lonidier's reading/lecture at Intersection, October 15, no year, 1984, undated

Box 4, Folder 8

Why I Orange Love Thee—Collected poems, photocopy, pp. 1-8 (p. 4 missing), undated

Box 4, Folder 9

The Woman Sex Partner Enterprise—Annotated carbon copy of draft, undated; includes a log of poetry submissions sent to England, undated

Box 4, Folder 10

Words Poem—Holograph draft, pp. 1-2, verso of annotated and corrected typescript of untitled work, undated

 

Subseries 1B Multimedia and Theater Pieces, 1967-1974, undated

Scope and Contents

This subseries includes drafts of screenplays or scripts (including outlines), for mostly unpublished performance art works or dramas. Such scripts, which Lonidier usually calls "scores," are often a set of instruction for the performance as well as the sequence of various props and events of the work. Also found here are drafts for television projects and film as well as music and opera, including a partial music manuscript and text for an untitled opera, the script for "The Rhyme of the Age-ed Mariness" and "The Flying Symphony: A Theater Piece for the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic." Also found here are the notes, scripts, and objects, and other materials used in "The Dolls' Playette," some versions of which is called "The Dolls: A Theater Piece." Included with this performance piece are instructions and stage directions, here called "How to Do the Doll Piece" and "Opaque Sequences" as well as various materials listed in the score. These include such items as slides, photographs, cut-out images from magazines, color gels (used for lights), and objects--such as Barbie dolls. Also found in this series are similar types of materials, including glass jars, color gels, and scripts, for "The Jar Piece." The many other multimedia/theater pieces found in this collection usually consist of only drafts of "scores" and lack other material and objects for performance.
Box 4, Folder 11

Alain Robbe Grillet is Alive and Living Well in NYC: A Performance Manifesto—Typescript with annotations and corrections; includes miscellaneous notes, undated

 

Alchemy Opera 1974, undated

Physical Description: 3.0 folders
Box 4, Folder 12

[Script]—Typescript and photocopy, 1974; includes notes and critique by "Ray;" also includes a sketch, 1974, undated

Box 4, Folder 13

A Play—Photocopy of draft, pp. 1-37, 1974

Box 4, Folder 14

Incomplete draft, pp. 1-11, 23, 37; includes two carbon copies pp. 1-37; also includes holographic notes and sketches, undated

Box 4, Folder 15

[Animated Film, Untitled]—Film tape on reel, text/notes on index cards, sketches and transparencies and a small bound children's cartoon book, undated

Box 4, Folder 16

Anomaly: A Lonidier Production, 1973—Television typescript with annotations; also includes another script titled A Glimpse of the Finite: A Theater Piece Dedicated to McLuhan, 1973

Box 4, Folder 17

Archeological Expedition #2—Typescript with corrections and annotations, [1970]

Box 4, Folder 18

Carl Frost and Robert Sandbag: A Theater Piece for Dead Poets and Live Audience—Typescript draft, pp. 1-11 with illustrations and photocopy, undated

Box 4, Folder 19

Coming and Going—Typescript of film proposal, undated

Box 4, Folder 20

Diego Rivera—Typescript of "tape score" with readers; includes poetry and photographic slides for performance, undated

Box 4, Folder 21

The Doppelganger's Stomp: A Theater Piece for All Blonde Cello Players Named Lin-Lynn-Lynne—Typescript draft, pp. 1-4 with illustrations and photocopy, [1971]

 

The Dolls [1972, also called The Dolls' Playette], [1972]

Box 4, Folder 22

The Dolls: A Theater Piece—Typescript, pp. 1-8; The Dolls' Playette, Typescript, pp. 12-28 and Women's Building program, San Francisco, [1972]

Box 4, Folder 23

How to Do the Doll Piece and Opaque Sequences—Typescript of instructions/stage directions with holographic notes; also includes miscellaneous poems and annotated photocopies, [1972]

Box 4, Folder 24

The Dolls' Playette—Photocopy of draft with illustrations used in performance, [1972]

Box 4, Folder 25

The Dolls' Slides—Two boxes of photographic slides, [1972]

Box 8

[Objects for performance], [1972]

General note

Inventory of props for "The Dolls' Piece." Some pieces mentioned in instructions, others pictured in slides: Artificial roses; Barbie heads (3); Batman with separate head (Plastic bottle figure); Beer tabs; Birth control pills container, punched-out; Black doll (small); Blue and red bow; Broken pottery female figure labeled "Hotel Del Mar;" Coke bottle and nipple; Contraceptive foam applicator; Different sized pills; "Foam machine"—plastic tube with pad; Four clothes pins; Hair combs, bobby pins, razor blade; Heart shaped valentine; Ken or male figure; Large and small garter fastener; Large doll's leg; Nude picture playing cards; Nylon stocking; Plastic water guns (2); Red gel; Rubber potato bug, creepy-crawler; Sachet bag, cosmetic purse with lettering; Six food dye bottles (small); Small bottle of prescription medicine; Small rope; The Ravager; Tiny Mite troll doll (2) with capsule; Troll doll; Two headless woman figures.
Box 4, Folder 26

The Flying Symphony: A Theater Piece for the Bay Area Women's Philharmonic—Signed typescript verso of untitled essay, pp. 1-4, undated

Box 4, Folder 27

The Goatee—Typescript, pp. 1-6, undated

Box 4, Folder 28

I Ching Projections—Holograph and typescript stage directions with corrections and annotations, 1 p.; includes Commode, typescript of draft (1 p.); also includes notes of I Ching divination readings, undated

Box 4, Folder 29

Interference—Typescript draft, 1974

 

The Jar Piece, [1967]

Box 4, Folder 30

Typescript draft, pp. 1-4; includes photocopy and mimeograph copy with annotations, [1967]

Box 9

Props used in performance, [1967]

General note

Inventory of props for "The Jar Piece": Color Gels; Electronic music tape by Pauline Oliveros (Stereo 7-½ ips)—Not Found; Glass bottles, jars, glasses—2 broken, 4 brown, 2 green, 16 clear; Cardboard sheets; Plastic refractors (headlight, transparent dish, tail light lamps); Reproductions of Michelangelo's Delphic Sibyl and Jesus on cardboard; Sheet of acetate--Not Found.
Box 4, Folder 31

Additional props—Reproductions of Michelangelo's Sibyl on cover of bound book ( Horizon, vol. 4, no. 2, January, 1962) and another reproduction of Jesus on cardboard, 1962

Box 4, Folder 32

Joy Journey and How to Make a Projector Obscura—Photocopies of drafts, undated

Box 4, Folder 33

King Kong Meets English Teachers—Typescript, undated

Box 4, Folder 34

A Little Bit O'Gorilla In Your Mirror, Lady—Typescript, pp. 1-17, undated

Box 4, Folder 35

Maxfield Parrish Slideshow, Body Art—Holographic score/stage directions with transparencies; includes images and material collected from print sources and poster of advertisement, undated

Box 4, Folder 36

[Opera]—Untitled holographic music manuscript (4 pp.) and incomplete typescript with annotations and corrections, pp. 1-8 (2 pages numbered 8), undated

Box 4, Folder 37

Opera Notes—Holograph script and research notes; includes notes on The Rime of the Age-ed Mariness, undated

Box 4, Folder 38

Owed to Oakland [1971]—Annotated typescript of score/instructions, pp. A-B and draft of narration [1971], pp. 1-6; also includes annotated version for Seattle, Washington, pp. 1-6 and photocopy, [1971]

Box 4, Folder 39

Playlight—Typescript, 1 p., undated

Box 4, Folder 40

Play/Pantomime (Original)—Typescript, pp. 1-12, undated

Box 4, Folder 41

Preview of Dying Alchemist—Holographic draft (1 p.) and notes, undated

Box 4, Folder 42

Rhyme of the Age-ed Mariness—Typescript; includes annotated version titled The Rhyme of the Age-ed Mariness: A Lesbian-Ecological Opera, pp. 1-16 and additional annotated pages 13-16, undated

Box 4, Folder 43

Script for Manually Operated Slide Projector—Typescript draft, undated

Box 4, Folder 44

The Supreme Beam—Typescript score with stage directions, undated

Box 4, Folder 45

A Symphony You Can Turn On—Three typescript versions with corrections, undated

Box 4, Folder 46

Theater Pieces by Lynn Lonidier—Typescript of partial inventory, includes notes on first performances and dates (1 p.), undated

Box 4, Folder 47

T.V. Project, A Look at Infinity—A Glimpse of the Finite: A Theater Piece for Television—Corrected typescript, pp. 1-9; includes poetry by Jean Lyons and notes, undated

Box 4, Folder 48

[Untitled]—Draft with instructions/stage directions for performance; also includes photographs mounted on heavy cardboard, undated

Box 4, Folder 49

[Untitled]—Holographic notes and transparencies, undated

 

Subseries 1C Works by Others, 1974-1992, undated

Scope and Contents

In this subseries is found the poetry of several writers including that of Sonja Franeta and Ilse Kornreich. The materials related to Ilse Kornreich include personal correspondence, 1990-1992, undated as well as biographical material concerning this Argentinean lesbian writer/activist. The correspondence with Ilse Kornreich is of a more intimate nature. Also found here are materials relating to the work of Jim Melchert, 1975 and Betty Wong, a San Francisco writer, musician, and friend of Lonidier. Included in this series are signed broadsheets of poems by Robert Duncan and James Broughton as well as poems by Karen Brodine and Noni Howard.
Box 4, Folder 50

Karen Brodine—"Out of Necessity"—photocopy of draft of poem, undated

Box 4, Folder 51

Robert Duncan—Signed broadsheet of poem, undated; also includes broadsheet of poem, "Remembering the Great Bear: A Star Turn for Robert Duncan," 1988 by James Broughton, 1988, undated

Box 4, Folder 52

Sonja Franeta—Miscellaneous drafts of poems,typescript, 1990, undated

Box 4, Folder 53

Noni Howard—photocopy draft of poem, [1981?]

Box 4, Folder 54

Ilse Kornreich—Annotated and corrected holograph and typescript translations of Kornreich's poetry and unbound chapbook, Luna en la Vereda, undated

Box 5, Folder 1

Correspondence, Outgoing—includes holographic notes, 1990-1992, undated

Box 5, Folder 2

Correspondence, Incoming, August 1990-January 1991, undated

Box 5, Folder 3

Interview by Charlotte Bunch, recorded, transcribed, and edited by Lonidier; also includes annotated flyer, 1991

Box 5, Folder 4

Poetry translated by Sonja Franeta—Typescript drafts of poems and personal notes; also includes printed chapbook, Lavender Rose Collection #1 (1990), 1990, undated

Box 5, Folder 5

Betty Wong—Miscellaneous typescripts, photocopies, and notes relating to the work of Betty Wong and Jim Melchert, 1975; includes research material for sound production techniques; also includes Introduction to Ananda Marga and printed materials from The Electric Circus, 1975

 

Series 2 Subject Files, 1971-1990, undated

Physical Description: 0.5 cubic feet

Scope and Contents

This series includes personal notebooks and travel journals that consist of lists of names and addresses, brochures, maps, and other travel documents. Other materials include photographs and research articles with accompanying notes. This series reflects Lonidier's varied research interests including feminist theory and politics, the environment, education, lesbian and transgender experience and culture, occult and ancient cultures (Egyptian and Mayan), writing and publishing. This series also contains some research and creative notes that might constitute rough drafts of poetry and prose.

Arrangement note

Arranged alphabetically using Lonidier's folder headings as well as by subject content, the latter of which is marked by square brackets [ ].
Box 5, Folder 6

[Art and music]—Miscellaneous notes and research articles, undated

Box 5, Folder 7

[Crete and Greek drama and music]—Research notes and articles, undated

Box 5, Folder 8

Dreams, Alchemy, and Occult—Research notes and articles; also includes correspondence and newspaper clippings, 1970-1980

Box 5, Folder 9

[Egypt]—Research notes in a bound journal, undated

Box 5, Folder 10

Getting Published—Research articles and notes, undated

Box 5, Folder 11

Mexico Trip and San Francisco Murals—Maps and research notes and articles, [ca. 1975]

Box 5, Folders 12-13

[Multimedia Research]—Research notes (some verso of others drafts of works) and articles; includes bibliographies and programs from performances, 1971-1978, undated

Box 5, Folder 14

[Opera]—Research notes, articles, and programs, [ca. 1987]

Box 5, Folder 15

[Philosophy, Politics]—Research notes, articles, newspaper clippings and correspondence, undated

Box 5, Folder 16

Poets—Research article, 1983

Box 5, Folder 17

Sex Minorities—Research notes and articles, undated

Box 5, Folder 18

[Women's and Lesbian Publishing]—Miscellaneous notes and references; includes printed matter and holographic notes, undated

 

Series 3 School and Teaching Materials, 1961-1978, undated

Physical Description: 15.0 folders (0.5 cubic feet)

Scope and Contents

This series consists of a variety of educational material from Lonidier's teaching career. Several folders represent Lonidier's focus in feminist and women's studies, and includes notes for classes in multimedia performance as well as research on women writers. Also found here are drafts of proposals for women's studies at San Francisco State University. The majority of materials found in this series are those generated from her teaching poetry and multimedia performance to school children in the Pegasus Program, an affiliate of the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University. Lonidier worked within this program, as well as the broader based "Poets in the Schools" program from the mid-1960s. Materials found in this series include notes and drafts of the children's poems and drawings as well as instructional materials and class plans. Also found here are printed collections of children's poetry created during the program at individual schools, including Blue Door I, II, III; and A Scrawny Cry #3 Spring, 1967.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by published titles or Lonidier's folder headings.
Box 5, Folder 19

Feminist Teaching—Notes and proposal for Women's Studies; also includes research materials on feminism and women writers and teaching documents [1961-1973]

Box 5, Folder 20

Light, Creativity, and Media—Holographic notes for a class, undated

Box 5, Folder 21

My Women's Classes—Holographic notes and newspaper clippings. Pegasus Program (Various school children's poems, drawings, and printed chapbooks), undated

Box 5, Folder 22

"Blue Door" I, II, III—Chapbooks of children's poems edited by Lonidier, undated

Box 5, Folder 23

Chapbooks created at Woodside and Cragmont Elementary Schools; also includes lecture plans and notes, [ca. 1967], undated

Box 5, Folder 24

Collected children's poems and miscellaneous materials, 1967, undated

Box 5, Folder 25

Drafts of children's poetry, instructional materials, and leaflets, 1968, 1978, undated

Box 5, Folders 26-30

Miscellaneous holographic poems, drawings and chapbooks, 1966-1967, undated

Box 6, Folders 1-2

Miscellaneous holographic poems, drawings and chapbooks, [ca. 1966-1967], undated

Box 6, Folder 3

A Scrawny Cry #3, printed chapbook, Spring 1967

 

Series 4 Personal Papers, 1971-1993

Physical Description: 18.0 folders (0.75 cubic feet)

Scope and Contents

This series concerns Londidier's academic, writing, performance, and publishing career. Found here are business documents, such as financial records, royalty statements, and correspondence, that document the financial, legal and business aspects of Lonidier's writing career. This series also contains general business documents, including photographs, of her personal finances and possessions as well as daybooks of business and publishing records. The daybooks list consignments of books to retail stores and also include addresses, dates, and logs of submissions of work.
Correspondence found here includes two folders of outgoing and incoming correspondence, 1977-1993 and one folder of correspondence from Walker and Cole Literary Agents, 1984-1987. Other correspondence found in this collection can be found throughout the collection and has been maintained in Lonidier's original order. The majority of the correspondents include colleagues, literary agents, publishers and distributors. Significant correspondents include: Karen Brodine, Barbara Grier, George Hitchcock, Noni Howard, Paul Mariah, Pauline Oliveros, Jane Rule, and Betty Wong. These letters, while not numerous, help to provide insight into Lonidier's process of writing and publishing.
Also found here are creative and scholarly materials from Lonidier's academic career. Materials for her Master's exam include a draft of the exam as well as the abstract and bibliography for her thesis. Also found in the Master's materials is a short prose piece, "Journal of a Bird in Stopover." Related scholarly and creative class materials are included here, such as the folder labeled "William Irmchus' Rhetoric Class." The folder titled [Pauline Oliveros], with whom she studied music composition and performance techniques at the University of California at San Diego, includes copies of Oliveros works as well as collaborative pieces with Lonidier and other class members. This series also includes photographs, one unidentified and two others of Lonidier, including one which shows her undergoing a female to male gender transformation.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically by subject content, format (proposals, photograph), or Lonidier's folder headings.
Box 6, Folder 4

[Book proposal packets]—Typescript and photocopy excerpts from novels sent to Spectrum Press and Second Chance Press; also includes correspondence, 1993

Box 6, Folder 5

[Business Records]—Receipts and sales tax materials, including information from Paul Mariah, some written verso of poetry drafts, 1989, undated

 

Correspondence (business and publishing), 1975-1993, undated

Box 6, Folder 6

Incoming, 1977-1993, undated

Box 6, Folder 7

Outgoing, 1975-1989, undated

Box 6, Folder 8

Walker and Cole Literary Agents, 1984-1986

Box 6, Folder 9

[Daybook]—Business records and notes; includes clippings of reviews and log of consignments and readings, ca. 1989

Box 6, Folder 10

[Daybook]—Consignments, addresses, and accounts, ca. 1988-1989

Box 6, Folder 11

[Daybook]—Publishers addresses, log of submissions and miscellaneous business records, 1971-1986, undated

 

Master's Exam

Box 6, Folder 12

Typescript draft of exam; also includes abstract and bibliography for thesis, [ca. 1975]

Box 6, Folder 13

Journal of a Bird in Stopover—Typescript, pp. 1-8 (pp. 5-6 missing), 1973

Box 6, Folder 14

Research and study materials on education, undated

Box 6, Folder 15

Memorials—Miscellaneous materials, flyers, clippings and correspondence concerning the memorial services for Karen Brodine, Robert Duncan, and Lynn Lonidier, 1987-1988,1993

Box 6, Folder 16

[Pauline Oliveros]—Miscellaneous typescript and photocopies of multimedia scores/texts; includes collaborations by Lonidier and Pauline Oliveros; also includes programs, leaflets and class instructions for group/class performance of theater pieces, undated

Box 6, Folder 17

[Resume and Possessions]—draft, notes and photographs, undated

Box 6, Folder 18

Photographs—Personal and publicity black and white photographs, undated

Box 6, Folder 19

Print and Desktop Publishing—Miscellaneous printed matter and notes from a course, undated

Box 6, Folder 20

William Irmchus's Rhetoric Class—Miscellaneous annotated and corrected typescripts and photocopies of writing assignments including "Poet in Search of a Prose," pp. 1-18; also includes notes and class materials, 1971, 1974, undated

Box 6, Folder 21

[Women's Building, San Francisco]—Miscellaneous holographic and typed notes verso of poetry drafts, leaflets, and newsletters,

 

Series 5 Printed Matter, 1958-1988, undated

Physical Description: 1.0 cubic feet

Scope and Contents

This series includes printed examples, several of which are annotated, of the numerous magazines, journals, newspapers in which Lonidier's work was published. Such materials represent Lonidier's various interests in Bay Area and women's writing, membership in organizations, and performances attended. These materials include: Beyond Baroque, Everywoman, The Furies: Lesbian Feminist Monthly, Goodbye to All That, a 1970s women's newspaper from San Diego, and The Ladder as well as numerous other important literary and feminist publications. Also present are numerous pamphlets and booklets that explicate the types of audio-visual equipment Lonidier used in performance. In addition several flyers and posters of literary and other artistic events are found in this series.

Arrangement

Material is not arranged.
Box 7

Miscellaneous audio-visual equipment pamphlets, warrantee cards and notes, undated

Box 7

Miscellaneous publications collected, many of which include poetry of Lonidier, 1958-1988, undated

 

Correspondent List

 

Agin, Dan (Spectrum Press)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Aporia--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Bantam, Doubleday, Dell Publishing Group Inc.--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Barber, William--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Bereano, Nancy K. (Firebrand Books)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Berkeley Publishing Group, The--See Box 1 / Folder 5

 

Boojamra, Lee (Rising Tide Press)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Booklegger Publishing--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Brodine, Karen--See Box 2 / Folder 8

 

Canan, Janine--See Box 4 / Folder 4

 

Carona, Alvaro (Hine Coastlines Literary Magazines)--See Box 3 / Folder 25

 

Cease, Julie (Seal Press)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Cole, Joyce K. (Cole and Walker Literary Agents)--See Box 6 / Folder 8

 

Coor, Michael (to Voltaire Brodine)--See Box 6 / Folder 15

 

Cowan, Liza (White Mare Archive)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Denneny, Michael (St. Martin's Press)--See Box 4 / Folder 6

 

Foley, Jack--See Box 6 / Folder 15

 

Franeta, Sonja--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Gardiner, Linda ( The Women's Review of Books)--See Box 4 / Folder 7

 

Gates, Karen ( Aunt Edna's Reading List)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Gilbert, T. Nelson (W. M. Publications)--See Box 5 / Folder 19

 

Gill, Elaine Goldman (The Crossing Press)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Grier, Barbara (Naiad Press)--See Box 1 / Folder 15; and --See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Gross, Marilyn (Distribution Sixteen)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Hamill, Sam--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

L'Heureux, John (Stanford University)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Hitchcock, George ( San Francisco Review)--See Box 3 / Folder 25

 

Jafek, Bev--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Jamison, Cheryl Alters (Western States Arts Foundation)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Mariah, Paul--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

McNail, Stanley ( The Galley Sail Review)--See Box 3 / Folder 25

 

Nadell, Bonnie (Frederick Hill Associates)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Nicola, James ( Thirteenth Moon)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Oliveros, Pauline--See Box 6 / Folder 15

 

Painted Bride Quarterly Press, The--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Patty, Ann (Poseidon Press)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Peterson, Robert (Contact)--See Box 3 / Folder 25

 

Quartey, A Eddie--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Rice, Raymond O.--See Box 1 / Folder 5

 

Roszak, Betty and Ted--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Rule, Jane--See Box 6 / Folder 15

 

Schrader, Steven (Cane Hill Press)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Shepard, Judith (Permanent Press/Second Chance Press)--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Simon and Schuster, Inc.--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Spinsters/Aunt Lute--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Walker, Jayne L.--See Box 6 / Folder 8

 

Waters, Chocolate--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Witherspoon, Kimberly--See Box 6 / Folder 6

 

Wong, Nellie--See Box 6 / Folder 15

 

Zahava, Irene (The Crossing Press)--See Box 6 / Folder 6