Description
Sisters of Survival (S.O.S.) was an anti-nuclear performance group
founded in 1981 by Cheri Gaulke, Jerri Allyn, Nancy Angelo, Anne Gauldin, and Sue Maberry.
The archive consists primarily of project files documenting performances, exhibitions, and
publications from Sisters of Survival's main period of activity from 1982 to 1985 and some
later projects, and includes photographic materials, planning documents, ephemera, digital
files, audiovisual materials, and exhibition materials. The archive also contains press
clippings and promotional images, administrative files, and a small amount of materials by
other anti-nuclear artists and activists.
Background
Sisters of Survival was an anti-nuclear performance group founded in 1981 by Cheri Gaulke,
Jerri Allyn, Nancy Angelo, Anne Gauldin, and Sue Maberry. The group was one of the last
collectives to emerge from the Woman's Building, a non-profit arts and education center
which operated in Los Angeles between 1973 and 1991. Sisters of Survival members were also
members of other performance art groups founded at the Woman's Building: Allyn and Gauldin
were members of The Waitresses, while Gaulke and Angelo were members of Feminist Art
Workers. To symbolize their sisterhood, Sisters of Survival wore colorful adaptations of
religious habits during their performances. They also incorporated semaphore flags as
accessories in a nod to their acronym, S.O.S. During their main period of activity from 1981
to 1985, Angelo, Gauldin, Gaulke, and Maberry were based in the Los Angeles area while Allyn
coordinated activities in New York. Angelo left the group in 1982.
Extent
44.65 Linear Feet
(56 boxes; 3 boxed-rolls; 2 flatfiles. Computer media: 9.01 GB
[551 files])
Availability
Open for use by qualified researchers.