Norma Alarc贸n Papers, 1935-2003

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Summary

Creators:
Alarc贸n, Norma
Abstract:
Consists of 61 boxes containing records related to Third Woman Press, Helaine Victoria Press, and fempress including correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, photographs, research notes, grants, and reviews related to Third Woman Press. Other materials include academic records, academic journals, personal photographs, brochures, organizational files, and other ephemera spanning from c. 1935-2003.
Extent:
21 Linear Feet (55 document boxes and 6 oversize boxes)
Language:
This collection is largely in English with some materials in Spanish and Portuguese.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Norma Alarc贸n papers, CEMA 110. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of 61 boxes containing records related to Third Woman Press, Helaine Victoria Press, and fempress including correspondence, unpublished manuscripts, interviews, photographs, research notes, grants, and reviews related to Third Woman Press. Other materials include academic records, academic journals, personal photographs, brochures, organizational files, and other ephemera spanning from c. 1935-2003.

Biographical / historical:

Norma Alarcon is a celebrated writer and publisher and is a leading Chicana feminist. She was founder and publisher of Third Woman Press that began as a journal in 1979 and became one of the most influential literary journals in Latina feminist literature. Between 1984 and 2004, Third Woman Press published more than thirty books and anthologies giving voice to Latina writers such as Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, and Gloria Anzaldua.

Alarc贸n was born in Villa Frontera in Coahuila, Mexico, in 1943. In 1955, her family moved to San Antonio, Texas, for a short time, then to Chicago, Illinois, where she later attended De Paul University and, subsequently, Indiana University where she earned her B.A., M.A. and a Ph.D. with a focus on Spanish literature. The topic of her 1983 dissertation was, "Ninfoman铆a: El Discurso Feminista en la Obra de Rosario Castellanos."

From 1983 to 1987, she was Assistant Professor of Spanish at Purdue University. From 1987 to 1991, during her teaching tenure at UC Berkeley, she was Assistant Professor of Ethnic/Chicano Studies; then from 1991 to 1996 was Associate Professor of Ethnic/Chicano Studies and Women's Studies. From 1996 until her retirement from the University of California in 2004, she was Professor of Ethnic/Chicano Studies and Women's Studies.

Norma Alarcon is considered noteworthy for her great contributions to postmodern Chicana feminism.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Norma Alarc贸n, 2007.
Arrangement:

The container list is arranged by subject and contents are described mostly at the item level. The five major series include:

  • Personal and Biographical
  • Academic
  • Writing and Writers
  • Research Files
  • Audiovisual Files
Sub-series are broken down by content type - such as correspondence, periodicals, photographs, etc. - by type of publication, or by place. Files are physically arranged in numerical order according to folder number rather than being grouped into their series. One may need to request more than one box to access folders within the same series.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of Item], Norma Alarc贸n papers, CEMA 110. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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