Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use and Reproduction
Preferred Citation
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Processing History
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Chronology
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Related Material
Title: Judy Freespirit papers
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1956
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
0.6 linear feet
(1 document box, 1 half-sized document box)
Date (inclusive): 1971-1993
Abstract: Judy Freespirit was born Judith Louise Berkowitz in 1936 in Detroit, Michigan to a working class Jewish family of Eastern
European descent. She pointed to her early life as formative for her political and activist work and credits theatre and dancing
as positive outlets for frustration. Judy Freespirit was a lifelong activist and advocate for Jewish, lesbian, and fat rights.
With a background in radical therapeutic theory and practice as well as a community organizational ethic, she formed the Fat
Underground in 1976, an organization devoted to both informing and mobilizing the public. Freespirit was also a writer and
performer, lending her talents to a traveling Anti Briggs Initiative show and continuing to perform in both group and individual
contexts. She continued to perform, educate, and counsel up until her death in 2008. This collection includes materials with
her married name, Judith Ackerman because she continued to use it for legal purposes after her marriage. It contains written
and published materials by Judy Freespirit, as well as other materials that are part of her personal collection of political
writings and community information. The bulk of the writings in this collection are focused on Freespirit's fat activism,
specifically through her involvement with both Radical Therapy practices and the Fat Underground.
Language of Materials: Materials are in English.
Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance through out electronic
paging system using the "Request items" button.
Creator:
Freespirit, Judy, 1936-2010
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in
advance through out electronic paging system using the "Request items" button.
Conditions Governing Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Judy Freespirit Papers (Collection 1956). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Judy Freespirit, 1992.
Processing History
Processed by Stacy Wood, 2011. Description enhanced and further physical processing completed by Sabrina Ponce in 2017.
The
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive at UCLA is an outreach and collection-building partnership between the
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives , the
UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW) and the
UCLA Library . These collections expand the pool of primary source materials available to researchers and to the community at large. This
partnership was initiated by CSW and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to inventory, organize,
preserve, and digitize more than eighty Mazer collections pertaining to lesbian and feminist activism and writings.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Judy Freespirit was born Judith Louise Berkowitz in 1936 in Detroit, Michigan to a working class Jewish family of Eastern
European descent. She often pointed to her early life as formative for her political and activist work and credited theatre
and dancing as positive outlets for the frustration of being pressured to diet at the age of eight and the trauma of being
an incest survivor. She attended Michigan State University for two years and majored in drama before marrying. She moved to
Japan with her husband after he was drafted, giving birth to her son Joe abroad. She, Joe, and her husband moved to Los Angeles
in 1960 where she finished college and began her work in the psychiatric field, completing her Master's Degree at the age
of 35. Through her discovery of the Women's Liberation Movement in Los Angeles and her professional background, Judy developed
and began to share her Radical Therapy skills with the feminist community in small group settings. During this period she
came out as a lesbian and left her husband. Along with four others, Judy founded the Fat Underground in 1976. When she moved
to the Bay Area she also founded the Fat Lip Reader's Theatre, a collective of fat women writing and performing comedic, dramatic
and musical theatre. In 1978, Judy became involved in working to stop the Briggs Initiative and travelled around California
raising awareness and funds for its defeat. After its defeat, she moved to the Berkeley/Oakland area and became more focused
on her Jewish identity, involving herself in a Jewish Lesbian Writer's group in 1982 and performing and participating at the
Jewish Feminist Conference in San Francisco. After struggling with asthma and the discovery of severe allergies, Judy became
active in the disability movement, working with the World Institute on Disabilities. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Judy
wrote and performed prolifically, creating one-woman shows dealing with her life as a fat, Jewish, lesbian incest survivor
with disabilities. She published in journals, spoke at health conferences, provided counseling, and made people laugh. Up
until her death she remained an advocate, calling for more visibility of the gay and lesbian community in elder care housing,
specifically in San Francisco's The Jewish Home where she passed away in 2010.
Chronology
1936 |
Born Judith Louise Berkowitz |
1960 |
Moves to Los Angeles |
1976 |
Fat Underground is founded |
1978 |
Fat Lip Theatre is founded |
1978 |
Briggs Initiative and subsequent Anti Briggs Initiative traveling show. |
1982 |
Becomes involved with the Jewish Lesbian Writer's group |
2008 |
Judy Freespirit passes away |
Scope and Content
This collection contains written and published materials by Judy Freespirit, as well as other materials that are part of her
personal collection of political writings and community information. The bulk of the writings in this collection are focused
on Freespirit's fat activism, specifically through her involvement with both Radical Therapy practices and the Fat Underground.
This collection includes materials with her married name, Judith Ackerman because she continued to use it for legal purposes
after her marriage.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
COLLECTION CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: Audiovisual materials in this collection will require assessment and possible digitization
for safe access. To review these audiovisual materials, you must notify the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk
in advance of your visit.
Related Material
There are recordings of Judy Freespirit speaking in the Burke (Kevin) Sound Recordings 1975-1979 collection as well as materials
in the Alfred (Randy) Subject Files and Sound Recordings 1974-1990 collection. Both of these collections are found at the
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society .
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Freespirit, Judy, 1936-2010 -- Archives
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive at UCLA.
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives.
Body image in women
Discrimination against overweight women--United States
Jewish lesbians--California--Archives.
Lesbian activists--California--Archives.
Lesbian actresses--California--Archives.
Radical therapy