Finding aid to the James Carroll Pickett papers, 1976-1994
Coll2013.058
Finding aid prepared by Loni Shibuyama and Simbree Touchstone
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California, 90007
(213) 741-0094
askone@ONEarchives.org
(c) 2013
Title: James Carroll Pickett Papers
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2013.058
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
4.8 linear feet.
2 archive boxes + 2 archive cartons + 1 flat archive box.
Date (inclusive): 1976-1994
Abstract: Scripts, theater production records, promotional material, bylaws and incorporation records, tax and financial records, correspondence,
medical records, photographs, an audiocassette and other material, 1976-1994, from writer and AIDS activist James Carroll
Pickett. Best known for his plays
Bathhouse Benediction,
Dream Man and
Queen of Angels, Pickett also co-founded Artists Confronting AIDS (ACA) and was instrumental in a number of theater productions promoting
AIDS awareness. The collection includes Pickett's writings and personal papers, as well as administrative records from ACA.
creator:
Pickett, James Carroll, d. 1994
Biography
Playwright and AIDS activist, James Carroll Pickett, was the co-founder and Executive Director of Artists Confronting AIDS
(ACA). He is best known for his plays
Bathhouse Benediction,
Dream Man and
Queen of Angels, which have been produced in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Portland, Des Moines, Minneapolis, Washington,
D.C., Dusseldorf, Edinburgh and London. Pickett received an
LA Weekly Humanitarian Theatre Award for his work with Artists Confronting AIDS, as well as for his work as a founder and producer
of the Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (STAGE) Benefits for AIDS Project Los Angeles.
Pickett was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1949, and raised on the family farm in Shelby County. After briefly living in
New York and San Francisco, Pickett settled in Los Angeles in 1973. He began writing plays and acting and getting involved
in the Los Angeles theater scene. His most active period in playwriting began in 1984 with
Bathhouse Benediction, for which he received a Drama-Logue Award for Playwriting. In addition, he wrote and co-produced the docudrama
AIDS/US and
AIDS/US II, for which he received a Media Award from the Alliance for Gay and Lesbian Artists.
In the early 1990s, Pickett was a Writer in Residence at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, and taught theater classes and headed
the Thursday Night Playwrights Workshop. From 1987 to 1990, Pickett produced the monthly Gay Writers Series for A Different
Light Bookstore in Los Angeles. He curated "3 Gay Sons Read on Father's Day" at Highways Performance Space; "(This is Not)
An AIDS Reading" for Words Project for AIDS at Barnsdall Gallery Theatre; and "3 Gay Writers for Life" for the Otis-Parsons
Art & AIDS Exhibition.
Pickett died of complications from AIDS on July 4, 1994.
Source: Box 1, Folder 1, James Carroll Pickett Papers, Coll2013-058, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Acquisition
Received by ONE board member Bill Kaiser following Pickett's death in 1994. Donor and exact date of acquisition unknown.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] James Carroll Pickett Papers, Coll2013-058, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Loni Shibuyama with the assistance of Sana Shuja and Simbree Touchstone, June 2013.
Scope and Contents
The collection comprises scripts, theater production records, promotional materials, bylaws and incorporation papers, tax
and financial records, correspondence, medical records, photographs, an audiocassette and other material, 1976-1994, from
writer and AIDS activist James Carroll Pickett. As a playwriter in Los Angeles theater, Pickett also co-founded Artists Confronting
AIDS (ACA) and was instrumental in a number of theater productions and benefits promoting AIDS awareness.
The Writing Career Series includes Pickett's manuscripts, production files, press photographs and press materials documenting
Pickett's award-winning plays (
Bathhouse Benediction,
Dream Man and
Queen of Angels) and lesser known works; as well as his work teaching playwriting and producing the Gay Writers Series. The Artists Confronting
AIDS (ACA) Series includes administrative records from ACA, such as incorporation papers and production files for events that
Pickett wrote and produced, such as
AIDS/US and the Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (STAGE) Benefits. The Personal Papers Series includes Pickett's resume,
will, correspondence, an audio interview with Pickett, as well as financial and medical records documenting Pickett's personal
life.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1. Writing career
Series 2. Artists Confronting AIDS
Series 3. Personal papers
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Artists Confronting AIDS (Organization).
Kearns, Michael, 1950-
Advertising fliers
AIDS (Disease)--Dramas
AIDS activists--California--Los Angeles
Authors and theater
Gay men's writings
Gay theater
Gays in the performing arts
Homosexuality in the theater
Plays
Scripts (documents)
Box 1, 4-5
Writing career Series 1.
1978-1994
Series Description
This series includes manuscripts, production files, press photographs and press materials documenting Pickett's award-winning
plays (
Bathhouse Benediction,
Dream Man and
Queen of Angels) and lesser known works and poetry. This series also includes material documenting his playwriting workshops, and his work
producing the Gay Writers Series for A Different Light Bookstore.
Arrangement
Clippings about Pickett are at the beginning of this series. The remaining folders are arranged alphabetically.
Box 1, Folder 1-2
Clippings about James Carroll Pickett
1984-1994
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 1, Folder 3
Bathhouse Benediction
1983
Box 1, Folder 4
Bathhouse Benediction, press packets
1983-1985
Box 1, Folder 7
Chart, unidentified
undated
Box 1, Folder 8
Copyright registrations
1978-1981
Box 1, Folder 9
Cultural Affairs Department grant
1990
Box 1, Folder 10
A Different Light, 10th Anniversary
1989
Box 1, Folder 11
A Different Light newsletter material
1988-1989
Box 1, Folder 12
Copyrights and agreements
1987-1990
Box 5, Item 1
Dream Man button
circa 1984-1993
Box 1, Folder 13-14
Press packet
1984-1993
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 1, Folder 15
Tribe, An American Gay Journal review copy
1989
Box 1, Folder 16
Freelance writing
1987-1993
Box 1, Folder 18-20
Gay Writers Series
1988-1990
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 1, Folder 21
"Good Gay Republican"
1991
Box 1, Folder 22
"The Good Homosexual"
1985-1989
Box 1, Folder 24-28
Katselas, Milton
1990-1991
Box 1, Folder 25
Acting Class, screenplay treatment by Milton Katselas and James Carroll Pickett
1990
Box 1, Folder 27-28
Dreams Into Action, by Milton Katselas
1991
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 1, Folder 26
Summary of Recommendations
1990-1991
Box 1, Folder 30
Monday Night Playwrights
1991
Box 1, Folder 33-51
Queen of Angels
1990-1993
Box 1, Folder 34
Beverly Hills Playhouse reading
1991
Box 1, Folder 36
Contract collaboration
1990-1991
Box 1, Folder 39
Highways
1992
General Physical Description note: Includes 20 photographs: b&w.
Box 4, Folder 2
Highways
1992
General Physical Description note: Includes 35 photographs: b&w, col.
Box 1, Folder 42
Outline, notes, and miscellaneous
1991-1992
Box 1, Folder 43
Photographs and negative
1992
General Physical Description note: 17 photographs and 1 negative: b&w.
Box 1, Folder 45-47
Receipts
1990-1991
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 1, Folder 50
Theatre Rhinoceros
1993
General Physical Description note: 34 photographs: b&w, col.
Box 1, Folder 55
Theatre Rhinoceros
1985-1994
Box 1, Folder 53
TWEED New Works Festival
1993
Box 4, Folder 3-4
Untitled new project
1983-1985
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 1, Folder 54
"What's This Play About?" class
1990
Box 2, 4
Artists Confronting AIDS Series 2.
1984-1994
Series Description
This series comprises administrative records from ACA, including bylaws and incorporation papers; production files for events
that Pickett wrote and produced, such as
AIDS/US and the STAGE Benefits; as well as other events and collaborations in which ACA was involved, such as art exhibits and community
fundraisers. Pickett was a co-founder and Executive Director of ACA, founded in 1985.
Arrangement
Bylaws and incorporation papers are at the beginning of this series. The remaining folders are arranged alphabetically.
Box 2, Folder 1
Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation
1986-1989
Box 2, Folder 2
Internal Revenue Service tax exemption
1987-1992
Box 2, Folder 4-7
AIDS/US
1986
Physical Description:
[4 folders]
Box 2, Folder 8
Cultural Affairs Department grant
1986-1990
Box 2, Folder 13-15
AIDS/US Women
1986-1993
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 2, Folder 16
Arts & AIDS seminar
1980-1988
Box 4, Folder 6
Arts & AIDS task force
1989
Box 2, Folder 19-20
Correspondence
1984-1990
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 2, Folder 21
Christopher Street West, Circle of Hope
1990
Box 2, Folder 22-23
Faithful, Joyful and Triumphant, Voices of AIDS concert
1984-1989
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 2, Folder 24-28
Financial records
1985-1992
Physical Description:
[5 folders]
Box 2, Folder 29
Forget Me Not, a Concert Reading of AIDS Letters
1987-1990
Box 2, Folder 31
"Gay Wax Museum," by Neil Tucker and James Carroll Pickett
1991
Box 2, Folder 32
Los Angeles Festival
1989-1990
Box 2, Folder 34
Otis-Parsons AIDS exhibition
1989
Box 5, Folder 2
Promotional mailer layout
circa 1992
Box 2, Folder 37
"On the Purple Circuit" drafts
1992-1993
Box 2, Folder 38
"Raging at the Visible, AIDS in City of Angels" program
1990
Box 2, Folder 39
The Second Friday in October, to Benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles
1984
Box 2, Folder 41-43
STAGE Benefits
1984-1987
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
General Physical Description note: Includes 1 photograph: b&w.
Box 2, Folder 44
Words Project for AIDS, "(This is Not) An AIDS Reading"
1989
General Physical Description note: Includes 4 photographs: b&w.
Box 3, 4-5
Personal papers Series 3.
1976-1993
Series Description
This series includes Pickett's resume, will, correspondence, an audio interview with Pickett, as well as financial and medical
records documenting Pickett's personal life, 1976-1993.
Arrangement
A folder with Pickett's resume and birth certificate is at the beginning of this series. The remaining folders are arranged
alphabetically.
Box 4, Folder 1
Resume, birth certificate, correspondence and other personal documents
1976-1984
General Physical Description note: Includes 2 photographs: b&w.
Box 5, Item 3
Artist's sketch book
undated
Box 3, Folder 4
Department of Water and Power
1990
Box 3, Folder 5
Disability and social security
1990-1992
Box 3, Folder 6
Dramatists Guild loan
1991
Box 3, Folder 7-9
Financial records
1987-1992
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 3, Folder 10
Giard, Robert, photographer
1988
Box 4, Folder 8-10
Health, hospital records
1990-1992
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box AC, Item AC1840
Interview: James C. Pickett with Alan Farley, KALW San Francisco [sound recording]
October 1985
General Physical Description note: 1 audiocassette.
Box 3, Folder 18
Photographs
undated
General Physical Description note: 3 photographs: b&w, col.
Box 3, Folder 13-15
Tax returns and audit
1987-1991
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 3, Folder 16
Will, Durable Power of Attorney
1991
