Finding aid for the Pat Nordell Papers, 1957-2000 LSC.2143
Finding aid prepared by Pallavi Sriram in 2013 in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from
Jillian Cuellar; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
©2013 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
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Fax Number: 310-206-1864
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Pat Nordell papers
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2143
Physical Description:
4.8 Linear Feet
(6 document boxes, 6 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1957-2000
Abstract: Pat Nordell is a Los Angeles-based lesbian sports coach and photographer. Nordell was a star athlete and popular personality
through her high school years and afterwards in amateur and intramural sports in the Midwest. After finishing a teaching degree
at the Illinois State Normal University and a bachelors of science at the University of Arizona at Tucson, she made the shift
to California in 1960 to start her teaching career. The bulk of this career was spent at Westchester High School where her
outstanding record as coach of Varsity Girls Basketball, Girls Softball, Women's Track and Field and ultimately Men's Track
and Field, gained her considerable recognition and made her one of the first women coaches of men's athletic teams in Los
Angeles. As a strong advocate against gender discrimination in sports, Nordell initiated and won a protracted law suit against
the Los Angeles Unified School District for equal pay for women coaches. This collection, comprising of comprehensive scrapbooks
and photographs, provides a record of the professional public life, feminist advocacy and private life of Pat Nordell.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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], Pat Nordell papers (Collection 2143). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Provenance unknown, 2013.
Processing Information
Processed by Pallavi Sriram in 2013 in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Jillian
Cuellar.
The processing of this collection was generously supported by
Arcadia.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography/History
Patricia Nordell is a Los Angeles based lesbian sports coach and photographer. Nordell was born in May 1932 and raised in
Wheaton, Illinois. As is evidenced in the collection, she was a star athlete and popular personality through her high school
years at Wheaton Community High School, from which she graduated in 1950. Nordell stayed in the Midwest after high school,
playing amateur and intramural sports in Wheaton and Chicago, excelling in a number of sports including basketball, volleyball,
baseball and bowling. Nordell completed a teaching degree at the Illinois State Normal University from September 1956 to June
1957. She continued her college education at the University of Arizona at Tucson from which she graduated with a Bachelor
of Science in 1960. Both in Illinois and Arizona, Nordell continued her engagement with sports, playing namely intramural
volleyball and basketball.
Nordell entered her first teaching position almost immediately upon completion of her undergraduate degree. She made the shift
to California in 1960 to start her teaching career at Coachella Valley Union High in Southern California where she taught
Physical Education for three years. By 1972, she had moved to Los Angeles and began teaching at Westchester High School (WHS),
where she continued for the remaining 16 years of her career. Nordell coached Varsity Girls Basketball, Girls Softball and
Women's Track and Field from 1973 onwards, leading the basketball team to their first-ever California State championship win
a few years later. In 1980, she received recognition from both the California Coaches Association and the National High School
Athletic Coaches Association as Track & Field 'Coach of the Year' for her outstanding record at WHS: a 45-1 dual meet record
including 6 Western league titles, 2 LA city titles (1977 and 1979) and the State championship (1979). The same year, Nordell
started coaching Men's Track and Field at WHS, making her one of the first women coaches of men's athletic teams in Los Angeles.
Perhaps due to her own experience playing women's sports in school, college and otherwise, Nordell was highly invested in
combating gender discrimination in sports; she fought against the notion that girls shouldn't play sports considered to be
"unfeminine" and was an advocate for women teachers and coaches, whom she felt were trivialized. She publically spoke out
against gender bias in pay scales and most importantly, initiated a law suit in the 1970's against the Los Angeles Unified
School District for equal pay for women coaches. She ultimately won the suit in the late 1980's.
Scope and Content
This collection gives a view of both the professional public life and private life of LA-based lesbian sports coach, Pat Nordell.
The collection is comprised of scrapbooks and photographs. The scrapbooks provide a comprehensive record of Nordell's long
sports, teaching and coaching career, while the photographs provide a view into Nordell's personal life especially after her
retirement in 1988 – relationships, love for outdoor activity, and her involvement in gay and lesbian communities in Southern
California. Together, these materials provide a multi-dimensional view of Pat Nordell's life and career.
Organization and Arrangement
Collection is arranged into two series:
- Series 1: Scrapbooks, 1952-1987
- Series 2: Photographs, 1968-2000
Series are arranged chronologically.
Series 1: Scrapbooks
1952-1987
Scope and Content
This series contains scrapbooks created by Pat Nordell, documenting her public life. They cover the length of her career as
a Physical Education teacher and celebrated Track and Basketball coach at Westchester High School in Los Angeles. These comprehensive
scrapbooks are systematically arranged and include team rosters, season score and place records, press clippings, captioned
photographs, and notes from students. They also document some of Nordell's earlier life, from her years after high school
playing amateur sports in Illinois, to her college years at Illinois State Normal University, University of Illinois, and
University of Arizona at Tucson as well as her early teaching career at Coachella Valley Union High School in Coachella, California.
One book is devoted entirely to her Coach of the Year Award and her fight for equal pay for women teachers, for which she
engaged in a protracted law suit against LAUSD and eventually won.
box 1, folder 1
High School Student Honors Press Clipping
1950
box 1
Amateur Sports, Early College
1952-1957
box 1
College, Early Career (Illinois, Arizona, California)
1957-1963
box 1
Varsity and Junior Varsity Girls Basketball (Westchester Highschool)
1973-1976
box 2
Women's Track (Westchester Highschool)
1974-1977
box 2
Women's Track (Westchester Highschool)
1978-1979
box 3
Varsity and Junior Varsity Girls Basketball (Westchester Highschool)
1976-1980
box 3
Women's Track (Westchester Highschool)
1980
box 4
Coach of the Year, Fight for Equal Pay
1980-1981
box 4, folder 1
Speaking out against gender discrimination- Press clippings
1979-1981
box 6
Womens, Varsity Mens, Junior Varsity Mens Track (Westchester Highschool)
1981-1982
box 4
Varsity and Junior Varsity Girls Basketball (Westchester Highschool)
1981-1983
box 5
Womens, Varsity Mens, Junior Varsity Mens Track (Westchester Highschool)
1983-1984
box 5
Womens, Varsity Mens, Junior Varsity Mens Track (Westchester Highschool)
1984-1987
box 6
Womens, Varsity Mens, Junior Varsity Mens Track (Westchester Highschool)
1988
Series 2: Photographs
1968-2000
Scope and Content
This series contains Nordell's personal photographs. It documents Nordell's private life in detail starting with the beginning
of her first long-term relationship and ending with her move to Arizona 10 years after her retirement. It includes holiday
and vacation photos of Nordell with her family and friends. Photos also document activities and events in which Nordell regularly
participated or was affiliated with including Oktoberfest celebrations, Dinah Shore Weekend, the Southern California Women
for Understanding (SCWU), Camp Shalom in the Santa Monica Mountains, and Calzona. Each file contains a catalogue card written
by Nordell which provides details on the photographs in that file including dates, events, and personal notes.
box 7, folder 1
Beginning of Relationship with partner Lee Cornell, Family Holidays
1968-1972
box 7, folder 2
National Field Hockey Tournament, Montana, Camping
1972-1976
box 7, folder 3
Family Vacation Trips, Holidays
1976-1978
box 7, folder 4
Westchester High School Wins State Championships, etc
box 7, folder 5
Trip to Pinon Pines, Friends' Birthdays. etc
1979-1980
box 7, folder 6
Montana Trips, Oktoberfests, Camping
1980-1981
box 8, folder 1
Running Springs (Friends' cabin)
1982
box 8, folder 2
Holidays, Partner (Lee)'s first communion
1982
box 8, folder 3
Family Holidays, Summer Travel
1983
box 8, folder 4
Rosebowl, Superbowl, Holidays
1984
box 8, folder 5
New Motor Home, Holidays
1984
box 8, folder 6
Friends' Birthdays, Holidays
1985
box 8, folder 8
Long Vacation to Oregon
1985
box 8, folder 9
Open House, Family Holidays
1985
box 8, folder 10
Calzona #2, first vacation alone (partner, Lee Cornell died March 1986)
1986
box 8, folder 11
Oktoberfest #10, camping
1986
box 8, folder 12
Camping. Weekend trip in Desert
1987
box 8, folder 13
Calzona #3, fishing (Bend 100 Trails)
1987
box 9, folder 1
Oktoberfest#11 (last), Holidays
1987-1988
box 9, folder 2
Parties, Dress Rehearsal for Calzona Production
1988
box 9, folder 3
Calzona #4, Summer Vacation Travel
1988
box 9, folder 4
Summer Vacation (contd), Girl Scout Reunion, etc
1988
box 9, folder 5
Friend's Retirement Party, Holidays
1988
box 9, folder 7
Friends' Retirement Parties, garage sale, etc
1989
box 9, folder 8
Vacation Travel with friend June Palmer, other travel
1989
box 9, folder 9
Birthdays, Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) Camping Weekend
1989
box 9, folder 10
Christmas Season
1989-1990
box 9, folder 11
Camping at Lake Elsinore, Road trip
1990
box 9, folder 14
Camp Shalom, Weekend Trip, Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) Camp
1990
box 9, folder 15
LA Field Hockey Association 65th Yr Reunion, etc
1990
box 9, folder 16
Holidays with Friends
1990
box 10, folder 1
Dinah Shore Weekend, Friends' Commitment Ceremony, etc
1991
box 10, folder 2
Calzona #7, Camp Shalom
1991
box 10, folder 3
Summer Camping with friends (including future partner Micky)
1991
box 10, folder 4
Summer vacation (contd), Partner (Micky)'s photos from before relationship
1991
box 10, folder 5
First Holiday season with new partner, Micky
1991
box 10, folder 6
Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) Lesbian Rights Awards Banquet, etc
1992
box 10, folder 7
Calzona #8 (last), 60th Birthday, etc
1992
box 10, folder 8
Holidays, Camping
1992-1993
box 10, folder 9
Partner's Birthday, camping/travel
1993
box 10, folder 10
Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) Lesbian Rights Award Banquet, Christopher Street Gay Pride Parade
1993
box 10, folder 12
Holidays, Last New Years Day Party at Home
1993-1994
box 11, folder 1
Camping, Easter Season
1994
box 11, folder 2
Birthdays, Friends' Anniversaries, etc
1994
box 11, folder 3
Christmas Holiday Season
1994
box 11, folder 4
New Years at the Pueblo (RV Women's Resort), Dinah Shore Weekend, etc
1994-1995
box 11, folder 5
Summer Vacation back to Midwest
1995
box 11, folder 6
Friends Birthdays, Celebrations
1995
box 11, folder 7
Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) 45th Anniversary, other anniversaries, etc
1995
box 11, folder 8
Christmas Season, Gay Night at Disneyland, etc
1995-1996
box 11, folder 9
Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) Events, etc
1996
box 12, folder 1
Christmas, New years at Apache Junction, Arizona
1996-1997
box 12, folder 2
Southern California Women for Understanding (SCWU) Events, Birthday, Etc
1997
box 12, folder 4
Going Away Party, etc
1998
box 12, folder 5
Holidays, "new" home in Harbor City, Los Angeles
1998-1999
box 12, folder 6
'Girls and Women in Sports' 25th year celebration
1999
box 12, folder 7
Holidays at Superstition Mountain Resort- Apache Junction, Arizona
1999-2000
box 12, folder 8
New Home at Superstition Mountain Resort- Apache Junction, Arizona
1999-2000
box 12, folder 9
Easter Season, Yosemite Trip
2000
