Finding Aid to the Cleve Boutell Papers, 1949-2008
Coll2013.114
Finding aid prepared by Jennifer Darwent
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California, 90007
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
(c) 2013
Title: Cleve Boutell papers
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2013.114
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
7.3 linear feet.
4 archive boxes + 2 flat archive boxes + 1 archive binder.
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1956-2007
Date (inclusive): 1949-2008
Abstract: Manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, news clippings and other materials from lesbian writer Cleve Marie Boutell (1918-2011).
The bulk of the collection is drafts of fictional works by Cleve Boutell. There is also correspondence with her lesbian sister
Hortense "Bo" Boutell (1913-2006), a lieutenant colonel and the first female logistician in the United States Army.
creator:
Boutell, Cleve M., 1918-2011
Biography
Cleve Marie Boutell was born in Minnesota on March 27, 1918. She was a lesbian writer who wrote fictional short stories and
novels, including
The Yellow Basket (1950),
Late in August (1956) and
A Certain Discontent (1992). She was an avid book collector, an active member of the Feminist Writers Guild, and served as art director for
Datamation Magazine. She lived most of her life in Pasadena, California and supported the Pasadena bookstore Page One--Books For and By Women.
Cleve died on March 19, 2011 in South Pasadena, California.
Hortense "Bo" Boutell, Cleve's sister, was born on February 12, 1913 in Minnesota. Hortense was active in the United States
Army and was the first woman to be accepted into the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. She became a lieutenant colonel,
the highest position a woman could obtain at the time, and worked as the Army's first female logistician. After retiring from
the Army, Hortense received her MFA from George Washington University and worked as a stained glass artist. She also was a
producer for the German film company Ariadne Films. Hortense died on July 15, 2006 in Washington D.C.
Sources:
Chiara, Adriana.
Martial Artist.
Crystal City etc. Summer 1993: 10-11, 13. Print.
Box 4, Folder 8, Cleve Boutell Papers, Coll2013-114, 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
Gift of Patricia Cornelius on November 7, 2011.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Cleve Boutell Papers, Coll2013-114, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Jennifer Darwent, November 2013.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains manuscripts, news clippings, correspondence, photographs and other materials from lesbian writer Cleve
Boutell (1918-2011). The fictional writings series comprises drafts, revisions and final manuscripts of
Late in August (1956),
A Certain Discontent (1992) and
Entrevue (1994-2007), as well as her short stories
The Yellow Basket (1950),
Eleanore's Story (1986-1991),
Rope Dancer (1987) and
Uncle Gibeau (1990). The personal papers series comprises correspondence with her lesbian sister Hortense "Bo" Boutell, personal journals,
clippings, information regarding the now closed bookstore Page One, and travel photographs.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1. Writings
Series 2. Personal papers
Separated Materials
The following materials were separated from the collection and catalogued in the ONE Archives periodicals collection:
Elysian Fields Booksellers catalogs (#36-40).
Lambda Book Report Vol. 3, No. 4 (May/June 1992).
New Women's Times (1979).
Sinister Wisdom #33 (Fall 1987).
Words to the Wise Firebrand catalog (1986).
Write On, Woman! (1979).
One book,
Women's Army Corps 1945-1978 of the Army Historical Series, has been separated from the collection and cataloged in the ONE Archives library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Boutell, Hortense, 1913-2006
Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
Correspondence
Lesbian authors
Lesbian writings
Manuscripts
Photographs
Writings Series 1.
1949-2007
Scope and Contents
The series comprises drafts, revisions and final manuscripts of
Late in August (1956),
A Certain Discontent (1992) and
Entrevue (1994-2007), as well as her short stories
The Yellow Basket (1950),
Eleanore's Story (1986-1991),
Rope Dancer (1987),
Uncle Gibeau (1990), and others.
A Certain Discontent (1992) was Boutell's only published work.
Arrangement
Materials for
A Certain Discontent are at the beginning of this series. The remaining folders are arranged alphabetically.
Box 1, Folder 12
A Certain Discontent
1981
Box 1, Folder 1
Iowa Writer's Workshop
1981
Box 1, Folder 2-5
A View from an Oriel Window
1981-1983
Physical Description:
[4 folders]
Box 1, Folder 6-21
Drafts and revisions
1982-1992
Physical Description:
[16 folders]
Box 2, Folder 1-4
Naiad Press manuscript
circa 1992
Physical Description:
[4 folders]
Box 2, Folder 8
Books reviews, unpublished
circa 1989
Box 2, Folder 9
"Camp Stories" for
Sinister Wisdom
1987
Box 2, Folder 10
A Death in Heidelberg
1989
Box 2, Folder 11
Eleanore's Story
1986-1991
Box 2, Folder 12-22
Drafts and notes
1994-2007
Physical Description:
[11 folders]
Box 2, Folder 23-24
Entrevue: Je m'entends bien
2006-2007
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 2, Folder 25
Fair Tower Sufficiently Defended (alternate title,
The Near Edge)
1950-1953
Box 2, Folder 26
I Hold Here in My Hand
1987
Box 2, Folder 27-28
Late in August
circa 1953-1956
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 3, Folder 1-3
Late in August
1953-1957
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 3, Folder 4
Makes One Shudder Even Though Dead
undated
Box 3, Folder 5
The Making of a Six Year Old Autodidact
undated
Box 3, Folder 6
Manifestations in Rock Island, Illinois
1983, 1988
Box 3, Folder 7
An Odyssey of Love
undated
Box 3, Folder 8
The Ordeal of Kimberly Laing
undated
Box 3, Folder 9
"Reader's Diary"
circa 1980-1982
Box 3, Folder 11
Royale: a play in three acts
1976
Box 3, Folder 12
Small Press clippings
1992-1994
Box 3, Folder 18
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension, Writing for Pleasure
1989
Box 3, Folder 15-17
Untitled manuscripts and poems, miscellaneous
circa 1952-2000
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 3, Folder 19-22
Writing notebooks
1981-1998
Physical Description:
[4 folders]
Scope and Contents
Some notebooks contain clippings and other related material.
Box 3, Folder 23
The Yellow Basket
1949-1952
Personal papers Series 2.
1946-2006
Arrangement
This series is arranged alphabetically.
Scope and Contents
The series comprises correspondence with her lesbian sister Hortense "Bo" Boutell and others, memorial service materials for
Hortense, personal journals, photographs, news clippings, and information regarding the now closed bookstore Page One located
in Pasadena, California. There are three
Datamation Magazine covers which were designed by Cleve Boutell while she was the art director for the magazine. The bulk of the photographs
document Cleve Boutell's trips abroad with Mavis Blake.
Box 3, Folder 24
The Author of the Analytic Engine
1966
Box 3, Folder 25-26
Book inventory, lists, and notes
circa 1980-2000
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 7
Boutell, Hortense "Bo," burial flag
2006
Box 4, Folder 1-2
Boutell, Hortense "Bo," obituary and memorial service records
2006
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
General Physical Description note: Includes 1 DVD.
Box 4, Folder 3-4
Clippings
1956-2008
Physical Description:
[2 folders]
Box 4, Folder 5-8
Boutell, Hortense "Bo"
1964-1994
Physical Description:
[4 folders]
Scope and Contents
Includes 3 color photographs of Cleve at Pearl's house, 1 color photograph of a stained glass design by Hortense, 1 b&w photograph
of a horse, and 1 b&w photograph of Hortense on the East Coast.
Box 4, Folder 9
Muff, Jean, and others
1974-1986
Scope and Contents
Includes 3 color photographs of Cleve with unidentified friends.
Box 5
Datamation covers, mounted
circa 1975
Box 4, Folder 10
Datamation merit awards
1971, 1976
Box 4, Folder 11
Feminist Writers Guild newsletters and directories
1981-1987
Box 4, Folder 12-14
Journals and calendars
1975-1985
Physical Description:
[3 folders]
Box 4, Folder 15
Novembermond film memorabilia
circa 1975
Box 4, Folder 16
Page One--Books For and By Women
1991-1994
Box 6
Photographs
circa 1989-1995
General Physical Description note: Negatives, 16 b&w photographs, and 341 color photographs.
Scope and Contents
The images document Cleve Boutell's trips to Leningrad and Moscow in 1990 with Mavis Blake, London and Paris in 1989, and
Berlin in 1993 for Hortense Boutell's 80th birthday. There are photographs Cleve took of Pasadena in 1992. Other photographs
that are undated include images of trips to Middlebury and Washington D.C., Pasadena Lakeview, the "D.D. Parade" with Hortense
and her partner Evie, and the Pasadena bookstore Page One.
Box 4, Folder 17
Poetry booklets
1975-1976
Scope and Contents
Includes "Laughing Bear" (Number 1, Summer 1976), "Seven Sections from the Dreams of Jesse Bowman" (Joseph Bruchac, 1976),
and "Morituri Don Dorrance" (Kathy Dorrance, 1975).
Box 4, Folder 18
Wallace, Henry A., presidential campaign memorabilia
1946-1948