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Donna Hitchens papers
1991-02  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biography/Administrative History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Indexing Terms
  • Additional collection guides

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Donna Hitchens papers
    Dates: 1950-1990, bulk 1975-1990
    Collection Number: 1991-02
    Creator/Collector:
    Extent: 2.5 linear feet (two cartons)
    Repository: GLBT Historical Society
    San Francisco, California 94103
    Abstract: Donna Hitchens was the United States’ first openly lesbian elected judge and the founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). This collection contains materials related to Hitchens’ professional career prior to her election as San Francisco Superior Court judge in 1990.
    Language of Material: English

    Access

    Collection is open for research.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Donna Hitchens papers. Collection Number: 1991-02. GLBT Historical Society

    Biography/Administrative History

    Donna Hitchens was the United States’ first openly lesbian elected judge and the founder of the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). Hitchens graduated from the University of California, Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law in 1977, and founded the organization that became the NCLR immediately afterward. Initially focused solely on issues of concern to lesbians – including custody, adoption, and employment – it now represents gay, bisexual, and transgender clients as well. In 1990, Hitchens was elected to the San Francisco Superior Court, and in 2002 she became its Presiding Judge. She retired from the bench in 2010.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    This collection contains materials related to Hitchens’ professional career prior to her election as San Francisco Superior Court judge in 1990. These include law course materials, subject files, reports, conference and board materials, newsletters, publications, a small amount of correspondence, and audiotapes related to LGBT civil rights issues. Prominent topics include AIDS and lesbian parenting; organizations represented include Lambda Legal Defense Fund, National Center for Lesbian Rights (formerly the Lesbian Rights Project), and the National Education Foundation for Individual Rights. GSSO Linked Terms: http://2Fpurl.obolibrary.org/obo/LifO_0000064; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000381; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_003201

    Indexing Terms

    Law
    Lesbians
    Politics and elections

    Additional collection guides