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Title: Ann Valliant Papers
Dates: 1940s-2020s, bulk 1970s-2010s
Collection Number: 2023-04
Creator/Collector:
Ann Valliant
Extent: 8.75 linear feet (7 cartons)
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: Ann Valliant (8/13/1945-8/4/2022) was a lesbian writer, mother, small-business owner, friend to photographer Cathy Cade, Siddha
Yoga ashram devotee, community leader and activist who spent the last fifty years of her life living in the San Francisco
Bay Area. Her most influential writing was the Womancraft Guide Manual in 1974, which was an early touchstone in second wave
feminism. The collection contains various creative writings by Ann, journals, business documents, photographs, scrapbooks,
a vast amount of correspondence (in the form of letters and cards), and personal documents (ranging from Gurumayi/Ashram,
music, wedding planning notes and substance abuse recovery).
Language of Material: English
Collection is open for research.
Copyright to material has been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society. All requests for reproductions and/or permission
to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist.
[Identification of item]. Ann Valliant Papers. Collection Number: 2023-04. GLBT Historical Society
The collection was donated to the GLBT Historical Society by Ann Valliant in August 2022.
Biography/Administrative History
Ann Valliant, born Margaret Ann Valliant, spent her early years in Arkansas and Oklahoma, where she learned carpentry skills
that would serve her and her community for her whole life. She was also an intellectual, publishing The Womancraft Guide Manual
in 1974, which would inform feminist theory and writing.. After recognizing her identity as a lesbian while living in the
Boston area, she moved to Oakland, CA. In 1981, she had her son Loren via sperm donation with her partner Bobbi LaNoue, who
remained her friend and co-parent after breaking up.
She was the leader of the gardening team at her ashram, the Yoga Siddha Ashram.. She spent twenty years living within a five
minute walk of her ashram and went to sister ashrams in South Fallsburg, NY and India to absorb the teachings of her guru
Gurumayi. Her spiritual journey was also informed by her connection to God and her path out of addiction. She was friends
with noted feminist photographer, Cathy Cade, and was part of her A Lesbian Photo Album collection, a work that looked into
the lives of several lesbians, their communities, activism, and families. She met Marilyn in 2001 at a women’s dance event,
and would later marry her. Marilyn, also known as John, was a butch dandy and longtime Berkeley school teacher. They eventually
split up, and Ann spent the last years of her life with her partner Mariko. Ann became a grandmother in September 2004. Ann
started several business ventures, including selling blue green algae, and spent the bulk of her professional career as a
bookkeeper, accountant, and operations consultant. She kept in touch with friends and family around the country through letters
and yearly holiday cards.She eventually was diagnosed with ALS.She invited close friends, family and community members to
her end of life celebration, and passed peacefully on August 4, 2022.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection contains a wide variety of materials, with the bulk being papers and photographs from throughout her life.
Included are her writings, from poems to correspondence (including letters, cards, and her yearly holiday missive), creative
writings for both school and various journals, her notes on Womancraft Guide, personal journals and notebooks she kept for
her spiritual life and recovery from substance abuse. She also kept personal documents, such as business or financial documents,
her wedding planning notes and records, papers concerning Gurumayi, her teachings, and Ashram business. She also kept miscellaneous
items and ephemera, like sheet music from Christmas concerts, certificates, her son’s schoolwork, old planners and address
books. There is a box of photographs, starting in the 1940s until the end of her life, with the bulk from the 1980s (when
her son was born) and on, mainly of family gatherings, trips, friends, the ashram, and events she attended with Marilyn (John).
There is a box of scrapbooks, and a box of assorted audiovisual materials and sentimental items (DVDs, CDs, tapes, books,
personal mementos).
LGBTQ
Lesbians
Religion and Spirituality
Addiction and Recovery
Feminism
Marriage Equality
Activism
San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)