Ann Valliant Papers

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

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.

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.

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).