Stephen F. Lowell photographs and papers, ca. 1968-1970

Collection context

Summary

Creators:
Lowell, Stephen F.
Abstract:
Extent:
2 linear feet (2 boxes, 1 oversize box)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Stephen F. Lowell photographs and papers. GLBT Historical Society

Background

Scope and content:

The bulk of the collection consists of Lowell’s photographs of gay hippies and male nudes in the 1970s. There are mounted prints, proofs, contact sheets and negatives. Almost all the manuscript materials in the Stephen Lowell Collection are from the year 1970. The collection includes position papers, broadsides, essays, and poetry from “progressive” organizations, including material on women’s issues from throughout the country. The more clearly political publications are from the Red Butterfly Collective, Gay Flames from the NYC Gay Liberation Front and an essay by Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. There is also poetry, letters and anthologies of creative works from Bob Rivera, Charles Shively and the Hoddypoll Press in San Francisco. GSSO linked terms: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_000374; http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GSSO_008194

Biographical / historical:

A native Californian, Stephen Lowell was a pioneer in the Gay Liberation Front and a seminal figure in the flowering of gay culture in post-Stonewall San Francisco. Along with Donn Tatum, he founded the Paperback Traffic Bookstores in San Francisco, the Eureka Arcade/Patio Cafe complex on Castro Street (including Skin Zone and the Thousand Fingers crafts co-operative) and was a pioneer organizer of the San Francisco Dharmadhata Buddhist Meditation Center.

Acquisition information:
The papers were donated by Donn Tatum in 1996.

Access and use

Restrictions:

The manuscript portion of the collection is open for research. Researchers should contact the GLBTHS Managing Archivist for access to the photographs, which are not sorted. The erotica in this collection may only be viewed by researchers age eighteen and over and it is made available for educational and research purposes. Funding for processing this collection was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Terms of access:

Copyright was transferred to the GLBT Historical Society.

Preferred citation:

Stephen F. Lowell photographs and papers. GLBT Historical Society

Location of this collection:
989 Market Street, Lower Level
San Francisco, CA 94103, US
Contact:
(415) 777-5455