The bulk of the collection consists of Stephen F. Lowell’s photographs of gay hippies and male nudes in the 1970s including mounted prints, proofs, contact sheets and negatives. The collection also includes position papers, broadsides, essays, and poetry from “progressive” organizations, including material on women’s issues from throughout the country.

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.

2 linear feet (2 boxes, 1 oversize box)

Copyright was transferred to the GLBT Historical Society.

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).