Stephen F. Lowell photographs and papers
Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff using RecordEXPRESS
GLBT Historical Society
2023
989 Market Street, Lower Level
San Francisco, California 94103
(415) 777-5455
reference@glbthistory.org
http://www.glbthistory.org/
Title: Stephen F. Lowell photographs and papers
Dates: ca. 1968-1970
Collection Number: 1996-05
Creator/Collector:
Lowell, Stephen F.
Extent: 2 linear feet (2 boxes, 1 oversize box)
Repository:
GLBT Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94103
Abstract: 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.
Language of Material: English
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).
Copyright was transferred to the GLBT Historical Society.
[Identification of item]. Stephen F. Lowell photographs and papers. Collection Number: 1996-05. GLBT Historical Society
The papers were donated by Donn Tatum in 1996.
Biography/Administrative History
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.
Scope and Content of Collection
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
Photography
Gay men