Collection Guide
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Clothespin Fever Press records
Coll2013-092
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Clothespin Fever Press records
creator:
Weathers, Carolyn
creator:
Wrenn, Jenny (Jennifer Joy Wrenn)
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2013-092
Physical Description:
2.7 Linear Feet
3 boxes.
Date (inclusive): 1981-2012
Abstract: Photographs, event records, financial records, bankruptcy records, published books, catalogs, periodicals, postcards, clippings,
correspondence, contracts, ephemera, book reviews, flyers, conference records, distribution records, and other administrative
records of Clothespin Fever Press (CFP), 1981-2012. CFP was established in 1986 to publish "books that reflected the lesbian
viewpoint, had literary and artistic merit and were written by a lesbian."
The collection is arranged alphabetically.
Clothespin Fever Press (CFP) was established in 1986 by Carolyn Weathers and Jenny Wrenn. Located in the Highland Park neighborhood
of Los Angeles, CFP's founders sought to address the vacuum left by mainstream publishers who seldom published works by out
lesbian authors. "Weathers and Wrenn believed that lesbians were a genuine minority population group which mainstream presses
never really understood. Therefore Clothespin Fever Press was interested in publishing books that reflected the lesbian viewpoint,
had literary and artistic merit and were written by a lesbian." The company was run solely by Weathers and Wrenn, and Gail
Suber and Ayofemi Stowe-Folayan volunteered editing services. Among CFP's accomplishments, the book In a Different Light:
An Anthology of Lesbian Writers (edited by Carolyn Weathers and Jenny Wrenn) was one of the finalists for the 1990 Gay and
Lesbian Task Force of the American Library Association's Gay/Lesbian Book Award; and the book Loss of the Ground-Note: Women
Writing about the Loss of Their Mothers (edited by Helen Vozenilek) received the 1993 Susan Koppelman Honorable Mention Award
from the Women's Caucus of the Popular Culture Association and the American Culture Association. CFP eventually moved to San
Diego, California, where it later ended operations in 1996.
Source: Jenny Wrenn email correspondence, October 26, 2017.
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Carolyn Weathers, June 20, 2012.
[Box/folder #, or item name] Clothespin Fever Press Records, Coll2013-092, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
The materials in this collection were originally part of the Carolyn Weathers Photographs and Papers (Coll2014-008). In 2017,
upon request of the donor, the materials were separated from the Weathers collection to become its own Clothespin Fever Press
Records (Coll2013-092). Collection was originally processed by Kyle Morgan with assistance from volunteers, 2014.
Photographs, event records, financial records, bankruptcy records, published books, catalogs, periodicals, postcards, clippings,
correspondence, contracts, ephemera, book reviews, flyers, conference records, distribution records, and other administrative
records of Clothespin Fever Press (CFP), 1981-2012. The materials document CFP's operations, including books published, distribution,
conferences, publicity and other activities.
Carolyn Weathers Photographs and Papers, Coll2014-008, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern
California.
Los Angeles Committee to Free Sharon Kowalski Records, Coll2014-048, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Lesbian authors -- United States -- 20th century
Lesbian feminism -- Archival resources
Lesbian writings
Publishers and publishing
Women publishers
Clothespin Fever Press