Finding aid to the Clothespin Fever Press records, 1981-2012 Coll2013-092
Kyle Morgan, Loni Shibuyama
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
© 2017
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
askone@usc.edu
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."
Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically.
Biographical / Historical
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.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Clothespin Fever Press Records, Coll2013-092, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Processing Information
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.
Scope and Contents
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.
Other Finding Aids
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
Clothespin Fever Press records
1981-2012
Box 1, Folder 1-3
20th anniversary event records
2004
Box 1, Folder 4
Accounting records
1989-1996
Box 1, Folder 5
American Library Association Book Award nominee records for In a Different Light
1990
Box 1, Folder 6
Articles about CFP
1989-1991
Box 1, Folder 7-9
Bankruptcy records, CFP
1995-1996
Box 1, Folder 10
Bankruptcy records, Inland Book Company
1994-1997
Box 1, Folder 11
Bankruptcy records, Pipeline Incorporated
1997
Box 1, Folder 12
Biographical and administrative histories
1991-2012
Box 1, Folder 20
Book artist records
1989-1992
Box 1, Folder 13-19
Books published by CFP
1984-1994
Scope and Contents
Bosch Teresita. Portraits: Sapphic Zest for Life.
Cartier, Marie. I am your Daughter, not your Lover.
Hall, Elizabeth. Dark Passages.
Hall, Elizabeth, New Poems.
Moore, Louise. Stories of a Homeland and other Poems.
Morgan, Emma. Gooseflesh.
Murphy, Marilyn. Are you Girls Traveling Alone?: Adventures in Lesbianic Logic. 2 editions.
Newman, Leslea. Love Me Like You Mean It.
Plante, Pele. Getting Away with Murder.
Plante, Pele. Dirty Money.
Prucha, Lynette. Smokescreen.
Robinson, Jane E. M. The Amazon Chronicles.
Schalet, Randi. Lunch.
Taylor, Jill. A Dyke's Bike Repair Handbook.
Vozenilek, Helen (ed.). Loss of the Ground-Note: Women Writing about the Loss of their Mothers.
Weathers, Carolyn. Crazy.
Weathers, Carolyn. Leaving Texas: A Memoir. 2 copies.
Weathers, Carolyn. Shitkickers and other Texas Stories. 2 editions.
Weathers, Carolyn and Jenny Wren (eds.). In a Different Light: An Anthology of Lesbian Writers.
Weinbaum, Batya. The Island of Floating Women.
Wolverton, Terry. Black Slip.
Wrenn, Jenny. Guide to Women Book Publishers in the United States for 1988/89.
Wrenn, Jenny. Self-Portraits: Viewing Myself as an Adult Child of an Alcoholic. 2 copies.
Los Angeles Women's Gym Workout Book
Box 1, Folder 21
Business and tax records
1994-1996
Box 1, Folder 22
Buttons and pencils
undated
Scope and Contents
Includes Clothespin Fever Press buttons with the text "Free Sharon Kowalski," "Viva La Vulva," "Born a Dyke," "I Brake for
Lesbians," "Byke Pride," and from Marie Cartier's book I am your Daughter, not your Lover "Dandelion Warrior." Includes two
pencils inscribed with the text "Clothespin Fever Press."
Box 1, Folder 24-27
Common Bonds records
1990-1991
Biographical / Historical
Carolyn Weathers wrote the story "Cheers Everybody" for the book Common Bonds edited by Suzanne Comer.
Box 2, Folder 26
Contact lists
1988-1992, undated
Box 1, Folder 28-29
Contracts for book publications
1990-1995
Convention and conference records
1987-1993
Box 1, Folder 30
3rd International Feminist Book Fair
1988
Box 2, Folder 1
American Booksellers Association
1989-1992
Box 1, Folder 31-34
National Women's Studies Association
1987-1989
Box 2, Folder 2
San Diego Antiquarian Book Fair
1993
Box 2, Folder 3
San Francisco Book Festival
1992
Box 2, Folder 7
Book and article submission
1986-1991
Box 2, Folder 8
Business with printers
1989-1995
Box 2, Folder 9-12
General
1987-1995
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence with authors.
Box 2, Folder 18
Submission and response
1986-1994
Box 2, Folder 19
Crazy requests, film and braille
1994
Box 2, Folder 20
Forms and stationery
undated
Box 2, Folder 21
Helaine Victoria Press postcards
1981-1994
Box 2, Folder 23-25
Lesbian Line periodical and requests
1988-1993
Photographs
circa 1986-1990
Box 2, Folder 27
Book cover options
undated
Physical Description: [26 photographic prints, 3 photocopies of images, 1 transparency]
Box 2, Folder 28
Early years
circa 1986-1987
Physical Description: [25 photographic prints]
Scope and Contents
Includes images of running the press, developing plates, stripping negatives, burning plates, shooting negatives, developing
film, exhibiting at the California Library Association Convention, and promoting at A Different Light Bookstore.
Box 2, Folder 29
General
1987-1990
Physical Description: [28 photographic prints, 2 negatives, 1 clipping]
Scope and Contents
Includes headshots of Carolyn Weathers and Jenny Wrenn, and images from book conventions and events.
Box 2, Folder 30-33
Printing and distribution records
1987-1996
Scope and Contents
Includes records from Delta Lithograph, Gilliland Printing and McNaughton and Gunn, Inc.
Box 3, Folder 6
Publishing and convention journals
circa 1990-1994
Box 2, Folder 36
Purchase orders from distributors, universities, libraries, etc.
1988-1996
Box 3, Folder 1-3
Subject files
1984-1996
Scope and Contents
Comprises materials on book publishing and general LGBT topics.
Box 3, Folder 4
University of California records
1991-1998
