Finding aid of the Lillene H. Fifield Papers

Michael P. Palmer

ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives

909 West Adams Boulevard

Los Angeles, California 90007

Phone: (213) 741-0094

Fax: (213) 741-0220

Email: askone@onearchives.org

URL: http://www.onearchives.org

Finding aid of the Lillene H. Fifield Papers

Collection number: Coll2007-014

ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives

Los Angeles, California

Processed by:: Michael P. Palmer
Date Completed:: October 19, 2007
Encoded by:: Michael P. Palmer

Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Lillene H. Fifield papers

Dates: 1973-2003

Bulk Dates: (bulk 1973-1987)

Collection number: Coll2007-014

Creator: Fifield, Lillene H., 1941-

Collection Size: 9 archive cartons + 1 oversize box + 1 oversize flat (3.4 linear feet).

Repository: ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.

Los Angeles, California 90007

Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Access

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Publication Rights

Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner. Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).

Preferred Citation

Box #, folder #, Lillene H. Fifield papers, Coll2007-014, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Lillene H. Fifield, October 22, 2005, and June 30, 2007.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, October 2007.

Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Biography

Lillene Henrietta Fifield, social worker, psychotherapist, and lesbian activist, was born in Los Angeles on October 28, 1941, and spent many of her early years in Kansas City, Missouri. Active in civil rights issues since high school, she became active in the gay and lesbian movement after coming out at age 19. She earned her B.A. with honors from California State University Los Angeles in 1971, and her MSW with honors from the University of Southern California, where she was the first openly lesbian student, in 1973. Fifield served as research associate at the Regional Research Institute in Social Welfare, School of Social Work, University of Southern California, from 1972 to 1975, the year her pioneering research on alcoholism in the gay and lesbian community was published. After maintaining a private practice in clinical social work from 1976 to 1979, Fifield moved in 1980 to Roseburg, Oregon, where she was a psychiatric social worker for Douglas County Mental Health. Fifield became involved with the Gay Community Services Center in Los Angeles in November 1971, becoming its principal grant writer; and serving as Vice-Chairman of its Board of Directors in 1974/1975. She also served as first co-chairwoman of the California Women's Commission on Alcoholism, and on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Alcoholism Advisory Board, the California Institute for Human Sexuality, and the California Alcoholism Foundation. She was named Woman of the Year by the Los Angeles gay community in 1978, and delivered keynote speeches at the National Council on Alcoholism Annual Forum in Seattle in 1980, at the San Francisco Conference on Alcoholism in the Gay Community in 1985, at and the second National Conference of the National Association of Lesbian & Gay Alcoholism Professionals at Chicago in 1987.

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection comprises reports, drafts, notes, publications, correspondence, research files, audio and videotapes, and other materials documenting the career of social worker, psychotherapist, and lesbian activist Lillene H. Fifield (born 1941), relating in particular to her studies of alcoholism in the Los Angeles gay and lesbian community, her involvement with the establishment and early years of both the Los Angeles Gay Community Services Center (now the L. A. Gay & Lesbian Center) and the Alcoholism Center for Women, and her participation in the International Women's Year and the National Women's Conference in Houston in 1977. The collection also contains several videotapes documenting the life and career of gay activist Morris Kight (1919-2003); a pocket diary/appointment calendar, several open reel audio tapes of Lesbian music, and other materials relating to Fifield's lover and fellow lesbian activist, Daphne Hatfield (1937-2006); and a cartoon of gay actor and activist Justin Smith (1921-1986). The collection is divided into 10 series: (1) Writings; (2) Alcoholism; (3) Gay Community Services Center; (4) Research; (5) International Women's Year; (6) Daphne Hatfield; (7) Photographs; (8) Printed Materials; (9) Audio and Video Materials; and (10) Ephemera, Memorabilia, and Artwork.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Alcoholism Center for Women (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Alcoholism counseling

Community health services--California

Fifield, Lillene H., 1941-

Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Gay Community Services Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Gays--Alcohol use

Hatfield, Daphne, 1937-2006

Kight, Morris, 1919-2003

L. A. Gay & Lesbian Center

Lesbians--Alcohol use

Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center

Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center

Smith, Justin, 1921-1986

Social work with lesbians

Related Material

L. A. Gay & Lesbian Center Records, Coll2007-010, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives.

Box 1 : 1 - 12

Series 1. Writings 1975-1987

Physical Description: 12 folders

Series Scope and Content

The bulk of this series consists of Fifield's published study of alcoholism in the gay and lesbian community, On My Way to Nowhere (1975); a condensed edition, Alcoholism and the Gay Community (1977); several conference papers derived from the study; and several speeches on alcoholism given by Fifield between 1980 and 1987.

Box 1 : 1 - 4

Fifield, Lillene. On my way to nowhere; alienated, isolated, drunk. An analysis of gay alcohol abuse & an evaluation of alcoholism rehabilitation services for the Los Angeles gay community July 10, 1975

Box 1 : 1 - 2

Copy 1 (annotated) July 10, 1975

Physical Description: 2 folders

Box 1 : 3 - 4

Copy 2 July 10, 1975

Physical Description: 2 folders

Box 1 : 5

Fifield, Lillene, and Latham, J. David. Alcoholism and the gay community (preliminary draft). Paper presented at California State Psychological Association Convention, Los Angeles March 1977

Box 1 : 6

Fifield, Lillene. Alcoholism and the gay community (preliminary draft). Paper presented at the National Drug Abuse Conference, San Francisco 1977

Box 1 : 7 - 8

Fifield, Lillene; Latham, J. David; Phillips, Christopher. Alcoholism in the gay community. The price of alienation, isolation, & oppression . Los Angeles: Gay Community Services Center 1977

Box 1 : 7

Printed edition 1977

Box 1 : 8

Typescript edition 1977

Box 1 : 9

Fifield, Lillene; DeCresenzo, Teresa A.; Latham, J. David. Alcoholism and the gay community. Journal of Homosexuality 1978

Box 1 : 10

Alcoholism chapter for book No date

Box 1 : 11

Miscellaneous writings No date

Box 1 : 12

Speeches 1980, 1985, 1987

Box 2 : 1 - 3 : 7 ; 7 : 1 - 3 (oversize)

Series 2. Alcoholism 1974-1984, 2003

Physical Description: 22 folders

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of reports, drafts, conference and workshop materials, correspondence, photocopies, and other materials created and acquired by Fifield in the course of her research on alcoholism in the gay and lesbian community. Of particular interest are materials relating to Fifield's work on the California Women's Commission on Alcoholism, 1974-1977, and her work with the Gay Community Services Center's Alcoholism Program for Women (APW), which later became the independent Alcoholism Center for Women.

Box 2 : 1 - 2

Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) 1983-1984

Box 2 : 1

Miscellaneous 1983-1984

Box 2 : 2

Jael Greenleaf seminar 1983

Box 7 : 1 (oversize)

Alcoholism in the gay community -- California 1976-1980

Box 2 : 3 - 5

Articles No date

Box 2 : 3

Alcoholism No date

Box 2 : 4

Alcoholism in the gay community No date

Box 2 : 5

Women & alcoholism No date

Box 2 : 6

Benton County Alcoholism Treatment Program No date

Box 2 : 7

California Alcoholism Foundation (CAF) 1974

Box 2 : 8 - 9 ; 7 : 2 (oversize)

California Women's Commission on Alcoholism 1974-1977

Box 2 : 8

Miscellaneous 1974

Box 2 : 9 ; 7 : 2 (oversize)

The treatment needs of the woman alcoholic: a survey of alcoholism agencies in California 1977

Box 2 : 9

Draft 1977

Box 7 : 2 (oversize)

Final 1977

Box 2 : 10

Correspondence 2003

Box 2 : 11 - 3 : 3 ; 7 : 3 (oversize)

Gay Community Services Center 1975-1981

Box 2 : 11

Alcoholism Needs Assessment Project (ANA) 1975

Box 2 : 12 - 3 : 3 ; 7 : 3 (oversize)

Comprehensive Program of Cummunity Services for Alcoholic Women (APW, later Alcoholism Center for Women) 1974-1981

Box 2 : 12

Miscellaneous 1974-1981

Box 3 : 1 - 3

Funding proposal (United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare) February 26, 1974

Physical Description: 3 folders

Box 3 : 1 - 2

Copy 1 February 26, 1974

Physical Description: 2 folders

Box 3 : 3

Copy 2 (annotated) February 26, 1974

Box 7 : 3 (oversize)

Forms circa 1974-1975

Box 3 : 4

Los Angeles County Alcoholism Advisory Board 1976-1977

Box 3 : 5

National Association of Gay Alcoholism Professionals (NAGAP) 1980

Box 3 : 6

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism. Alcohol Abuse & Women: A Guide to Getting Help 1978

Box 3 : 7

Replication study. Morales/Graves, Substance Abuse: Patterns & Barriers to treatment for gay men & lesbians in San Francisco 1983

Box 3 : 8 - 4 : 2 ; 7 : 4 - 5 (oversize)

Series 3. Gay Community Services Center 1972-1996

Physical Description: 7 folders

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of materials relating to Fifield's work with the Gay Community Services Center outside its alcoholism program. The bulk of the materials consists of funding proposals submitted to Los Angeles County healthcare agencies. Other documents include Fifield's 1983 evaluation of the Center's Community Employment Services program, and flyers and other materials relating to the Center's early history. The Miscellaneous folder also contains an article published in Lesbian News in 1996, describing Fifield's pivotal role in the early years of the Center.

Box 7 : 4

Miscellaneous 1972-1974, 1992, 1996

Box 7 : 5

Background & introduction 1973

Box 3 : 8

Revenue Sharing proposal (not identified) after July 1973

Physical Description: vol. 2 of 2

Box 3 : 9

Los Angeles gay community drug abuse services, 1974-1975. Proposal submitted to the Los Angeles County Department of health Services September 1973

Box 3 : 10

Staffing grant proposal (National Institute of Mental Health) March 15, 1974

Box 4 : 1

Primary prevention in drug abuse: a pioneering program for gay people. Funding proposal to the Los Angeles County Central Health Services Region October 29, 1976

Box 4 : 2

Community Employment Services (CES). Evaluation Report 1983

Box 4 : 3 - 10 ; 7 : 6 - 11 (oversize)

Series 4. Research circa 1974-1995

Physical Description: 14 folders

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of notes, workshop materials, photocopied articles, and other materials collected by Fifield in the course of her work, but, with one exception, not related to her work on alcoholism in the gay and lesbian community.

Box 4 : 3 ; 7 : 6 (oversize)

Articles No date

Box 4 : 3

Feminist No date

Box 7 : 6

Gay No date

Box 4 : 4

Articles of incorporation, bylaws 1984

Box 7 : 7 - 8 (oversize)

Bibliography No date

Box 7 : 7 (oversize)

Gay No date

Box 7 : 8 (oversize)

Women & lesbians No date

Box 4 : 5

Computer data processing code book design No date

Box 4 : 6

Content analysis No date

Box 4 : 7 ; 7 : 9 (oversize)

Evaluation component 1974, No date

Box 7 : 9 (oversize)

Gay Community Services Center. Comprehensive community services for alcoholic women {APW, later Alcoholism Center for Women) 1974

Box 4 : 7

General No date

Box 7 : 10 (oversize)

Evaluation materials -- Proposal aids No date

Box 7 : 11 (oversize)

Evaluation workshop No date

Box 4 : 8 - 9

Homosexuality: A comprehensive bibliographic search of Psychological Abstracts 1979

Physical Description: 2 folders

Box 4 : 10

Institute of Gay & Lesbian Education 1994-1995

Box 4 : 11 - 5 : 7 (oversize)

Series 5. International Women's Year 1977

Physical Description: 10 folders

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of notes, planning documents, clippings from newspapers and the popular press, conference packets, and other materials relating to Fifield's participation in the International Women's Year California State Meeting in June 1977, and the California delegation's activities at the National Women's Conference in Houston in November 1977.

Box 4 : 11 - 12

International Women's Year California State Meeting June 16-19, 1977

Box 4 : 11

Miscellaneous June 16-19, 1977

Box 4 : 12

Final report June 16-19, 1977

Box 4 : 13

National Organization of Women (NOW) 1977

Box 5 : 1 - 7 ; 8 (rolled)

National Women's Conference. Houston November 18-21, 1977

Box 5 : 1

Papers November 18-21, 1977

Box 5 : 2

Binder materials November 18-21, 1977

Box 5 : 3

California delegation November 18-21, 1977

Box 5 : 4

Daily Breakthrough November 18-21, 1977

Box 8

Lillene Fifield planning sheet 1977

Note

Rolled.

Box 5 : 5

Miscellaneous November 18-21, 1977

Box 5 : 6

Newspaper clippings November 18-21, 1977

Box 5 : 7

Time / New York Times Magazine November-December 1977

Box 5 : 8 - 9 ; 7 : 12 (oversize)

Series 6. Daphne Hatfield 1973-circa 1980

Physical Description: 3 folders

Series Scope and Content

This series comprises a small number of items, including an award plaque and pocket calendar/appointment book for 1973, relating to the work of Fifield's partner, Daphne Hatfield, with the Gay Community Services Center.

Box 5 : 8

Award plaque from Gay Community Services Center circa 1975

Box 7 : 12 (oversize)

Miscellaneous No date

Box 5 : 9

Pocket calendar/appointment book 1973

Box 8

Series 7. Photographs 1977, undated

Physical Description: 2 photographs (rolled)

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of two rolled items: (1) an undated color photocopy of a photograph, marked "LAWCC", and (2) a photograph taken at the National Women's Conference at Houston in November 1977.

Box 8

LAWCC No date

Note

Rolled.

Box 8

National Women's Conference. Houston November 1977

Note

Rolled.

Box 6 : 1 - 10

Series 8. Printed Materials 1969-2003

Physical Description: 10 folders

Series Scope and Content

This series consists primarily of a small number of Lesbian newsletters, zines, and literary publications. The newspaper clippings comprise several stories of gay and lesbian interest from 1977, and an obituary of Morris Kight, 2003.

Box 6 : 1

Newspaper clippings 1977, 2003

Box 6 : 2

Amie. The Hourglass 1978

Note

Poetry.

Box 6 : 3

Benston, Margaret. The political economy of women's liberation. Monthly Review September 1969

Box 6 : 4

Come out comix (Mary Wings) 1977

Box 6 : 5

Dynamite damsels (Roberta Gregory) 1976

Box 6 : 6

Grahn, Judy; Cadden, Wendy. The common woman No date

Box 6 : 7

Lesbian voices, vol. 2, no. 1 Winter 1975/76

Box 6 : 8

Ms. mystic, nos. 1-3 1987-1988

Box 6 : 9

Own newsletter, vol. 3, no. 4 Winter 1979

Box 6 : 10

Prickly pear [California State College, San Bernardino]. Poems & stories by: 11 + 12 = 1978

Note

Signed by Charlene Hoskins.

Box 9

Series 9. Audio & Visual Materials 1973-2001

Physical Description: 1 archive carton

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of audio tapes, most if not all from the collection of Daphne Hatfield, of lesbian music, and of videotapes on the 1987 March on Washington and on the life of Morris Kight (including interviews with Kight and Torrie Osborn).

Box 9

Audio 1973-1974

Box 9

Daphne Hatfield, Tape 1: "Tapdance"; "Beautiful woman"; "Service station"; "Best friend"; "House". KPFK April 23, 1973

Physical Description: 1 7-inch, open reel audio tape

Box 9

Gay Liberation -- Out of the Closet interview. KNBC; Gay Songs July 1, 1973

Physical Description: 1 audio cassette

Box 9

Vicki Randle, music by Margie Adam: "You took me for a ride"; "Images"; "The time has come"; "Prepare for landing" November 24-25, 1973

Physical Description: 1 7-inch, open reel audio tape

Box 9

Margie Adam, Songs, Part 2: "Hey in there"; "Something just begun"; "Lost in inner space"; "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"; "Woman of my heart". KPFK April 28, 1974

Physical Description: 1 7-inch, open reel audio tape

Box 9

Daphne [Hatfield]. Gay Community Services Center circa 1974

Physical Description: 1 7-inch, open reel audio tape

Box 9

Video 1974-2001

Box 9

It takes all kinds -- Men. CBS 1974

Physical Description: 1 1-inch, open reel video tape

Box 9

It takes all kinds -- Women. CBS 1974

Physical Description: 1 1-inch, open reel video tape

Box 9

Historic march on Washington. Lifestyle Update Productions October 1987