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Guide to the Bonnie Zimmerman Papers
MS-0329
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Collection Title: Bonnie Zimmerman Papers
Dates: 1966-2003
Bulk Dates: 1969-1999
Identification: MS-0329
Creator:
Zimmerman, Bonnie, 1947-
Physical Description: 33.75 linear ft
Language of Materials:
English
Repository:
Special Collections & University Archives
5500 Campanile Dr. MC 8050
San Diego, CA, 92182-8050
URL: http://library.sdsu.edu/scua
Email: askscua@mail.sdsu.edu
Phone: 619-594-6791
Dr. Bonnie Zimmerman worked for the Academic Affairs division of San Diego State University (SDSU) as the Associate Vice President
for Faculty Affairs. Prior to assuming administrative duties, she was a distinguished Professor of Women’s Studies, with capacious
publications in numerous journals, books, and anthologies in the fields of Literary Studies and Women’s Studies, her work
often focusing on the nexus of the two. One of the greatest achievements of this synergy is thearticle, “What Has Never Been,”
first published in the Fall of 1981 edition of Feminist Studies and later anthologized in the Norton Anthology of Theory &
Criticism, as well as Feminisms.
In her notable career at SDSU, she has diligently served both students and her department. While a Women’s Studies Professor,
she was also President of the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) from 1998 to 1999. This appointment was the culmination
of years of work. Bonnie presented numerous papers at NWSA conferences, and served on smaller committees. After many years
of involvement with the NWSA, Dr. Zimmerman became Member-at-Large in 1995, President-Elect in 1997, and President in 1998.
NWSA has been one of the two most important institutions in her life, the other institution being SDSU.
Her career has had many other highlights, and many yet to come. She is very enthusiastic about her current occupation and
pursuits and notes that SDSU has excellent faculty, has set high goals for itself, and has been a welcoming environment for
both Women’s Studies and lesbian scholars.
As a popular professor in Women’s Studies and occasionally English, she served as Graduate Advisor for Women’s Studies from
1997 to 2003. Additionally, she served as Department Chair from 1986 to 1992, and again from 1995 to 1997. She was the first
reader for more than fourteen graduate theses, and served as second or third reader for many more. She has also received
distinguished awards for her accomplishments. Most notably she received the “Alumni Award for Outstanding Faculty Contribution
to the University,” in 2003, the “Positive Visibility Award,” from GLAAD in 1996, both the Emily Toth and Lambda Literary
Award in 1991, a “Meritorious Performance and Professional Promise Award” in 1985, and the “Arthur R. Metz Distinguished Scholarship”
award from 1965 to 1968 (while an undergraduate at Indiana University).
Dr. Zimmerman’s higher education began at Indiana University in 1965 and she graduated with honors in 1968. She majored in
Philosophy, an unusual major for women at the time, and she recalls having had one woman lecturer, in French, and no women
professors whatsoever while pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree. While in Bloomington, she had budding dreams of becoming a Medievalist,
and was inspired by her professors to study Medieval literature as a graduate student at State University of New York (SUNY),
Buffalo in 1969. However, upon arriving at SUNY Buffalo in fateful 1969, she quickly found her niche as a feminist, joining
the Women’s Movement. She states, “everything stands out for me in Buffalo. . .[it’s] where I got involved in lesbian separatism—as
well as developing women’s studies and writing a feminist dissertation. . .that’s where I became who I am.” Although her
major was officially listed as English, she states: “I started Women’s Studies and my English PhD program at the same time
and my English program was only an excuse for doing Women’s Studies,” thereby demonstrating her passion for feminist work
and theory.
After graduating from SUNY Buffalo in 1974, Dr. Zimmerman taught at community colleges in the Chicago area, teaching both
Composition and Women’s Studies courses. After interviewing with SDSU’s groundbreaking Women’s Studies department in 1978—the
first Women’s Studies program in the country—she was offered a temporary position as a lecturer. While there, she was fundamental
in building the curriculum and coordinating the infrastructure of the Women’s Studies department. As a result of her committed
dedication she transitioned into a tenure-track position soon after her arrival. She became Professor of Women’s Studies
in 1983. She has been a Visiting Professor at both University of California San Diego (UCSD) and University of California
Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Zimmerman’s current appointment as Vice President for Faculty Affairs, is a direct result of seasoned
experience with larger university-level issues and her involvement with SDSU’s Academic Senate.
Zimmerman was born in 1947 in Chicago, Illinois, to a middle-class secular Jewish family. She has a younger brother, a younger
sister, and a large extended family. At age eleven, her family moved to the suburbs of Chicago. She states she occupied a
very “liminal” place during her youth, bridging class levels and cultural boundaries, socializing with a variety of students.
She stated emphatically that her primary childhood interests were, “books, books, books, books,” but she also studied classical
voice. While attending a suburban high school, Bonnie states she felt displaced: “I hated almost everything about high school
except the classes, and theater, and music.” She would go to Chicago to escape suburban life whenever she had a chance, spending
many hours downtown and in the Chicago library. When discussing the social milieu of the sixties, Bonnie iterated the importance
of the Kennedy assassination, “an absolute pivotal event for my generation,” and the Civil Rights Movement. As a teenager,
Zimmerman was too young to participate in the Southern voting drive, but she followed the developments closely.
Shortly after graduating from high school, Zimmerman entered the music program at Indiana University, but quickly changed
her major to Philosophy. After graduating in three years, Bonnie states she was exhausted and needed time to think over her
future plans. As soon as she got there she realized she was ready for graduate school in English and she began preparing for
the GRE Advanced Subject Examination in English. After reading the Norton anthologies back-to-back (both American and British),
she took the GRE Subject Test and received a perfect score of 800. She received several acceptance letters to PhD programs,
but chose State University of New York, Buffalo.
Buffalo is where Zimmerman became involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement. She developed her formative political views
while going to graduate school there, and she describes herself as a “generic feminist,” arriving at this description after
an intellectual tug-of-war between Marxist and radical feminism. When discussing the issue of self-identification she remarked,
“that was really important to me then—exactly what the primary contradiction was and what the best method for social change
was. . .I’m much more relaxed now. I really don’t find any of those definitions to be helpful at all now.”
When asked about her progression towards identifying as “lesbian,” she reiterated the importance of the historical moment
of the late sixties and her feminist studies at Buffalo. While discovering her deeply rooted feminist politics, she participated
in several consciousness raising (CR) groups. The possibility and plausibility of alternative modes of sexuality was explored
by Zimmerman and her consciousness raising group, and she recalls speaking positively about lesbianism long before she, or
any of her friends, came out. Once she did embrace her lesbian identity, she remarked that when looking back on her high school
life with her “lesbian eyes,” she realizes that she had always had the potential to be a lesbian.
As of this writing, Zimmerman has been with her current partner for over twenty-four years. They have no children.
At this time, after what she describes as a very satisfying teaching career, Dr. Zimmerman’s attention and energy is channeled
into working with SDSU’s outstanding faculty and improving the university at large.
This collection is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
San Diego State University -- Faculty -- Biography -- Sources
Women college administrators -- California -- San Diego -- Biography -- Sources
Personal Papers
Zimmerman, Bonnie -- Archives
Lesbians' writings, American -- California -- San Diego
Feminism
Lesbian activists -- California -- San Diego
Lesbian teachers -- California -- San Diego
Women's studies -- California -- San Diego
No original materials may be cited except with the written permission of Bonnie Zimmerman.
The copyright interests in these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with
the creators of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of historical archival and manuscript collections
is such that copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. Requests for permission to publish must be
submitted to the Head of Special Collections, San Diego State University, Library and Information Access. When granted, permission
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission
of the copyright holder(s), which must also be obtained in order to publish. Materials from our collections are made available
for use in research, teaching, and private study. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including
but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials.
This collection is open for research.
Identification of item, folder title, box number, Bonnie Zimmerman Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, Library
and Information Access, San Diego State University.
I. Academic Work
1. Courses taught (Syllabi, Course Materials)
2. Administrative (Senate, Committees, New Position)
3. Theses chaired
4. Other (conferences, other syllabi, program information and correspondence )
II. Activism and Publishing
1. Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures
2. Articles
3. Books
4. Other (Group membership, activism, public lectures)
III. Journals
1. Newsletters, zines and journals
2. Journal clippings, articles
IV. Personal
Series I, Academic Work: This series, which contains materials that range from approximately 1970 to 2003, is a record of the teaching and academically
related work and teaching of Dr. Bonnie Zimmerman. Each subseries holds materials from different aspects of Dr. Zimmerman’s
academic career. The first subseries contains a history of courses taught in the Women’s Studies and other departments.
In the folders are course syllabi, lecture notes, relevant articles, bibliographies, overheads, and other course materials.
The second subseries contains all of the administrative work Dr. Zimmerman took part in for the last several decades. This
includes committees from the Women’s Studies department, committees on campus, Academic Senate, and other administrative
committees. Papers in this subseries are meeting agendas, timelines, strategic plans, correspondence, and other materials
from the administrative activities Dr. Zimmerman participated in. Subseries three are all theses that were chaired by Dr.
Zimmerman. The theses of the students, as well as other thesis-related papers such as proposals and bibliographies are included.
The materials in subseries four are a collection of conference fliers and schedules, syllabi from other classes, program information
from other women’s studies and gay/lesbian studies departments, and academically related correspondence.
Series II, Activism and Publishing: Series II consists of the publications, research and activism in which Dr. Zimmerman participated from the mid 1970’s until
the donation of the collection in 2003. The publications and research components of this series comprise a very large part
of the series. Subseries one contains the largest publication, and the one with the most materials in this collection, is
the
Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures, published by Garland in 1999. The articles published, offprints of the articles, and some notes comprise subseries two.
The third subseries contains notes, drafts, and research related to books published by Dr. Zimmerman. Lastly, subseries four
entails the group memberships, activism, and public lectures of Dr. Zimmerman.
Series III, Journals: This series makes up the largest part of the collection. It is a collection of publications that were relevant to Dr.
Zimmerman’s research interests, academic career, and activist career. Many of the publications and articles are rare artifacts
from the Women’s Liberation Movement, the Lesbian Separatist Movement, the Gay Liberation Movement, and many others. First
publications of current scholars can be found in this collection, as well as invaluable primary documents that tell many histories
from the 1950’s until now. The majority of these publications are in some way connected to Lesbianism, although many other
important themes emerge in the texts. Subseries one contains the newsletters, zines, and journals. Small journal/newspaper
clippings and miscellaneous articles make up subseries two. A collection of rare and interesting books comprise subseries
three.
Series IV, Personal: The personal series of the collection holds juvenalia and correspondence. Although small, the unique contents of this
series are related to the academic and research careers of Dr. Zimmerman. Subseries one, juvenalia, contains notes, graded
papers, and other student work that she did as an undergraduate. Subseries two, correspondence, contains thank you notes
and letters from former students, people for whom she wrote letters of recommendation, and colleagues. The quantity of thank
you notes from former students and the praise that she receives in those notes is quite notable.
Series V, Ephemera: The Ephemera series is the smallest and most miscellaneous series in the collection. However, its unique contents are
still related and valuable. Within this series, are many postcards, most of which depict lesbian, feminist, or woman-related
art and political commentary. There are also some other interesting paper images and photographs.