This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
By CJ Garcia
Title: Corvallis Lesbian Avengers Collection, 1990-2000
ID: MSS CorvallisLesbianAvengers
Primary Creator: Corvallis Lesbian Avengers
Extent: 5869.16 megabytes. More info below.
Arrangement: This collection is arranged by type of material, and further arranged chronologically by date. This collection is arranged into 4 series: 1. Albums and Scrapbooks, 2. Artifacts, 3. Annotated Calendar, and 4. Necessary Friction Zine.
Date Acquired: 00/00/2020
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Corvallis Lesbian Avengers Collection documents the activities of the Corvallis chapter of the Lesbian Avengers throughout the 1990s. The Corvallis Lesbian Avengers were a local chapter of the national Lesbian Avengers organization. Originally formed in 1992 in New York City, the Lesbian Avengers were a direct-action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility.
The bulk of the collection is made up of photo albums and scrapbooks containing photographs, news clippings, flyers, artwork, poetry, and other paper material. The collection also includes a small collection of artifacts, an annotated calendar, and 3 issues of the Necessary Friction zine produced by the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers.
The entire collection is digital and fully available upon patron request or for use in the SCARC reading room.
Oral history interviews of several founding members of the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers containing additional information can be found in the OSU Queer Archives Oral History Collection (OH 034). These include interviews with DJ Travers, Julie Derrick, and Brian Parks.
The Corvallis Lesbian Avengers Collection documents the activities of the Corvallis chapter of the Lesbian Avengers throughout the 1990s. The Corvallis Lesbian Avengers were a direct-action activism group particularly focused on issues of concern to lesbian women, but also dealt with issues of injustice for women, other queer people, and racial minorities.
The bulk of the collection is made up of photo albums and scrapbooks containing photographs, news clippings, flyers, artwork, poetry, and other paper material. The collection also includes a small collection of artifacts, an annotated calendar, and 3 issues of the Necessary Friction zine produced by the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers. These materials provide insight into the activism, social activities, and social environment of the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers in the 1990s. The materials also portray a variety of political and social events of the time that were of interest or concern to LGBTQ people, women, and people of color in the Corvallis area. Of particular note is the Necessary Friction zines, which capture the more emotional, affective, and artistic side of the Lesbian Avengers' activism.
This is entirely a digital collection. The original physical materials were digitized by SCARC and returned to their donors.
The Corvallis Lesbian Avengers were a local chapter of the national Lesbian Avengers organization. Originally formed in New York City in 1992, the Lesbian Avengers were a direct-action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility. Despite a national presence, the Lesbian Avengers were largely decentralized, with each local chapter operating independently and reacting to local events.
One of the inciting events for the formation of the original Lesbian Avengers was the murder by firebombing of Brian Mock, a disabled gay man, and Hattie Mae Cohens, a black lesbian woman, in Salem, Oregon by four white supremacists in September 1992. When news of this traveled back from New York City to Oregon, local chapters of the Lesbian Avengers were formed. Several founding members of the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers first started as members of the Portland chapter, but in Novermber 1995 the Corvallis chapter was founded to focus on local issues. The Corvallis chapter was particular active from the mid 1990s until the turn of the century.
In contrast to the original chapter in New York City, and other chapters around the country, the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers did not limit their actions to lesbian activism, but also performed actions to combat sexism, homophobia, and racism. Despite their distance from New York, the Corvallis chapter maintained much of the same philosophy as other Lesbian Avengers chapters, including a focus on direct action, a lesbian membership focus, an emphasis on recruitment, and the use of fire-eating demonstrations.
More Extent Information: 5869.16 MB; 367 files
Statement on Access: The collection is open for research. The entire collection is digital and fully available upon patron request or for use in the SCARC reading room.
Acquisition Note: These materials were donated by members of the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers. The materials were then digitized and returned to the donors.
Related Materials:
The Corvallis Lesbian Avengers Collection is part of the Oregon State Queer Archives.
Related Special Collections and Archives Research Center's collections include the After 8 Records (MSS After8), Student Club and Organizations Records (RG 276), Thomas Kraemer Papers (MSS Kraemer), Pride Center Records (RG 236), and the Women's Center Records (RG 243).
Interviews of several founding members of the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers can be found in the OSU Queer Archives Oral History Collection (OH 034). These include interviews with DJ Travers, Julie Derrick, and Brian Parks.
Preferred Citation: Corvallis Lesbian Avengers Collection (MSS CorvallisLesbianAvengers), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Corvallis Lesbian Avengers
Butch and femme (Lesbian culture)
Gay liberation movement
Gay rights.
Homophobia--Law and legislation
Lesbian activists
Lesbian Avengers (Organization)
Lesbian college students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Lesbian Erotica
Lesbians--Poetry
Lesbians--Social Life and Customs
Oregon--Politics and government.
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Artifacts (object genre)
Digital images.
Digital photographs.
Photograph albums.
Scrapbooks.
Zines
The materials in this series, spanning a variety of formats, document the history of the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers, including their activism, actions, social activities, and cultural environment. This series includes 5 photo albums and 2 scrapbooks.
The material in this series is accompanied by post-it notes supplied by the donor, transcribed into one document, which provide additional context to the material.
Please be aware that the photo album folders are derived from the personal albums of one of the donors. These folders represent material that was selected by the donor, and do not necessarily represent the full contents of the original albums.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.