Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Tilchen, Maida, 1949-
- Abstract:
- Maida Tilchen is an Indiana University alumna and activist who focused on LGBTQ+ and women's rights. This collection comprises .8 cubic feet and primarily consists of Tilchen's papers and collected materials documenting her life in Bloomington, Indiana and the local social justice initiatives of the 1970s.
- Extent:
- .8 Cubic Feet (3 Boxes consisting of 1 letter dc, 2 small letter dc, OS Boxes 15 and 16)
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
[Item], Maida Tilchen papers, Collection C747, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
Background
- Biographical / Historical:
Maida Tilchen was born in Brooklyn, New York on February 21, 1949. From 1967 to 1971, Tilchen attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook, graduating with a BA in Anthropology. In 1973-4, she served as a VISTA Volunteer (Volunteers in Service to America) as a community organizer for the Headstart program in Bicknell, Indiana. During Tilchen's time in the VISTA program, she frequently visited Bloomington and the Indiana University campus to connect with the local lesbian and feminist community. After her VISTA service, Tilchen lived in the Bloomington's Women Center. During her years in Bloomington, she was an organizer for the Lesbian Free University classes, Bloomington Gay Rights Coalition, and the Bloomington Gay Women's and Men's Literary Circle. She helped to produce women's music concerts and other LGBTQ+ and feminist activities. She also wrote for local feminist publications and for the national LGBTQ+ magazines Body Politic and Gay Community News, including reporting on Indiana's LGBTQ+ issues. Starting in 1974, Tilchen worked for Indiana University Bloomington's History and Philosophy of Science Department as an administrative assistant and pursued a Master of Science degree in Education – Instructional Systems Technology that she completed in 1976. Upon completion of her degree, Tilchen worked for Indiana University's Center for Innovation in Teaching the Handicapped as a researcher and instructional designer. In 1980, Tilchen moved to Boston, Massachusetts to work for the LGBTQ+ national weekly Gay Community News as their Promotions Manager. Tilchen's later career in Boston included being the library director at Cambridge College until her retirement in 2015. She also published two historical novels about lesbians, one of which was a Lammy Award Finalist. To learn more about Tilchen's life and career, consult her autobiography which is included in the collection in the folder "Creator's Notes."
- Scope and Content:
This collection contains one series, Subject files (1970-2022) which primarily consists of the papers created and collected by Maida Tilchen while she lived in Bloomington, Indiana from around 1974 to 1980. The files in this series feature her efforts in organizing protests around Indiana and Bloomington to protect gay and lesbian rights. Some other notable files include: "A Room of One's Own – Women's Bookstore" that shares information about the short-lived women's bookstore in Bloomington, "Gay Women's and Men's Literary Circle" that covers a social group in Bloomington highlighting queer literature, and files covering several LGBTQ+ conferences throughout Indiana. Tilchen's collection provides a rare and intimate look at the organizational efforts of Bloomington's gay and lesbian community and the key events such as the Backstreet Bar legal case and the creation of feminist and LGBTQ+ courses at Indiana University.
A notable addition to this collection is Maida Tilchen's authored autobiography and detailed descriptions of the contents of the collection, which can be found in the folder "Creator's Notes." Researchers can go through the collection and have Tilchen's personal notes on why these records have been preserved, who might have been connected to her work in Bloomington, and the stories behind the papers. This is a rare opportunity for researchers to connect to this era of Bloomington and Indiana University's feminist and LGBTQ+ history.
- Acquisition information:
- Accession 2023/003
- Custodial history:
Maida Tilchen donated the collection to the University Archives in 2023 (Accn. 2023/003).
- Processing information:
Processed by: Jo Otremba
Finding Aid Completed: 2024
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized into one series, Subject files (1970-2022) and is arranged in alphabetical order apart from the file "Creator's Notes" authored by Maida Tilchen which serves as a brief introduction to the collection.
- Rules or conventions:
- DACS-Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Collection is open for research. Advance notice required.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
The donor of this collection have transferred their copyrights for the materials to the Trustees of Indiana University. For more information, please contact the Indiana University Archives staff.
The Indiana University Archives respects the intellectual property rights of others and does not claim any copyrights for non-university records, materials in the public domain, or materials for which we do not hold a Deed of Gift. Responsibility for the determination of the copyright status of these materials rests with those persons wishing to reuse the materials. Researchers are responsible for securing permission from copyright owners and any other rights holders for any reuse of these materials that extends beyond fair use or other statutory limitations.
Digital reproductions of archival materials from the Indiana University Archives are made available for noncommercial educational and research purposes only. If you are the copyright holder for any of the digitized materials and have questions about its inclusion on our site, please contact the Indiana University Archivist.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
[Item], Maida Tilchen papers, Collection C747, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
-
Herman B Wells Library E4601320 East Tenth StreetBloomington, Indiana 47405-7000, United States
- CAMPUS:
- Indiana University Bloomington
- CONTACT:
-
812-855-1127archives@indiana.edu