Collection ID: LMC 3049
Request
Printable View Printable View
Ead Download EAD

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Tilchen, Maida, 1949-
Abstract:
The Tilchen, Maida mss. consists of newspapers, journals, and ephemera related to lesbian literature and queer life in 1960s-1990s America (especially Bloomington, Indiana) collected by author, historian, and activist Maida Tilchen.
Extent:
2 Boxes (2 standard) and 1 folio (oversize)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item], Tilchen, Maida mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Background

Biographical / Historical:

Maida Tilchen is a journalist, author, lesbian activist, and scholar of lesbian pulp novels. While living in Bloomington, Indiana during the 1970s, Tilchen helped organize the Bloomington Gay Rights Coalition and the Bloomington Gay Women's and Men's Literary Circle, also attending Lesbian Writers' Conferences in Chicago. In 1980, Tilchen moved to Boston to serve as the promotion manager for Gay Community News. Her significant collection of lesbian pulp novels, which also served as the subject for her first published article, resides at the Lilly Library and the Lesbian Herstory Archive.

For more information about Tilchen, see her Chicago Gay History video interviews.

Scope and Content:

The first three series (Lesbian and Gay Publications, Journals, and Periodicals; Bibliographies and Book Catalogs; Comics) consist of publications created by and for the queer community with a heavy focus on the lesbian community. The Lesbian and Gay Publications, Journals, and Periodicals series includes an incomplete run of The Ladder from July 1957 to September 1972. The "Ann Bannon/Beebo Brinker" folder includes writings by Tilchen and others on author Ann Bannon, as well as correspondence between Bannon and Tilchen and ephemera from Beebo Brinker-related/inspired events and performances. "Correspondence" includes a handful of letters between Tilchen and queer publications/organizations in pursuit of adding their publications to her collection. "Writings and Interviews by Tilchen" consists of Tilchen's many interviews with lesbian authors as well as her book reviews and articles about lesbian pulp history.

Tilchen's prolific collection of lesbian pulp paperbacks is described separately and can be found in the Tilchen, Maida mss. Book Collection.

Acquisition information:
Purchase: 2025
Processing information:

Processed by Ava Dickerson in 2025.

Arrangement:

The collection is first arranged into series based on publication type (Lesbian and Gay Publications, Journals, and Periodicals; Bibliographies and Book Catalogs; Comics), based loosely on their organization within the binders in which Tilchen originally stored them. The remaining materials are arranged at a folder level based on material type or subject. In order to maintain Tilchen's arrangement, correspondence between Tilchen and Ann Bannon can be found in the "Ann Bannon/Beebo Brinker" folder rather than the "Correspondence" folder; similarly, Tilchen's writings on Bannon are in the "Ann Bannon/Beebo Brinker" folder rather than the "Writings and Interviews by Tilchen" folder.

Physical location:
ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility); ALF (Auxiliary Library Facility) - OVFlat

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is open for research.

Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable copyright holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish Form.

PREFERRED CITATION:

[Item], Tilchen, Maida mss., Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
1200 East Seventh Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405-5500, USA
CAMPUS:
Indiana University Bloomington
CONTACT:
(812) 855-2452
liblilly@iu.edu