Gender, Sexuality, and Social Justice

Taxonomy

Code

Scope note(s)

  • Special Collections & Archives houses archival and book collections that support the study of the intersection of gender, sexuality and social justice as related to theatre, health, support and advocacy on campus, and literature. Collections include the poems, plays, essays, and other works by John Herbert, a Canadian playwright and theatre director, best-known for his play, Fortune and Men’s Eyes. Moreover, the department holds the papers of Marie Stopes, who founded the first birth control clinic in the world and published books discussing sex and birth control in the early twentieth century. Additional collections include the records of the Glow Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity at the University of Waterloo and a wide selection of paperback books featuring lesbian themes by authors such as Ann Bannon, Artemis Smith, and Randy Salem. There are also collections relating to colonization and colonial violence, particularly in the context of missionary work.

Source note(s)

Display note(s)

Hierarchical terms

Gender, Sexuality, and Social Justice

Gender, Sexuality, and Social Justice

Equivalent terms

Gender, Sexuality, and Social Justice

Associated terms

Gender, Sexuality, and Social Justice

15 Archival description results for Gender, Sexuality, and Social Justice

Only results directly related

Va-Jel pamphlet.

  • SCA389-GA454-1
  • Collection
  • ca. 1925

One single folded page pamphlet advertising Va-Jel germicidal jelly. Recto also has an advertisement for Va'antiseptic douche. The products claim to offer a new freedom for women and a happier life through voluntary motherhood.

Seduction board game.

  • SCA384-GA449-1
  • Collection
  • 1972

One "Seduction" board game, a board game designed for two "swinging" couples. The game is complete with board, pieces and cards.

Dynamic Games

Photograph album of queer gender expression.

  • SCA440-GA514
  • Fonds
  • 1912

One photograph album capturing moments of gender expression in the early 20th Century. The album contains family and school photographs, and the images of gender expression centre around a group of students on what appears to be a school trip in Pennsylvania. People who appear to be assigned female at birth are shown wearing typical male clothing of the time, or dressed en homme, and people who appear to be assigned male at birth are shown wearing typical female clothing of the time, or dressed en femme. Beginning in the 1840s laws were passed across the United States criminalizing the act of appearing in public “in a dress not belonging to his or her sex" and the activities of this group of students would have still been illegal at this time. It is unclear if the people in the images are cross-dressing as a form of gender expression, entertainment or sexual fetish, or if they are transgender or gender non-conforming.

NAPSAC NEWS

  • SCA428-GA498
  • Fonds
  • 1980-1981

4 issues of the NAPSAC newsletter spanning 1980-1981.

NAPSAC

Marie Stopes and the History of Birth Control Book Collection.

This collection, funded by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Kaufman Footwear of Kitchener, Ont., consists of about 400 items published between 1906 and the 1980's related to the British birth control pioneer, Dr. Marie Stopes. A collection of archival material, the Marie Stopes archive, complements the book collection.

Included are first and scarce editions of Marie Stopes' writings on contraception, her early works in the fields of botany and geology, as well as much of her literary output. First and variant editions of her best-known books, Married Love, and Wise Parenthood, both published in 1918, are also present. The collection includes first editions of Stopes' first two published works, The Study of Plant Life for Young People (London, 1906, call number F9984), and Ancient Plants (London, 1910, call number G7956).

The collection contains an extensive selection of supporting materials about contraception and family planning by other authors. Highlights include Annie Besant's pamphlet, Law of Population (London: n.d., call number F11010), early issues of the journal, Birth Control News (call number HQ763.B46x), L. Darwin's What is Eugenics (1932, call number F9966), and W. J. Robinson's Fewer and Better Babies (New York: 1934, call number F10053).

Stopes, Marie

Letter from Reverend Alfred H. Tyrer with birth control pamphlets.

  • SCA402-GA468
  • Collection
  • 1941

Materials related to Reverend Alfred Henry Tyrer’s books and publications on birth control, sex education, and marriage life.

Includes pamphlets and order forms for Tyrer’s books Where did we come from, mother dear? (Marriage Welfare Bureau, 1939) and Sex, marriage and birth control (Marriage Welfare Bureau, 1936), and ephemera related to the books and the Marriage Welfare Bureau.
Also contains booklet Marriage welfare : some facts about birth-control by Reverend Alfred Henry Tyrer which acted as promotional material for the book Sex, marriage and birth control. Booklet includes sections: Birth-control, the population problem, definition of birth-control, birth control and war, mothers who die in child-birth, infant mortality, birth control vs. infanticide, birth-control vs. abortions, birth-control vs. degeneracy and disease, birth-control vs. prostitution, economics and birth-control, divorce, religion and birth-control, the present status of birth-control, a prairie marriage.

Materials were enclosed in an envelope sent from Ontario on July 10, 1941, and with a letter addressed to Steve E. Chorney from Ranfurly (Alberta) acting as an introduction to the publications and explaining their importance.

Tyrer, Alfred Henry

Lesbian Literature Collection.

  • Book Collection
  • 1942-1980

The collection consists of 169 paperback books featuring Lesbian themes.

During the post-war period, from the late 1940's to the 1960's, a significant amount of Lesbian material became available amidst the proliferation of popular fiction published as paperback originals (sometimes referred to as "pulp" fiction). Some authors represented in this collection are: Ann Bannon, Paula Christian, Valerie Taylor, Artemis Smith, Randy Salem, March Hastings, Gale Wilhelm, Marion Zimmer Bradley (writing under the names Lee Chapman and Miriam Gardner), and Marijane Meaker (writing under the names Ann Aldrich and Vin Packer).

John Herbert accrual.

Materials relate primarily to the professional life of John Herbert, between 1953 and 2001, including manuscript and typescript poems, plays, works and essays, as well as ephemera relating to his works. The ephemera covers publicity, advertising and programs of his theatre productions. Outside of his theatre career, there are also materials pertaining to his personal life. Newspaper clippings document his opinions on social issues such as homelessness, unemployment, and the rights of gays and lesbians. Herbert also wrote biographies and photographic histories of his own personal life from childhood to early adulthood. Other textual materials include published works mentioning Herbert in reviews of his works and life.

Herbert, John

Glow Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity fonds.

  • SCA318-GA358
  • Fonds
  • 2001-2015

Fonds consists of materials created and accumulated by the Glow Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity. Includes records created by the centre, promotional items, and materials relating to events and activities supported by Glow.

Glow Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity

Erotic prospectus collection.

  • SCA438-GA511
  • Collection
  • [ca. 1930]

A collection of 23 prospectus, mail order catalogues, and subscription requests for erotic books. The prospectus are couched in the terms of literature, anthropology and sexology in attempts to disguise the erotic nature of the works.

Blackfriars Press

Correspondence to Maryse Choisy by a sex worker.

  • SCA427-GA497
  • Fonds
  • [ca. 1962]

One item of correspondence addressed to Maryse Choisy by an unidentified sex worker, signed "a fan." The writer of the letter states that she has read Choisy's "Psychoanalysis of the Prostitute" and encourages her not to make the mistake of making generalizations about all sex workers. In specific, she points out that she does not consider her clients lovers and thinks of them as no more a customer than a waitress thinks of diners in a restaurant. She also states that she is engaged in sex work purely for the money. As well, the writer notes that she has a pimp and that they have a positive relationship, are married, and enjoy a healthy sex life. They met while she was already working as a sex worker, and he was already working as a pimp and had no desire to change each other's profession. She also notes that they did not sleep together until after they moved in together. The letter is ended by noting that they eventually would like to settle down, and that they are saving to open their own bar or liquor store one day.

Consent card.

  • SCA390-GA455-1
  • Collection
  • ca. 1930

One possibly satirical consent card, stating that the woman who fills the card in is giving her permission to engage in sexual acts with the man who has given her the card. It also grants the man indemnity under the Mann Act.

Booking photograph of Rose Pena Ventura.

  • SCA414-GA482-1
  • Collection
  • September 22, 1955

Two photographs on one sheet from the Sheriff's Department Los Angeles showing the booking photographs of Rose Pena Ventura. Ventura is seen in full length profile and straight on. The verso of the photograph indicates it was taken September 22, 1955 when Ventura was 32. Her aliases are listed as Rose Pena and Rose Garduna and she was arrested for the crime of abortion.

Sheriff's Department Los Angeles

Andrew Telegdi fonds.

  • SCA373-GA432
  • Fonds
  • [196-?]-January 28, 2017

Material created or accumulated by the Honourable Andrew Telegdi related to his life and career. Records in this fonds document Telegdi’s early career as a bistro owner and rock music promoter in British Columbia as well as his experiences as a student at the University of Waterloo. In addition, the material records his work as an Executive Director for Youth in Conflict with the Law. Most notably, the fonds documents Telegdi’s extensive political career as a City and Regional Councillor as well as a Member of Parliament. Additional records capture Telegdi’s post-political career and personal activities.

Telegdi, Andrew Peter