Overview
| Repository: |
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
121 Wall St. New Haven, CT 06520-8240 Email: Beinecke.Library@Yale.edu Phone: (203) 432-2972 Fax: (203) 432-4047 |
| Call Number: | GEN MSS 787 |
| Creator: | Bailey, Laura |
| Title: | Laura Bailey collection of gender and transgender materials |
| Dates: | 1850s-2008 |
| Physical Description: | 48.08 linear feet (47 boxes, including 22 oversize boxes) |
| Language(s): | In English. |
| Summary: | The Laura Bailey Collection of Gender and Transgender Materials consists of a broad range of visual materials, including photographs, postcards, and many types of printed ephemera; manuscript materials, and audiovisual materials. The collection is organized largely as it was received from Bailey, with many materials in binders according to category of gender or transgender culture or performance as assigned by Bailey. Also included is a catalog for the collection compiled by Bailey and the hand-written index cards she used to catalog it. |
| View/Search: | To view and/or search the entire finding aid, see the Full HTML(NOTE: for large finding aids, the full HTML view may take up to 30 seconds to render) or the Printable PDF. |
| Finding Aid Link: | To cite or bookmark this finding aid, use the following address: http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.lbailey |
| Digital Images: | Search for digital images from this collection. |
| Catalog Record: | A record for this collection, including location information, may be available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog. |
Administrative Information
Provenance
Purchased from Laura Bailey on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2010. The index cards were the gift of Laura Bailey, 2010.
Information about Access
This collection is open for research.
This collection may be housed off-site at Yale’s Library Shelving Facility (LSF). To determine if all or part of this collection is housed off-site please check the library’s online catalog, Orbis; material for which the location is given as “LSF” must be requested 36 hours in advance. Please consult with Beinecke Access Services for more information.
Ownership & Copyright
The Laura Bailey Collection of Gender and Transgender Materials is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Cite As
Laura Bailey Collection of Gender and Transgender Materials. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Processing Notes
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections [as they are acquired], and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Laura Bailey
As a natural born lifetime collector of the ephemeral, Laura Bailey has bought and sold, as both a collector and a rare book and rare paper collectibles dealer professionally in the international markets. In addition to real life experience, Laura's academic credentials include New York University and The New School for Social Research.
Her life experiences included touring in a band as a multitalented musician - (trumpet, organ, all keyboard instruments, and electronic music),- working in the hospitality industry as both manager and owner of a resort hotel in Eastern Long Island, and owning a bookstore in New York City's historic Greenwich Village. Laura Bailey was a conscientious activist even before Stonewall in 1969, and remains a staunch supporter of Human Rights today.
Laura's expansive varied collections have included beat poetry, original 20th Century art, Mayan art, stamps, and erotica. Laura continues her passions for collecting materials reflective of cultural diversity, societal taboos, and those discriminated against, ignored, persecuted and forgotten. Laura's current collection in inventory and sheer numbers ranges in the hundreds of thousands.
Description of the Papers
The Laura Bailey Collection of Gender and Transgender Materials consists of a broad range of visual materials, including photographs, postcards, and many types of printed ephemera; manuscript materials, and audiovisual materials. The collection is organized largely as it was received from Bailey, with many materials in binders according to category of gender or transgender culture or performance as assigned by Bailey. Also included is a catalog for the collection compiled by Bailey and the hand-written index cards she used to catalog it.
The collection has been cataloged in two groups. The printed component, comprised of books, magazines, newsletters, and a variety of printed ephemera, is in the process of being cataloged in the Yale Library’s online catalog. The archival component is described in brief in this finding aid. More detailed descriptions will be added in the future. The collection catalog and index cards detail the contents of the entire collection, including the printed component.
The first piece Laura Bailey bought in the 1960's was a digest entitled "Muscle Man in Silks" about a body builder who "had a weakness for women's silk lingerie." She went on to gather, widely and internationally, any material that exhibited or commented on gender variation: photographs, postcards, flyers and programs for night clubs, sheet music, and clippings. These cover a wide range of gender expression, from drag queens and kings to cowgirls and bearded ladies. This finding aids lists materials as received from Laura Bailey – most of them gathered into thematic groups in scrapbooks and photo albums.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into five series: Series I. Photographs; Series II. Manuscript and Printed Materials; Series III. Correspondence; Series IV. Index Cards; and Series V. Audiovisual Materials.