Papers, 1840-2010, bulk, 1941-2009

ArchivalResource

Hickok, Beverly. Papers, 1840-2010, bulk, 1941-2009

Papers, 1840-2010, bulk, 1941-2009

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/710862526

Collection consists of a variety of personal and professional documents, photo albums, journals, travel notes, newspaper and magazine clippings, correspondence, published and unpublished manuscripts, ephemera, lesbian pulp and popular fiction, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organization materials. The collection reflects the life of a white, upper middle-class, college educated lesbian who came out during the 1940s and has since experienced a rich life in her senior years. The photographs, journals, and correspondence provide insight into the socio-historical pressures of pre-Stonewall era lesbian life, as well offering glimpses into the quotidian travails of a lesbian who frequented historic lesbian bars such as Mona's in San Francisco and Tessie's in Hollywood. Based on her own life experiences, Hickok published a novel, "Against the Current: Coming Out in the 40s" and subsequently a photo memoir, "The Life and Loves of Beverly Hickok." The chronological arrangement of materials predates Hickok's birth and includes an array of family photographs from the mid-nineteenth century. Hickok's early life in photographs, photographs and manuscripts of her father during his tenure as Alameda City Manager, and the correspondence during her W.A.V.E.S service, indicating the close relationship she maintained with her mother, represent some additional highlights of the collection. Hickok also was a riveter, as in "Rosie the Riveter," at the Douglas Aircraft defense plant, and the collection contains some World War II memorabilia. As the former head librarian for UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies, there is substantial photo and paper documentation of the library's physical transformation. The collection houses a large quantity of photo albums, which documents two significant romantic relationships---one with a partner of forty-one years, Cecil Davis, and the woman to which she is now legally married, Doreen Brand. Davis was a photographer, and her files contain some famous celebrities that she photographed for the annual Bing Crosby Golf Tournament. In her senior years after meeting Brand, Hickok became active in local and national lesbian organizations and elder lesbian community collectives, to which a series is dedicated. The collection also contains numerous photo albums of Hickok and Brand traveling extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad, including the fourteen Olivia Cruises they took.

65 boxes (32.5 linear ft.)

University of California, Los Angeles