Smith College Special Collections, Northampton, MA Videos

On this first day of the Spring semester, we’re excited to present the first ✨Smith College Special Collections Wrapped✨ where we share out all the exciting work that was put into making our 2023 programming happen. Thanks for being a part of our year! We can’t wait to see what 2024 brings. Stay tuned for big announcements coming soon!🤫💌 Big thanks to our collaborators across campus this year, including @smithcollegebotanicgarden, @dti_smithcollege, @smithcollegeimagingcenter, and @smith_arts 🎉🎉

Amber Hollibaugh - Voices of Feminism Oral History
Today, Smith College Special Collections remembers the life of Amber Hollibaugh, a passionate LGBTQ activist, political organizer, writer, and filmmaker. She passed away in October 2023. A self-proclaimed radical revolutionary femme lesbian, she was a tireless advocate for queer liberation, economic justice, and marginalized voices in the LGBTQ community, especially sex workers and low-income queer people. Born and raised in rural California by a poor, mixed-race Romany and Irish family, Hollibaugh was known for her charismatic persona, powerful public speaking, and radical openness about the complexities of her own life as a member of various marginalized communities and a survivor of abuse. These qualities gave her an ability to connect with others, paving the way for her deeply impactful leadership and organizing roles. Among these, she was a key leader in the fight against AIDS, serving as the founding director of the Lesbian AIDS project; she led Queers for Economic Justice, an organization dedicated to advocating for low-income queer people; she directed an award-winning 1994 documentary on women living with AIDS called "Heart of the Matter;" and she authored "My Dangerous Desires: A Queer Girl Dreaming Her Way Home" (2000). Smith College Special Collections holds Amber Hollibaugh's remarkable oral history, recorded in 2003 by Kelly Anderson for the Voices of Feminism Oral History Project. All photos and videos in this post are taken from this oral history. The video and transcript are available via this link: https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/89266 You can see more selected clips from Hollibaugh's oral history on our Instagram, @archivalagents. This post was written by Sonia Carroll '24.

How Books Work - Julie Chen and Clifton Meador
HOW BOOKS WORK. Julie Chen is coming to Smith College in just three days! To celebrate, we are showing off this delightful little book by Chen and another book artist, Clifton Meador. How Books Work challenges what we expect from books, and at the same time, explores the nuances of being a reader. It asks us, “What is a book?” And answers, “The book is a vehicle for meaning. Text and image presented on the page must make the perilous leap across the gap between the maker’s mind and the reader’s mind.” So while you may usually be the one looking at a book, this book looks right back. Unfolding in a mesmerizing pattern in four directions, How Books Work is a gorgeous example of what books can do, and how readers interact with them. We can’t wait to ask Chen all about her process at the Enid Mark lecture this Thursday, from 4:30-6 in the Neilson Library Browsing Room, with a reception to follow. If you want to see more, works by Chen and Enid Mark (including How Books Work) will be on display in the Special Collections reading room (3rd floor of Neilson Library) on April 20th from 10-4:30.

Julie Chen's "Evidence of CompressioN"
JULIE CHEN’S EVIDENCE OF COMPRESSION. We are gearing up for the Enid Mark lecture next Thursday, April 20th by taking a peek at some of Julie Chen’s bookwork. This video showcases her 2001 artist’s book, Evidence of Compression. Inside its box, we find a shaped book-item that resembles a ridged, water-worn stone. The hinged lid opens to reveal two miniature books nested within rings resembling a cross-section cut of a stone or tree trunk –represented in the object as lines of text. When the tiny books are joined together, connected by magnets, they form a round stone. The object explores the history of a woman as a stone, which Chen says, is "composed of the residue of countless words that had once been spoken out loud, and have now all but been forgotten, like the sound of voices in a distant dream, memories, and deep emotion. … a tangible record of connections.” Working with Chen’s creations will often leave you breathless at the sheer artistry and care necessary for every little detail. We hope to see you at the Enid Mark lecture next week, either in-person or on Zoom! Click here for zoom registration: https://smith.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1a3K7yhfS2CSAMroJPHU5Q If you want to see more, works by Chen and Enid Mark will be on display in the Special Collections reading room (3rd floor of Neilson Library) on April 20th from 10-4:30.

Dyke TV Brainstorming
“Currently, there are no lesbian shows on cable television in New York City,” wrote the founders of the program that would soon be known as Dyke TV, in 1992. Just under six months later, the first episode of Dyke TV aired. This post features a list of brainstormed segment titles, part of a larger group of documents that help shed light on the groundbreaking show’s earliest days. Featuring content by and for lesbians, Dyke TV was founded by playwright and Lesbian Avengers co-founder Ana María Simo, theater director and producer Linda Chapman, and indie film and video maker Mary Patierno, among many other collaborators. The group sought to make “television that is at the cutting edge of the medium (fast, funny, stylish, substantive) AND at the same time communicates with a wide spectrum of our community–in terms of age, ethnicity, culture, income, etc. It is, indeed, a very ambitious project.” See more documents from the show’s early days at [LINK] bit.ly/EarlyDykeTV_Notes. To watch full episodes of Dyke TV, head to [LINK] bit.ly/DykeTV_Episodes. The Dyke TV records were processed as part of the inaugural Access to Collections (A2C) Project, a sustained project to bring greater access to Special Collections’ holdings. 🎉 Check the comments for a closer (more static!) look at the document from the video.

Here is the library rulebook that students were met with when the library now known as Neilson opened its doors for the first time, in 1909. Rules are slightly different in #NewNeilson, obv. Images (here, in video form) via the Buildings records [LINK] bit.ly/Smith_Buildings.

If this commercial — by Cheryl Dunye!) — doesn’t make you want to watch Dyke TV, we aren’t sure what will. Learn more about the show at [LINK] https://bit.ly/DykeTV_Records. Many of the show's episodes have been digitized; watch 'em at [LINK] http://bit.ly/DykeTV_Episodes. #pride

This intro is what greeted Dyke TV's viewers — and it absolutely set the stage for the half-hour documentary show. Learn more about the show at [LINK] https://bit.ly/DykeTV_Records. Many of the show's episodes have been digitized; watch 'em at [LINK] http://bit.ly/DykeTV_Episodes. #pride

Archives On Wheels: Amy Barbour’s Bike
It's #ArchivesHashtagParty! For #ArchivesOnWheels, see what's been called the first bicycle on Smith's campus — the two-wheeled vehicle owned & rode by Amy Barbour ‘91, the college’s Professor of Greek from 1901 until 1937(!) Image via CA-MS-01008, Individual Faculty Papers.

Women of Rock Oral History Project: Phranc
Her oral history narration covers so much, from her learning the guitar early on (and dropping out of school to play music), knowing she was a lesbian in childhood, and her introduction to the LA punk scene. Oh, and there’s also an interrupting parrot named Pickles to boot! Visit bit.ly/PhrancWOROHP to watch the interview in its entirety. Find more interviews to watch at bit.ly/WOROHPRecords. (video 3 of 3)

Women of Rock Oral History: Alice Bag
Alice Bag’s narration for the Women of Rock Oral History Project is a study in juxtaposition, like life itself. (Video 2 of 4)

Women of Rock Oral History Project: Lydia Lunch (Pt. 2)

Women of Rock Oral History Project: Lydia Lunch

Smith College Alumnae Oral History Project: Adelaide Cromwell