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About Your Sexuality Kit

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Held at: John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center [Contact Us]1315 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

The About Your Sexuality Kit is credited to deryck calderwood, Ph.D (1923-1986). Dr. calderwood is the major writer of the About Your Sexuality Kit. He pioneered the first graduate program on sexual education at a university and was the Professor and Director of the Human Sexuality Program at New York University (New York, NY). The About Your Sexuality Kit was created with support and sponsorship of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Dr. calderwood was hired by the Unitarian Universalist Association on a three month contract to build a compilation of the best sex education resources for individuals age 12 to 14 to be distributed amongst the church. Upon finding that there were very few if any positive and informative sex education resources, Dr. calderwood took it upon himself to create resources that empowered young people instead of shaming their sexuality. The available materials shared detailed resources on disease, conception and birth control. There were little to no resources on basic expressions of sexuality such as petting, masturbation, homosexuality and love making. The first edition of the About Your Sexuality Kit was published in 1971. The About Your Sexuality Kit encouraged exploration and curiosity. It is inclusive of the experiences of different genders and positively discusses homosexuality.

There were two court cases about the obscenity of the imagery included, but both were ruled in favor of the About Your Sexuality Kit as an educational resource. The About Your Sexuality Kit was designed with the help and resources from dozens of individuals within and outside of the Unitarian Universalist Association, especially Hugo J. Holleroth, the Director of Curriculum Development in the Department of Education and Social Concern at the Unitarian Universalist Association in Boston Massachusetts. Dr. calderwood went on to serve on the board of directors for the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex, Community Sex Information, Coalition on Sexuality and Disability and the Sex Information and Education Council of the U.S. The About Your Sexuality Kit was distributed to a variety of organizations including Unitarian Universalist organizations but also public and private secondary schools, colleges and universities, government agencies and private agencies like Planned Parenthood. The collection is a significant and comprehensive compilation of ideas on human sexuality from the 1970s and 1980s.

The About Your Sexuality Kit is a sex education guide created by deryck calderwood, Ph.D. and published by the Unitarian Universalist Association. The About Your Sexuality Kit contains materials from 1975 to 1983. Most of the materials are copyrighted for 1983. The collection covers topics such as human anatomy, femininity, masculinity, conception, birth, birth control, abortion, masturbation, lovemaking, friendships, sexually transmitted diseases, and sexual minorities. The About Your Sexuality Kit pays equal attention to homosexual and heterosexual relationships and sexual health. It captures progressive viewpoints of the early 1980s. This collection contains leader guides that are booklets to direct the course on sexuality for young people aged 12 to 14, as well as supplemental material such as filmstrips, cassette tapes, activity sheets, books and pamphlets. The About Your Sexuality Kit is organized according to the curriculum of the program. The collection looks to be missing materials. The following books are not found in this collection: Human Sexualities; Changing Bodies, Changing Lives; Lesbian/Woman; and The True Story of How Babies are Made. The Sexual Minorities in Society cassette and the VD Handbook are also not found in this collection.

Provenance unknown.

Publisher
John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center
Finding Aid Author
Caitlin Abadir-Mullally
Finding Aid Date
December 2, 2021
Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions

Copyright restrictions may exist. It is the responsibility of the requester to seek permission from the holder of the copyright to reproduce material from the John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives of the William Way LGBT Community Center

Collection Inventory

Leader's Guides: About Your Sexuality program booklets, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 1
Leader's Guides: About Your Sexuality program booklets (copy 2), 1983.
Box 1 Folder 2
About Your Sexuality program booklets addendum, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 3
Birth Control Methods cards, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 4
2 Sets of Genetics cards, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 5
Photocards of Young People, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 6
Cassette tape: Lovemaking: Heterosexual, 1983.
Box 1 Item 1
Cassette tape: Lovemaking: Bisexual and Homosexual, 1983.
Box 1 Item 2
Cassette tape: Dressing Up: An Overview of Cross Dressing, 1983.
Box 1 Item 3
Cassette tape: The Invisible Minority, 1983.
Box 1 Item 4
Cassette tape: Same Sex Friendships, 1983.
Box 1 Item 5
Film strip: Sex is Everywhere, 1983.
Box 1 Item 6
Film strip: Breaking the Language Barrier, 1983.
Box 1 Item 7
Film strip: Love Making, 1983.
Box 1 Item 8
Film strip: Love Making (Continued), 1983.
Box 1 Item 9
Film strip: Sexual Anatomy, Conception and Birth, 1983.
Box 1 Item 10
Film strip: Same-Sex Friendships, 1983.
Box 1 Item 11
Film strip:  Masturbation, 1983.
Box 1 Item 12
Film strip: Dressing Up, 1983.
Box 1 Item 13
Film strip: The Invisible Minority, 1983.
Box 1 Item 14
Book: Society and the Healthy Homosexual by Dr. George Weinberg, 1983.
Box 1 Folder 7
Pamphlets, 1975-1983.
Box 1 Folder 8
Cardboard carrier, 1983.
Box 1 Item 15

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