Call Number:

Coll.53

Repository:

John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center

Extent:

1.5 linear feet ((3 record album boxes))

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Nancy Levine women's music record albums, 1063-1989, Ms. Coll. 53, John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center, Philadelphia, PA.

Date:

1963-1989 (inclusive)

Creator:

Levine, Nancy

Form:

Sound recordings

Abstract:

Women's music—sometimes defined as music by women, for women, and about women—formed alongside the rise of second-wave feminism in the 1960s and 1970s. The Nancy Levine women's music record albums are comprised of 83 record albums featuring female soloists and ensembles from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Women's music—sometimes defined as music by women, for women, and about women—formed alongside the rise of second-wave feminism in the 1960s and 1970s. It often relates closely to the labor, civil rights, peace, and lesbian separatist movements of the period as well. With few women musicians being signed by mainstream music labels, the earliest women's music relied on sales via mail order, feminist bookstores, and in concert venues where the musicians played to primarily female audiences. In 1973 the country's first women's music festival was held and the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, which would grow to be the largest, began in 1976. In 1979, the first women's music label, Olivia Records, was formed by a lesbian collective from Washington, DC. Over time more women artists would be signed to major labels, but some continued (and continue) to produce and market their music through small, independent and often women-owned labels.

The Nancy Levine women's music record albums are comprised of 83 record albums featuring female soloists and ensembles from the 1960s through the 1980s. The majority of the women musicians featured in the collection are lesbian or bisexual, or have been at one time in their lives. The nationality and ethnic makeup of the collection includes both black and white musicians, coming from the United States, primarily, as well as Canada and Australia.