Overview
Diary of bisexual college student Joyce A. Fortune (then known as Joyce Adams) recounting her experiences in Spain and other parts of Europe.
Dates
- Creation: 1987-1988
Language of Materials
Materials in English.
Access Restrictions:
Access. Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright. Copyright in the diary created by Joyce A. Fortune may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns..
Copying. Papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.
Extent
1 folderCollection consists of Joyce A. Fortune's diary in which she recorded her observations of gay, lesbian, and bisexual life in Spain and other parts of Europe. The diary begins with a note that the "book" is intended for activist and historian Gerard Koskovich. She describes visits to nightclubs, a "communist gay group," and personal encounters, including sexual encounters. She also describes a conversation with two teenage boys who told her they "didn't understand how anyone could be a lesbian," though they did not seem particularly bothered by the idea. Another entry describes seeing a "transvestite" on the Madrid subway, noting "From behind he was fine, but from the front he was pretty bad." She also writes of spotting a double woman symbol spray-painted on a wall and grinning for half an hour afterwards.
BIOGRAPHY
Joyce Adams (later known as Joyce Fortune) was a student at Stanford University in the late 1980s. While volunteering at the Stanford Lesbian and Gay Archives Project, Adams learned the importance of documenting current LGBTQ history. She spent her junior year studying in Spain and kept a diary in which she declared her intention to note down "what I have found and will find in Spain in 1987-88 that is gay or bisexual and to put down my personal thoughts and experiences here."
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession number: 2020-M84
The diary of Joyce A. Fortune was acquired by the Schlesinger Library from Gerard Koskovich in September 2020.
Processing Information
Processed: October 2020
By: Susan Earle
The Schlesinger Library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit. Finding aids may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Author
- Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
- Language of description
- eng
- Sponsor
- Processing of this collection was made possible by the Radcliffe Class of 1955 Manuscript Processing Fund.
- EAD ID
- sch01924
Repository Details
Part of the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute Repository
The preeminent research library on the history of women in the United States, the Schlesinger Library documents women's lives from the past and present for the future. In addition to its traditional strengths in the history of feminisms, women’s health, and women’s activism, the Schlesinger collections document the intersectional workings of race and ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class in American history.