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COLLECTION Identifier: T-350

Audiotape collection of Alix Dobkin, 1975-1995

Overview

Audiotapes of concerts and lectures by, and interviews with lesbian singer-songwriter Alix Dobkin. Also included is her personal collection of audiotapes featuring women's music.

Dates

  • Creation: 1975-1995

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English.

Access Restrictions:

Access. Unrestricted. An appointment is necessary to use any audiovisual material.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright. Copyright varies. Copyright in unpublished recordings by Alix Dobkin is held by the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the Schlesinger Library. Copyright in other recordings in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the director of the Schlesinger Library before publishing quotations from materials in the collection.

Copying. Audiotapes may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures.

Extent

139 audiotapes

The audiotape collection of lesbian singer-songwriter Alix Dobkin contains concert recordings, and interviews with or lectures by Dobkin. Also included is her personal collection of audiotapes featuring women's music. For related papers, see the finding aid for the Alix Dobkin papers, MC 598.

Series I. CONCERTS, 1975-1993 (#1-45), contains recordings of Dobkin's concerts and other performances.

Series II. LECTURES AND INTERVIEWS, 1982-1990 (#46-56), contains recordings of several of Dobkin's lectures, including her talk on Top 40 music lyrics, and interviews with her. Two tapes from her trip to Australia in 1988 include a discussion with Koori women.

Series III. DOBKIN'S PERSONAL COLLECTION OF WOMEN'S MUSIC, 1979-1995 (#57-139), contains commercially released music and demo tapes by other musical performers or groups.

BIOGRAPHY

Lesbian singer, songwriter, and activist, Alix Cecil Dobkin was born in New York City in 1940. Introduced at a young age to folk music and Broadway musicals, she graduated in 1958 from Germantown High School in Philadelphia and in 1962 from Tyler School of Fine Arts, Temple University. She began her career singing folk music in coffee houses, especially the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village where her future husband was the manager. In 1972, Dobkin fell in love with Liza Cowan and the couple came out together. In 1973, Dobkin released Lavender Jane Loves Women, the first album specifically made by and for lesbians. Since then she has released six other albums of women's music and has performed widely in the United States and abroad. For many years Dobkin was an advocate of women-only space, and performed only for women. She appeared regularly at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival from the 1970s to the 1990s, as well as at other women's music and lesbian festivals. For more biographical information, see the Alix Dobkin papers, MC 598.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged in three series. In Series I and II, audiotapes are organized chronologically; Series III is organized in alphabetical order.

  1. Series I. CONCERTS, 1975-1993 (#1-45)
  2. Series II. LECTURES AND INTERVIEWS, 1982-1990 (#46-56)
  3. Series III. DOBKIN'S PERSONAL COLLECTION OF WOMEN'S MUSIC, 1979-1995 (#57-139)

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Accession number: 2000-M124

These audiotapes were included with the papers of Alix Dobkin, that were given to the Schlesinger Library in 2000 by Alix Dobkin.

Related Material:

There is related material at the Schlesinger Library; see Alix Dobkin Papers, 1973-2004 (MC 598).

Processing Information

Processed: July 2009

By: Melissa Dollman

Creator

Subject

Title
Dobkin, Alix. Audiotape collection of Alix Dobkin, 1975-1995: A Finding Aid
Author
Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America
Language of description
eng
EAD ID
sch01243

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.

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