Yolanda Retter Vargas papers
Overview
This collection documents the life, work, and scholarly papers of Queer activist and UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center librarian, archivist, and scholar Yolanda Retter-Vargas. Yolanda’s work focused on Latina lesbians, their identity formation, lived experiences, and community. However, her work also included Lesbian history and ethnography more broadly and the history of Latinos in the U.S. The collection includes her dissertation “On the side of angels: lesbian activism in Los Angeles, 1970-1990” (1999). She also compiled materials related to photography and the work of Max T. Vargas. Yolanda worked with and on Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS), the Lesbian Legacy Collection, an index of lesbians of color, a "Lesbians" entry for the Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, a USC course on women in color in the U.S., the Lesbian Herstory Project, the Lesbian Oral History Project, and White Women Against Racism (WWAR) workshops. Materials include manuscripts drafts, articles and clippings, notes, correspondence, bibliographies, LGBTQ printed materials and publications, audio recordings, ephemera, such as t-shirts and stickers, teaching and course materials, interviews with Latina lesbians, workshop planning notes.
Dates
- Creation: 1871-2008
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1945-2008
Creator
- Retter-Vargas, Yolanda, 1947-2007 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research. Advance requests can be made to CSRC Library staff via email.
Some materials may be in digital or audio-visual formats. Advanced notice is required to access these materials, and the researcher may bear the cost of digitization.
Copyright
Property rights to the physical objects belongs to the Chicano Studies Research Center. Copyright has not been assigned to the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to the Chicano Studies Research Center Library. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center as the owner of the physical item and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright holder, which must be obtained by the researcher.
Biographical / Historical
Yolanda Retter (1947-2007) was a librarian and archivist at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library and an activist dedicated to providing a voice to lesbian and minority issues and preserving their history. Retter was a champion for social justice and organizing, helping to support the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center. She organized numerous repositories on lesbian history around the city, and she built the Lesbian History Project website. During her time as librarian at the CSRC Library (2003-2007), she increased the amount of material on the subject of Chicanas and Queer Studies. Under her leadership, the CSRC Library and Archives doubled and started the LGBTQ and Mujeres Initiative. Retter authored and edited three books on LGBTQ rights in the United States, including the Lambda Literary award-winning Queers in Space: Communities, Public Places, Sites of Resistance. She was also the Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) historian.
She was born in 1947 to a Peruvian mother and American father. Though born in Connecticut, she spent her younger years in El Salvador. She went to undergraduate at Pitzer College and graduated with a B.A. in Sociology. From there she went on to receive a master's in Social Work and a master's in Library Science at UCLA, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Her uncle Alberto Vargas was a famous pinup artist, and her grandfather Max T. Vargas was a renowned photographer. Some of her research later in life focused on her grandfather’s legacy and life, and she contributed essays on Peruvian photography to exhibit catalogs and journals.
Retter was a major force in the early Los Angeles lesbian movement. She played a huge role in the founding of several lesbian organizations, such as Lesbians Latina Americanas (1974), Lesbianas Latinas (1980), and Lesbianas Unidas. She was also a fierce advocate for lesbians of color, working with the prisons and social service organizations to provide support for the LGBTQ community. She co-edited and contributed to a number of books on LBGTQ culture and history.
Extent
48.28 linear ft. (75 document boxes, 1 glass slide box, 17 card boxes, 12 newspaper boxes, 2 oversize boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Yolanda Retter (1947-2007) was a librarian and archivist at the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library and an activist dedicated to providing a voice to lesbian and minority issues and preserving their history. Retter was a champion for social justice and organizing and organized numerous repositories on lesbian history around the city. During her time as librarian at the CSRC Library (2003-2007), she increased the amount of material on the subject of Latinas and Queer Studies. This collection documents her life, work, and scholarly papers. Retter focused on Latina lesbians, their identity formation, lived experiences, and community. However, her work also included Lesbian history and ethnography more broadly and the history of Latinos in the U.S. Materials include manuscripts drafts, articles and clippings, notes, correspondence, bibliographies, LGBTQ printed materials and publications, audio recordings, ephemera, and interviews with notable Latinas and lesbians.
Arrangement
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
COLLECTION CONTAINS AUDIO, DIGITAL, AND AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: Special equipment or further processing may be required to view or listen. Requests to use these materials must be made in advance. Please submit an Archival Research Application to enquire about how to view or listen to these materials. NOTE: Series 1 is currently unavailable due to digitization.
Physical Location
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Library and Archive for paging information. Researchers MUST make a research appointment through the CSRC Library's website.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Leslie Stampler, 2015. Deed on file at the CSRC Library office.
Processing Information
Processed by Jocelyne Sanchez, Vanessa Quintero, and Krystell Jimenez, 2024. Digital items processed by Yesenia Roman.
Subject
- Retter-Vargas, Yolanda, 1947-2007 (Person)
- 1 carton of periodical duplicates composed of quarterlies and journal: Dyke, 1975-1976; Amazon, 1973; Japanese American National Museum, 1995 May-July; Connexion, 1981-1989; Common Lives/Lesbian Lives, 1981 Fall - 1990 Summer; A lesbian feminist quarterly; Amazon Quarterly, 1973-1974; Cauldron, undated; Interviews, 1979 August - 1984 May; Trivia, 1982 Fall - 1988 Spring; Quest, 1974 Summer - 1976.
- 3 folder of materials related to Estelita Grimaldo.
- Title
- Yolanda Retter Vargas Papers
- Subtitle
- 1945-2008
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Xaviera Flores, 2019. Finding aid updated by Jocelyne Sanchez, Vanessa Quintero, and Krystell Jimenez, 2025.
- Date
- 2025 April
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
- Sponsor
- Processing and description for this collection was made possible through funding from the Latina Futures 2050 Lab.
Repository Details
Part of the Chicano Studies Research Center Library Repository
144 Haines Hall
Box 951544
Los Angeles California 90095-1544 United States
(310) 206-6052
(310) 206-1784 (Fax)
librarian@chicano.ucla.edu