Lesbian Feminism, Community Building, and Activism in the 1970s-1990s

Sophia Chimbanda spent her fellowship year in Durham, North Carolina, partnered with the North Carolina Collection (NCC) at Durham County Public Library. NCC is the local history and archival department within the public library. Sophia spent her time at NCC processing various collections and creating subject guides for some of the most popular research topics, such as Civil Rights and Black Activism and Durham religious institutions. These subject guides will be available on the library website as a way to give researchers an overview of the relevant materials at NCC.

Additionally, Sophia spent time working on a research project focused on lesbian feminism, community building, and activism in the 1970s-1990s in the Triangle. During the fellowship year, Sophia spent time doing archival research at local special collections with a specific focus on Feminary and The Newsletter, two prominent lesbian and feminist publications based in the Triangle. She also conducted some oral histories with local lesbian activists and community members on their memories and experiences of living in Durham during this time. The final project for Sophia’s fellowship was a program held at one of the Durham County Public Library branches where she hosted a panel with two founding women of The Newsletter, Sherri Zann Rosenthal and Joanne Abel, to spark a conversation on how publications impact community building and ways to build community in the present. The program was designed to reflect on local history while also creating an intergenerational space where lesbians and queer folks could gather and begin to form relationships.