BIO

Having grown up near Santa Cruz, California, I chose to move across the country for FSU in order to pursue a degree in International Affairs. Currently, I plan to dual major with Middle Eastern Studies, and minor in Arabic Studies. Past college, I hope to attend graduate school and build a career in the diplomatic field. This past year, I saw UROP as not only a way to help develop my research skills, but also as an opportunity to learn more about FSU and the greater Tallahassee area, as well as continue partaking in interests held outside of my major.

The Naiad Press: Tallahassee's Lesbian Feminist Publishing Company

Abstract

In a period of social uproar, students and scholars alike are looking to revisit the past, uncovering histories of minority groups and recognizing the proportion of events and details hidden from the pages of history books. One such history remains largely unrecognized within the Florida State University student body, and broader Tallahassee community, despite its significance at the time in which it existed. The Naiad Press, the nation's largest and longest running lesbian feminist publishing company, was based out of Tallahassee from 1980-2003.Through a study of and participation in developing LGBTQ+ oral history, we have accumulated personal stories of various women who have worked under or been published by the Press. Through transcribing these interviews and visiting the San Francisco Public Library Archives, I have worked to collect information regarding the Press and lesbian community within Tallahassee at the time. In an effort to bring this local history to the foreground, not only in efforts to inspire the current lesbian community within Tallahassee, but to inform the population as a whole, we are working to curate a museum exhibit at the FSU Museum of Fine Arts from June 9 to October 29. We hope these efforts
will raise awareness for and honor an obscured Tallahassee story.

Keywords: queer history Tallahassee lesbian literature