Collection documents, at the grass roots level, the "third wave" of the feminist movement in the early 1990s. It consists primarily of materials created by feminist activists and zines from Ocho y Media, a women's collective and discussion group based in San Diego, California.
Scope and Contents:
The collection includes a wide variety of materials, including zines (published and unpublished), flyers and advertisements, articles, mailers, booklets, photographs, stickers, original art and sketches, a diary, a self-abortion care guide, two scrapbooks with photographs and other materials, and other ephemera. Specifically, the collection includes copies of Ocho y Media's zines and other materials relating to events and actions the group organized, such as open houses and a domestic violence awareness event with The Clothesline Project. Other zines in this collection have content on sexual and reproductive health, domestic violence, third wave feminism, queerness, labor rights and unions, race and racism, romantic relationships, punk and other music subcultures, and other related topics.
Karen Craig, Leilani Clark, Britton Neubacher, Eve Novak, and Torie Quiñones, all members of Ocho y Media, donated the materials to the collection. Donors included personal collections of zines that cover subjects including sexual and reproductive health, labor rights, violence against women, queerness, body image, romantic relationships, personal feelings on third wave feminism, punk music, and more. The collection is useful to researchers interested in third wave feminist groups/collectives, riot grrrl, feminist punk, student organizing, and similar subjects. It is arranged in five series in alphabetical order by the creator or donor of each group of material. Materials date from 1979 to 1999, with the bulk of material dating from the 1990s.
Arrangement:
Collection is arranged into five series.
Series 1: Leilani Clark, undated
Series 2: Karen Craig, 1993-1996, undated
Series 3: Britton Neubacher, 1979-1999, undated
Series 4: Eve Novak, 1993-1998, undated
Series 5: Torie Quinonez, 1990s
Biographical / Historical:
Ocho y Media was a third wave feminist "women's discussion circle and action group" based in San Diego, California in the mid-1990s. The collective met on Mondays at 8:30 pm, the inspiration for their name, which means eight thirty in Spanish, and planned several feminist events in and around San Diego. They held events at the Ché Café, a cooperative café and event/community space on the University of San Diego California campus (still operating as of 2023). These events included domestic violence awareness projects. The group also published at least two volumes of a zine, Ocho y Media.
Zines, a shortened form of Fanzines, derived from magazines, are short, lower end publications often with political or social messages. They often contain poetry, narrative writing, personal statements, missions and manifestos, collaged art, or community knowledge. Zine culture expanded in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the underground feminist punk riot grrrl movement. Typically costing between one and five US dollars, these small, low budget publications helped create solidarity across social and political movements and offered creators emotional and artistic outlets.
This collection is related to the riot grrrl movement, a punk feminist underground music scene that championed women's independence and power. Started in 1991 with the establishment of bands like Bikini Kill and Team Dresch, the riot grrrl movement encouraged women to start music groups, organize and support each other, and fight for feminist causes. Although it was originally a West coast-based movement, riot grrrl spread in part through the production of zines and the interconnectedness of the groups (like Ocho y Media) that created them.
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution
Miss America 1951 Papers, 1949-2000, NMAH.AC.0888
Archives Center Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Collection, NMAH.AC.1146
Spokeswoman Magazine, 1972-1980, NMAH.AC.0931
Museum of Menstruation Collection, NMAH.AC.1586
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Norma Broude and Mary Garrard Papers, AAA.brounorm
Lucy R. Lippard Papers, 1930s-2007, AAA.lipplucy
Ilene Segalove Papers, 1960-2021, AAA.segailen
Jacqueline Skiles Papers, 1963-1980, AAA.skiljacq
Nancy Spero Papers, 1940s-2009AAA.spernanc
May Stevens Papers, 1967-1982, AAA.stevmay
Sylvia Sleigh papers, 1961-1983, AAA.sleisylv
What is Feminist Art? Questionnaire Responses, AAA.whatisfe
Woman's Building (Los Angeles, California), AAA.womabuil
Womanspace Gallery records, 1970-1974, AAA.womagall
Nina Yankowitz Papers, circa 1950-2017, AAA.AAA.yanknina
Other Repositories
Smith College
Sophia Smith Zine Collection
https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/749
Duke University
Sarah Wood zine collection
https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/woodsarah
MOVE with New York University (NYU)
The Riot Grrrl Collection
https://guides.nyu.edu/riot-grrrl/finding-aids
Barnard College
The Zine Library
https://zines.barnard.edu/
The People's Archive at the District of Columbia Public Library
Melissa Klein Collection
https://thepeoplesarchive.dclibrary.org/repositories/2/resources/1397
Provenance:
Collection donated to the Archives Center by Leilani Clark, Karen Craig, Britton Neubacher, Eve Novak, and Torie Quinonez in 2018.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
