Archives West Finding Aid

The OWL Trust records documents the construction of the OWL Trust and its functions. The collection provides insights into how membership, meetings, and activities were advertised and ran, as well as how conflicts were dealt with through correspondence, meeting minutes, flyers, and newsletters.

Series 1. Publications holds a collection of OWL Trust newsletters, as well as a collection of lesbian, gay, and feminist newsletters and periodicals from across the US, from 1978-2004, such as "Maize: A Country Lesbian Magazine," "Gay O'l Times," and "Off Our Backs," and most have multiple volumes.

Series 2. Organizational records contains meeting minutes from the OWL Trust and OWL Farm and financial, legal, and administrative documents, such as bylaws and their ammendments, as well as the membership handbook. It also contains flyers and brochures as well as correpondence from outsiders and correspondence between OWL Farm residents and trust members. Meeting minutes and correpondence address several conflicts within the OWL Trust, including the redefinitions of the OWL Trust and OWL Farm relationship.

Series 3. OWL Farm has a collection of books that were held in the OWL library on the land, documents pertaining to resident's work exchanges and other collected items such as a t-shirt and caldender.

Series 4. Writings has a journal, handwritten poetry book, and other collected writings from members that provide a glimpse into life on OWL Farm and in the OWL Trust.