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METROPOLITAN COMMUNITY CHURCH

 Series
Identifier: 3

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Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The Kittredge Cherry and Audrey Lockwood papers are arranged in four series: Biographical (1977-2009), Publications (1972-2010), Metropolitan Community Church (1983-2005), and Donor Notes (2010-2012).

The Biographical series (1977-2009) includes a timeline Cherry and Lockwood's life together and Christmas newsletters over the years. There is also information on Mabel Hyde Kittredge, Cherry's aunt and a partner to Lillian Wald, a nurse and social worker in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the Kittredge family, Lockwood's father, and her pet armadillo. A scrapbook encompassing the couple's life from their time as students at the University of Iowa to their careers in Japan and later in California completes the series.

The Publications series (1972-2010) makes up the bulk of the collection. Clippings taken from both Cherry and Lockwood's work provide insight into life in the Midwest and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s. Included are articles covering the recession of the early 1980s in the Business clippings and a series written by Cherry on two paycheck households filed under Miscellaneous. The Feminist Forum and Japan clippings provide insight into the international women's movement. Cherry's books: Womansword: What Japanese Words Say About Women; Hide and Speak: How to Free Ourselves from Our Secrets; Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies and Celebrations; Jesus in Love: A Novel; Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More; and Jesus in Love: At the Cross are shelved in IWA's printed works collection along with a handful of translations (see Arrangement for a complete listing).

The Metropolitan Community Church series (1983-2005) contains programs, correspondence and clippings from Cherry and Lockwood's involvement with the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), particularly in San Francisco. It includes information on the AIDS crisis in California.

The Donor Notes series (2010-2012) contains documents from Cherry regarding various items in the collection, sent to the archives along with accessions.

The Artifacts series (undated) is a single folder with event nametags for both Cherry and Lockwood and an example of a pen handed out by the Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles following the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The Audiovisual series (1975-2007) contains both audio- and videocassettes regarding a number of topics, including a focus on lesbian and gay spirituality. A number of recorded services from the Metropolitan Community Church, both in Los Angeles and San Francisco are present; of particular note are services where a false report of gay-bashing by a member of the MCC clergy are addressed. Also included are numerous research interviews conducted by Cherry during the process of writing her book Hide and Speak, and a few Japanese-language items.

The following books by, and translations of Kittredge Cherry are housed in the Iowa Women's Archives printed works collection:

Books:

Womansword: What Japanese Words Say About Women (Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha International, original edition, 1987).

Hide and Speak: How to Free Ourselves from Our Secrets (Harper San Francisco, original edition, 1991).

Equal Rites: Lesbian and Gay Worship, Ceremonies and Celebrations co-edited with Zalmon Sherwood; Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1995).

Jesus in Love: A Novel (Berkeley, CA: AndroGyne Press, 2006).

Art That Dares: Gay Jesus, Woman Christ, and More (Berkeley, CA: AndroGyne Press, 2007).

Jesus in Love: At the Cross (Berkeley, CA: AndroGyne Press, 2008).

Translations:

Jesus in Love: Roman, German translation by Wolf Ostheeren (Toenisvorst, Germany: Edition EuQor, 2007).

Coming Out: Co ukrywac, a o czym mowic, Polish translation of Hide and Speak by translators Katarzyna Rybak and Paulina Dzwonnik (Gliwice, Poland: Helion Press, 2008).

Chinese translation of Hide and Speak (Taipei, Taiwan: Business Weekly Press, 1992).

Womansword: Nihongo wa onna o dou hyougen shite kita ka, Japanese translation by Yoko Kurihara and Kyomi Nakanishi (Tokyo, Japan: Fukutake Press, 1990).

Dates

  • Creation: 1970-2009

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Extent

From the Collection: 3.30 Linear Feet

From the Collection: 62 audio cassettes [AC1380-1442]; one CD [d0081]; eight VHS tapes [V471-479] boxes

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Repository Details

Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository

Contact:
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)