Guide to the On Our Backs archive, 1983-1995

John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2021

Collection Overview

Title:	On Our Backs archive
Date range:	1983-1995
Creator:	On our backs
Extent:	16 Linear Feet
Abstract:	The magazine "On Our Backs," was the first women-run lesbian erotica magazine in the United States, founded in 1984. The collection includes documentation about the magazine and the Blush Entertainment company which also owned Fatale Video and produced lesbian erotica videos.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	Ms.2005.26

Scope & content

This collection contains the records for the magazine "On Our Backs," the first women-run lesbian erotica magazine in the United States, founded in 1984. It contains the files created by the staff during their work to produce the magazine and the spin-off Fatale Video line of erotic movies. It includes articles contributed and offered, photographs, artwork, publicity materials, financial information, correspondence, editorial files, and videotapes. The collection contains content of an explicit sexual nature.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Elana, Myrna
• Murphy, Melissa
• Anderson-Minshall, Diane
• Sundahl, Deborah
• Cage, Diana
• Bright, Susie
• Findlay, Heather

Subject Topics

• Lesbians' writings
• Lesbians -- Periodicals
• Pornography
• Race, Ethnicity and Gender
• Language and Literature
• Feminism -- United States -- 20th century
• Homosexuality
• Lesbianism -- Periodicals

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in 17 series.

• Series 1: Articles
• Series 2: Contributors
• Series 3: Illustrators
• Series 4: Editorial
• Series 5: Design archive
• Series 6: Correspondence
• Series 7: Personnel
• Series 8: Production
• Series 9: Publisher files
• Series 10: Publicity
• Series 11: Marketing
• Series 12: Sales of magazine
• Series 13: Advertisements inside magazine
• Series 14: Events
• Series 15: Subject files
• Series 16: Blush Entertainment
• Series 17: Fatale video

Historical note

On Our Backs was the first women-run erotica magazine and the first magazine to feature lesbian erotica for a lesbian audience in the United States.

The magazine was first published in 1984 in San Francisco, CA by Debi Sundahl and Myrna Elana, with the contributions of Susie Bright, Nan Kinney, Leon Mostovoy, Honey Lee Cottrell, Dawn Lewis, Happy Hyder, Tee Corinne, Jewelle Gomez, Judith Stein, Joan Nestle, Patrick Califia, Morgan Gwenwald, Katie Niles, Noreen Scully, Sarita Johnson, and many others. Susie Bright became editor-in-chief for the next six years. Later editors included Diane Anderson-Minshall, Shar Rednour, Tristan Taormino, Diana Cage, and Heather Findlay (Brown, Class of 1986). On Our Backs defined the look and politics of lesbian culture for the 1980s, as well as playing a definitive role in the feminist sex wars of the period, taking the side of sex-positive feminism. It was issued quarterly during 1984-1989 and then bi-monthly.

The title of the magazine was a satirical reference to Off Our Backs, a long-running feminist newspaper that published the work of many anti-pornography feminists during the 1980s, and which the founders of On Our Backs considered prudish about sexuality. Off Our Backs regarded the new magazine as "pseudo-feminist" and threatened legal action over the logo OOB.

In 1985, Sundahl and Kinney spun off the first in a series of precedent-making lesbian erotic videos, called Fatale Video. Distribution of the magazine in Australia began in 1986. By the late 1980s, Fatale Media was the largest producer of lesbian pornography in the world.

In 1994, the magazine experienced financial problems, and, was sold to its then marketing director, Melissa Murphy (Brown, Class of 1990) who published only one issue after which the magazine was declared bankrupt. Its assets were bought in 1996 by HAF Enterprises (co-owned by Heather Findlay), and it resumed publication in 1998. The original creators moved on to other projects.

Citation: On Our Backs, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Our_Backs, accessed November 8, 2016.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	The folders in "Series 13. Advertisements inside magazine" titled "On Our Backs - Personals" dated 1990-1993 are restricted for a period of 75 years until 2068 to protect the privacy of the individuals placing the ads because the ads were always published anonymously. The original requests were never meant for public access. Researchers can view the published versions of the personal ads in the On Our Backs published issues.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	On Our Backs archive, Ms.2005.26, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Melissa Murphy (Brown, Class of 1990) in 1996.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Karen Eberhart.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2021-05-26 .
Descriptive rules:	Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Additional Information

Related material:

See also: Susie Bright Papers And On Our Backs Records, 1978-2013 (Collection Number: 7788) held by the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University. Linda Williams papers (Ms.2015.011), Brown University

Inventory

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