Zine Collections at the Bingham Center

Major Zine Collections

Bingham Center Women’s Zine Collection.
Small donations of zines from writers or collectors and purchases from bookstores or book fairs are added to this collection. Some issues are included in the database.

Dwayne Dixon Zine Collection, ca. 1984-ca. 1995.
The majority of the zines discuss young men’s search for meaning in their lives, morality, and identity, especially through hardcore and punk music/lifestyle. The zines include interviews with bands, album reviews, and criticism of the status quo. Other groups of zines were produced by children participating in various afterschool and enrichment programs in Durham, NC; by Central American women in Mexico, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and El Salvador (written in Spanish); and by American young women, who wrote about rape, sexism, and traditional sex roles. 150 items. All issues are included in the database. Finding aid available.

Sarah Dyer Zine Collection, 1974-2000.
Sarah Dyer is the creator of Action Girl Comics, an anthology that she started in 1994 to spotlight the work of women who were publishing comics of their own. Prior to starting Action Girl Comics, Dyer was the publisher of Action Girl News, which reviewed women’s and girls’ zines. This collection consists of zines and comics submitted to Dyer for review, all self-published by women and girls and most produced in the United States. About 1000 of the total 1750 issues are included in the database. Finding aid available.

Arielle Greenberg Zines and Correspondence, 1993-1998 and n.d.
Arielle Greenberg is a poet, editor, and assistant professor in the English department at Columbia College, Chicago, Ill.. Collection comprises correspondence, zines (including original copies of "William Wants a Doll"), zine catalogs, and ephemera. Titles from this collection are not currently included in the database or available for research. 620 items.

Amy Mariaskin Zine Collection, 1995-2005.
Amy Mariaskin began collecting and trading zines with other women as a member of the Pittsburgh, Pa, Riot Grrrl Chapter from 1995-2002. She authored the zine "Southern Fried Darling" from 1995-2002, and "Vortext," about meteorology and weather. 150 items. Titles from this collection are not currently included in the database. Finding aid available.

Ailecia Ruscin Zine Collection, 1994-2001 and n.d.
Collection includes a wide selection of zines, zine catalogs, and some correspondence. 738 items. Some issues from this collection are included in the database.

Sarah Wood Zine Collection, [1990s].
Sarah Wood ran GERLL Press, a zine "distro" (distributor) based in Chicago, Ill., in the early- to mid-1990s. 100 items. All titles are included in the database. Finding aid available.

Smaller collections with zines

Niku Arbabi Zine Collection, 1995-2006.
This collection consists of 30 zines, 1999-2006, many of which are authored by Arbabi, founder of Ms. Films, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women and girls through access to media and media-making.

Karissa Cove Zine Collection, 2000-2002.
Collection comprises four issues of  Canadian artist Karissa Cove’s self-published zine Crackers and Honey (numbers 3, 4, 6, and 7). Cove’s use of unusual materials makes her zine a hybrid of a zine and an artist’s book. The zines often feature images of items Coves sells in her online shop, including underwear, purses, and clothes. Topics include sewing, cooking, fashion, identity, interpersonal relationships, art production, and popular music.

Ladyfest Midwest Collection, 2001.
Collection includes materials distributed by vendors at the event, 17-19 August 2001, including workshop programs, flyers, brochures, postcards, and several zines. Four Radical Cheerleaders posters are cataloged separately.

Rock Against Sexism Records, ca. 1981-1994 and n.d.
Rock Against Sexism was formed in Boston, Mass., in the early 1980s as an activist group involved with the local music and arts scene. Rock Against Sexism (RAS) followed in the DIY tradition of punk music and subculture, producing its own zine, organizing direct action protests, and putting on shows in local venues. RAS prefigured the riot grrrl movement, giving women more access to punk subculture. The group dissolved in 1994. The collection includes layouts (53 items) for and the final printed versions (29 items) of the self-published zine Rock Against Sexism (ca. 1981-1994 and n.d.). 350 items.

Sandra Stringer Papers, 1995-2001.
Sandra Stringer began publishing her comic-zine ATTAGIRL in 1995. The collection consists an autobiographical statement and a complete run of Attagirl, a self-published, personal zine written by Sandra Stringer. 28 items.

Jenny Zervakis Papers, 1991-2001 and n.d.
Jenny Zervakis began her comic-zine Strange Growths in 1991. The collection includes an autobiographical statement and issues 1 to 6 and 9 to 14 ½ of Strange Growths. 14 items.

Related Collections

Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture

Bitch Magazine records, 1996-2003 and n.d.
Issues of Bitch magazine (Duke University Library Catalog)
Electronic resource (Duke University access through GenderWatch database)

Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture, a magazine, was founded in 1996 by Lisa Jervis and Andi Zeisler. The records consist primarily of production records for magazine issues, including drafts and edited copy for articles, page layouts and color proofs, as well as editorial correspondence, research files, promotional and subscription material, and other related items. Finding aid available.

Bust magazine

Bust (Magazine : New York, N.Y.) Records, 1993-2000 (bulk 1995-1999).
Issues of Bust magazine (Duke University Library Catalog)

Debbie Stoller and Marcelle Karp began producing BUST, a third-wave feminist women’s magazine, in New York, N.Y., in 1993 as a photocopied zine. This collection documents the behind-the-scenes work required to put together BUST. The records include a complete run of the magazine, layouts and copy-editing material, biographies of contributors, article submissions, correspondence, and other materials. An early issue of Bust may also be found in the Sarah Dyer zine collection.

ROCKRGRL

Issues of ROCKRGRL magazine 
Electronic resource (Duke University access through GenderWatch database)

Carla DeSantis published ROCKRGRL from 1995 to 2005 and delivered the promise of "information and inspiration" with "no beauty tips or guilt trips." With insightful interviews and profiles of succesful women musicians, this magazine provided a great resource for fans and for women in the music business who were tired of mainstream media's patronizing tone toward women who rock. The Bingham Center has a complete set of all 57 issues.