461:, published in 1986, gives a personal and detailed account of seeking, finding and creating a life with other lesbians at a time when little was recorded on the topic; notably, it is the first lesbian autobiography written where the author does not use a pseudonym. It offers a superb account of one eyewitness-participant's view of twentieth-century artistic-bohemian life and of the cultural history of the San Francisco area. Gidlow also openly discussed her lifetime experience as a lesbian in the critically acclaimed 1977 documentary feature
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449:. Gidlow helped plan the funeral for her friend Alan Watts when he died there. The monks from nearby Green Gulch Monastery often came to visit and participated in a ceremony there upon Watts's death which included an Anglican Mass; they then buried half of his ashes near his library at Druid Heights, and brought the second half to Green Gulch Monastery in the nearby valley.
394:, and many leaders of various women's rights efforts. The Society morphed into the Druid Heights Artist Retreat after her death whereupon she provided the funds to begin the nascent-albeit short-lived-organization, Druid Heights Artists Retreat; A Facebook group called "Save Druid Heights" has been formed where many today hope to return DHAR to her home at Druid Heights.
242:, England. Her father, Samuel A. Gidlow, was a railway safety clerk from Nottingham, her mother, Alice May (née Reichardt) Gidlow, the daughter of a German immigrant tailor. By 1901, the family had moved to a new house, 183 Clumber Street. In 1904, Samuel Gidlow emigrated to Canada. Alice, young Elsie and her brother Samuel joined him the following year. They settled in
250:. Elsa had six siblings: Thea, Ivy, Stanley, Ruby, Eric, and Phyllis, whom she referred to as her "unfortunate family," because of their intimate association with mental illness. At the age of 15, Gidlow was first employed by her father on the Canadian Railway, and later by a contact of her father's in Montreal, a factory doctor, as assistant editor to
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340:, were "Washed Pink at Fairfax Hearings." But Gidlow, who lived with a woman of African descent and often made dinner for the Chans from San Francisco, was later accused of "living with a colored woman and frequently entertaining Chinese people...This was damning evidence that I could not be a loyal American."
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in San
Francisco in 1991. The collection consists of 16 boxes (13 linear feet) of correspondence, journals, literary manuscripts, legal records, photographs and other materials documenting Gidlow's life, work and relationships. The papers are organized into nine series: Correspondence, Subject Files,
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Along with Watts and his soon to be wife Mary Jane Yates, Gidlow planned and then co-founded the
Society for Comparative Philosophy here in 1962. This society financed many of the improvements to the property and brought many of the important visitors and "artists in residence" for whom Druid Heights
702:
Gidlow 1986, p. 1. Some sources give her first name as 'Elfie'; this seems to be a misreading of a 'long s' on the birth certificate. She is 'Elsie' in the 1901 Census, 1905 ship's passenger list, and on her first published poems. She seems to have been named after her German grandmother, Elisabeth
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The last few months of her life, Gidlow experienced several strokes. She chose not to seek medical care in a hospital and died at home in Druid
Heights at the age of 87. Gidlow was cremated and her ashes were mixed with rice and buried beneath an apple tree in Druid Heights. Parts of Druid Heights
308:, where in 1944 she became a home owner, active in local politics eventually becoming one of the planning commissioners. Due to her membership in political and writers' groups allegedly affiliated with communists, she was suspected of being "Un-American" and was subsequently investigated,
301:. In 1926, Elsa moved to San Francisco. Rexroth numbered her among his closest friends. With the exception of nearly a year spent in Europe, mostly in Paris, in 1928, she continued living in the San Francisco Bay Area for the rest of her life.
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Perhaps seeking solitude, Gidlow left her first home, Madrona, and the garden she had so lovingly tended for 10 years there, and in 1954, purchased a ranch which she subsequently shared with Roger Somers and his family above
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276:, the first magazine in North America where gay and lesbian issues were discussed, and the lifestyle celebrated. It was also adamantly anti-war, influenced by Mills and Gidlow's pacifist and anarchist viewpoints.
280:, a fellow amateur journalist, attacked their work, leading Gidlow to defend it and attack back in return; the dispute created a minor controversy but brought Gidlow and Mills public, albeit negative attention.
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Manuscripts, Published Works, Journals and
Yearbooks, Audio-Visual and Photographs, Ephemera, Oversize Materials, and Original Documents. The collection is fully processed and available to researchers.
378:(1896–1985) lived together for a short time at Druid Heights, but family commitments called Isabel away. Also living there at one time or another were notable residents including her close friend
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is now known. Besides Alan Watts, notable residents who, through Elsa's largess, found cheap rent and a place to create or escape were David Wills, Catherine
Mackinnon, Roger Somers, Sunyata,
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293:, a magazine supportive of poets and unsympathetic to the war and England. She became the poetry editor later becoming the associate editor. It was at this time she met a young
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226:(1986), recounts her life story. It is the first complete-life, lesbian autobiography published where the author "outs" herself and does not employ a pseudonym.
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200:(29 December 1898 – 8 June 1986) was a British-born, Canadian-American poet, freelance journalist, philosopher and humanitarian. She is best known for writing
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Elsa, I Come with My Songs: The
Autobiography of Elsa Gidlow (San Francisco: Druid Heights Press, 1986, p.104-106)
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Fourth Report of the Senate Fact-Finding
Committee on Un-American Activities, 1948: Communist Front Organizations
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in
Fairfax, where she had moved in her 40s. charges that Gidlow was a "red," as Stanton Delaplane reported in
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Elsa, I Come with My Songs: The
Autobiography of Elsa Gidlow (San Francisco: Druid Heights Press, 1986, p.82.
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Gidlow socialized with many famous artists, radical thinkers, mystics, and political activists, including
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Elsa Gidlow was born Elsie Alice Gidlow on 29 December 1898, at 9 Wells
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Gidlow was ideologically opposed to communism, and she denied the accusation. Patricia Holt of the
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In 1917, she began seeking out fellow writers and meeting with them, particularly in the field of
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Gidlow moved to New York in 1920 at the age of 21. There, among other jobs, she was employed by
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have subsequently fallen into ruin, but Gidlow's home remained intact as recently as 2012.
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in 1947. The committee's final report accused her of being affiliated with
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Associated Press (11 June 1986). "Poet Elsa Gidlow Dies at Age 88 ".
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Holt, Patricia (22 June 1986). "Search for the Independent Mind".
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Guide to the Elsa Gidlow Papers, 1898–1986 (bulk dates 1920–1986)
926:" (collection no. 91-16), GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco.
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Sapphic Songs: Eighteen to Eighty, the Love Poetry of Elsa Gidlow
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Ask No Man Pardon: The Philosophic Significance of Being Lesbian
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published in North America. In the 1950s, Gidlow helped found
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Gidlow's estate donated her extensive personal papers to the
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Elsa, I Come with My Songs: The Autobiography of Elsa Gidlow
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Elsa, I Come with My Songs: The Autobiography of Elsa Gidlow
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It amused Gidlow that such "radical" ideas set her up for a
222:(1977). Completed just before her death, her autobiography,
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Makings for Meditation: Parapoems Reverent and Irreverent
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Sexual Borderlands: Constructing an American Sexual Past
906:"Oasis for Resisting Status Symbols Just Might Get One"
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Rapp, Rayna (Intro.); Gidlow, Elsa (Spring, 1980). "
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stations around the United States starting in 1978.
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145:Love, beauty, politics, protest, mysticism, nature
795:Lavender Ajays of the Red-Scare Period: 1917–1920
670:. University of California Press. 32 (2), 50–57.
983:Samek, Toni; Lang, Moyra; Roberto, K.R. (2010).
968:Kennedy, Kathleen; Ullman, Sharon Rena. (2003).
947:. University of Nebraska Press. 4 (3), 47–51.
871:Tamalpais Walking: Poetry, History, and Prints
314:California's Un-American Activities Committee
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1003:In My Own Way: An Autobiography, 1915–1965
924:Guide to the Elsa Gidlow Papers, 1898–1986
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1191:People from Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
904:Brown, Patricia Leigh (25 January 2012).
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464:Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives
219:Word Is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives
297:who became known as the "father" of the
1206:Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area
1151:Canadian emigrants to the United States
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635:". The Mill Valley Historical Society.
941:Footprints in the Sands of the Sacred
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1116:20th-century Canadian women writers
1101:20th-century American women writers
869:Killion, Tom; Snyder, Gary (2009).
557:Sapphic Songs: Seventeen to Seventy
204:(1923), the first volume of openly
985:She Was a Booklegger: Remembering
662:Atwell, Lee (Winter, 1978–1979). "
312:and forced to testify in front of
183:Isabel Grenfell Quallo (1945–1964)
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1141:American women's rights activists
1106:20th-century Canadian LGBT people
827:Fairfax Investigation and Hearing
814:Sapphic Songs: Eighteen to Eighty
703:Christiana, and her mother Alice.
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825:California Legislature (1948). "
732:"Canada's first gay publication"
1196:Writers from Kingston upon Hull
1186:People from Fairfax, California
972:. Ohio State University Press.
712:1901 Census, England and Wales.
441:, Edward Stiles, Roger Somers,
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320:organizations. However, as a
664:Word Is out and Gay U. S. A.
509:California Valley with Girls
1146:British emigrants to Canada
1111:20th-century Canadian poets
1096:20th-century American poets
1067:(public domain audiobooks)
613:Elsa Gidlow's Sapphic Songs
304:In the 1940s, she lived in
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1181:LGBT people from Yorkshire
955:The Esesential Gay Mystics
631:Oldenburg, Chuck (2012). "
354:on the southwest flank of
224:Elsa, I Come with My Songs
212:, a bohemian community in
173:Elsa, I Come with My Songs
1121:Activists from California
845:Davis, Erik (May 2005). "
793:Faig, Ken. (July 2006). "
374:. Gidlow and her partner
299:San Francisco Renaissance
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1156:Canadian lesbian writers
1126:American lesbian writers
684:In Memoriam: Elsa Gidlow
366:", a nod to her friend,
360:Marin County, California
273:Les Mouches fantastiques
214:Marin County, California
1055:GLBT Historical Society
1053:in the archives of the
990:. Library Juice Press.
953:Harvey, Andrew (1997).
949:(subscription required)
852:16 October 2012 at the
692:(subscription required)
682:West, Celeste (1986). "
672:(subscription required)
651:San Francisco Chronicle
621:(subscription required)
598:(subscription required)
490:GLBT Historical Society
457:Gidlow's autobiography
326:San Francisco Chronicle
322:philosophical anarchist
191:Muriel Symington (1922)
137:, essays, autobiography
79:Mill Valley, California
1043:Quotations related to
939:Gidlow, Elsa (1979). "
617:American Poetry Review
376:Isabel Grenfell Quallo
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254:an in-house magazine.
1201:Writers from Montreal
1005:. New World Library.
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187:Violet Henry-Anderson
1171:English LGBT writers
1161:Canadian women poets
1136:American women poets
1061:Works by Elsa Gidlow
1001:Watts, Alan (1972).
268:Roswell George Mills
1166:Canadian LGBT poets
1131:American LGBT poets
443:Catharine MacKinnon
306:Fairfax, California
270:, Gidlow published
206:lesbian love poetry
158:Feminist literature
1028:Works by or about
910:The New York Times
847:Druids and Ferries
738:. 22 February 2015
596:. 6 (1), 103–127.
527:Letters from Limbo
433:, Clarkson Crane,
425:, Robert Shapiro,
264:amateur journalism
154:Lesbian literature
104:political activist
46:Elsie Alice Gidlow
1176:Lesbian feminists
1057:in San Francisco.
996:978-0-9802004-9-2
957:. HarperCollins.
521:Wild Swan Singing
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415:James Broughton
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399:Dizzy Gillespie
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74:(1986-06-08)
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1091:1986 deaths
1086:1898 births
1045:Elsa Gidlow
1030:Elsa Gidlow
384:Gary Snyder
382:, the poet
198:Elsa Gidlow
135:Love poetry
107:philosopher
72:8 June 1986
25:Elsa Gidlow
1080:Categories
1034:Wikisource
1011:1577315847
978:0814209270
963:0062509055
873:. Heyday.
799:The Fossil
762:www.cbc.ca
576:References
427:Maud Oakes
380:Alan Watts
372:Ella Young
352:Muir Woods
334:witch hunt
310:subpoenaed
230:Early life
101:journalist
86:Occupation
51:1898-12-29
945:Frontiers
767:26 August
742:26 August
290:Pearson's
240:Yorkshire
126:1917–1986
115:Education
64:, England
62:Yorkshire
1065:LibriVox
850:Archived
419:Ram Dass
328:writes:
248:Montreal
185:"Tommy"
590:Memoirs
417:, Baba
180:Partner
142:Subject
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976:
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858:Arthur
816:(1982)
571:(1986)
565:(1982)
559:(1976)
553:(1975)
547:(1974)
541:(1973)
535:(1970)
529:(1956)
523:(1954)
517:(1933)
511:(1932)
505:(1923)
484:Legacy
258:Career
175:(1986)
170:(1923)
123:Period
98:editor
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