Nancy F. Walker papers

Nancy Walker's papers contain records from the Community Homophile Association of Toronto (CHAT); correspondence (present in several series); Gay Community News (GCN) files; records from her undergraduate studies at Hofstra College; LGBTQA ephemera, memorabilia and serials; photographs; her resume and memorial service materials; and records from the newspaper She. They also contain personal and public writings spanning her adult life, from her undergraduate studies in the 1950s onwards.

Series 1. Community Homophile Assocation of Toronto (CHAT) documents the internal workings of this Canadian LGBTQA organization in the early 1970s. Files contain meeting materials, flyers and press releases, educational materials, the CHAT hotline calls log, and correspondence.

Series 2. Correspondence includes letters to and from friends, family, professional contacts, and folks who reached out to Walker because of her public writing, circa 1970-1995. Additional correspondence is found in Series 1, 3, and 4.

Series 3. Gay Community News contains several folders of material that document Walker's involvement with GCN, mainly as the classifieds manager. There is also correspondence addressed to her at GCN, organizational records such as membership meeting notes and press releases, and two leather unicorn albums made by Robert "Bobby" Lee White, an incarcerated person who was a fan of Walker's "Odyssey of A Unicorn" column. These records date from 1975 to 1985.

Series 4. Hofstra College contains writings in the form of correspondence, poetry, plays, term papers, and notes from Walker's time as an undergraduate, 1952-1956. They also contain records from Walker's involvement with Hillel, a Jewish students group, and issues of the Word, Hofstra's literary magazine.

Series 5. LGBTQA Ephemera, Memorabilia and Serials contains a broad selection of queer and feminist publications, ephemera and memorabilia collected by Walker. LGBTQA publications from across the United States, Canada, and Britain reveal a diversity of viewpoints on queer life in Walker's lifetime. The series includes incomplete runs of publications like The Advocate, Christopher Street, Bay Windows, The Body Politic, Focus: A Journal for Gay Women, and It's Time: Newsletter of the National Gay Task Force (NGTF), as well as pamphlets, flyers, and other materials from a vast array of LGBTQA organizations.

Series 6. Photographs contains photographic prints, negatives and slides documenting Walker’s life from infancy through the 1990s. They also include a photograph album from the 1970s that documents family, friends and travel.

Series 7. Resume and Memorial Service contains a resume from circa 1985, and materials relating to Walker's memorial service in 1996.

Series 8. She contains organizational records and writings for She, a newspaper aimed at professional women in New England. Records document editorial planning, and include writings, press releases and issues of the newspaper, dating to 1992.

Series 9. Writings include notes, poetry, plays, short stories and correspondence, as well as drafts and final versions of pieces written for Gay Community News, Bay Windows, She and other journals, 1956-1996. Among the published writings are Walker's “Odyssey of a Unicorn” column, general features, interviews, and reviews of books, film and theater.