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Papers of Kayann Short

 Collection
Identifier: UKAS

Scope and Contents

The Papers of Kayann Short consists of documents dated 1969 to 2019, with the bulk falling from 1990 to 1995. The collection, concentrating on feminist issues and presses, includes published articles and book reviews by Short, articles related to feminism, publishers' press releases of upcoming titles, newsletters, and Kayann Short's manuscript of Out into the World: Feminist Presses and Feminist Politics, including accompanying research and permissions. Kayann Short's 1994 Ph.D. dissertation, "Publishing Feminism in the Feminist Press Movement, 1960-1994," is also included.

Short's masters thesis, "Too disconnected/too bound up : the paradox of identity" in Merce Rodoreda's The Time of the Doves, is not part of the collection but is available online. VIEW

Dates

  • Creation: 1969-2021
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1990-1995

Creator

Restrictions on Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Restrictions on Use

Not all of the material in the collection is in the public domain. Researchers are responsible for addressing copyright issues.

Biography

Kayann Short (b. March 26, 1959) is an alumna of Colorado State University (CSU) who graduated with a degree in literature and women's studies in 1981. During her undergraduate career at CSU, Short was a member of the Feminist Group, a student organization that challenged sexism on campus. The organization's accomplishments included shutting down a residence hall Playboy Club, establishing a Women's Film Festival and newsletter, and organizing the community's first Take Back the Night march, a rally decrying violence against women.

Short continued her education, earning her master's degree in English at Colorado State University in 1991 and Ph.D. in English at the University of Colorado Boulder in 1994. In 2009, Short was awarded Colorado State University's Karen Wedge Women's Studies Alumna Award, and in 2013, she was selected to present the Boyer Scholarship lecture for CSU's Center for Women's Studies and Gender Research. Her talk, "Feminism Pressed, Practiced, and Preserved," discussed the evolution of the second-wave feminist press movement, its ties to CSU activism in the 1970s, and the Friedman Feminist Press Collection.

Kayann Short became a senior instructor of the Farrand Academic Program in 1994 at the University of Colorado Boulder, concentrating on women's literature. She retired in 2011. Short was awarded the Boulder Faculty Assembly Service Award and the University of Colorado Civic Engagement Award for Service Learning for her innovative student service learning projects.

Short is currently a writer, farmer, teacher, and activist at Stonebridge Farm, an organic community-supported farm in the Rocky Mountain foothills. She teaches lifewriting and directs memoir and digital storytelling projects with community elders, adult literacy students, and non-profit organizations. Her writing has appeared in Pilgrimage Magazine, Women's Review of Books, The Bloomsbury Review, Edible Front Range, and Colorado Gardener. She is the author of A Bushel's Worth: An Ecobiography, a memoir of reunion with her grandmother's farming past and a call to action for farmland preservation today. Short is also the contributor of three books in the Colorado State University Archives and Special Collection Friedman Feminist Press Collection, Sexual Artifice: Persons, Images, Politics, coauthored with Ann Kibbey and Abouali Farmanfarmaian; a chapter, "Global Feminism and Activism in a Women's Studies Practicum" in Teaching Feminist Activism: Strategies from the Field, edited by Nancy A. Naples and Karen Bojar; and a chapter, "Too Disconnected/Too Bound Up: The Paradox of Identity in Merce Rodoreda's The Time of the Doves" in International Women's Writing: New Landscapes of Identity, edited by Anne E. Brown and Marjanne A. Gooze.

In 2011, Short established "The Friedman Feminist Press Literature Collection" at CSU's Archives and Special Collections department in memory of her college friend, June Friedman, a 1981 CSU agronomy graduate. The collection, with works also donated by the campus' Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Ally Center, provides original sources in feminist/lesbian literature and second-wave feminism. The Friedman Feminist Press Collection is the largest collection of books in the Rocky Mountain West published by feminist presses of the 1970s and 1980s, including the Women's Press Collective, Shameless Hussy Press, Diana Press, Daughters, Inc., Naiad Press, Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, Spinsters Ink, The Feminist Press, Seal Press, and Firebrand Press. Short has established an annual student essay award for undergraduate and graduate essays that make substantial use of the collection.

Extent

2.5 linear feet (1 record carton, 2 document cases)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Kayann Short (b. 1959) is an alumna of Colorado State University who graduated with a degree in literature and women's studies in 1981. As a student, Short participated in the Feminist Group, a student organization that challenged sexism on campus. Following her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D., Short became a professor concentrating on women's literature at the University of Colorado Boulder, retiring in 2011. The collection concentrates on feminist issues and feminist presses and includes published articles and book reviews written by Short, publishers' press releases of upcoming titles, newsletters, and Short's manuscript of Out into the World: Feminist Presses and Feminist Politics, including accompanying research and permissions.

Arrangement

Most of the collection was received in folders with headings, but there was no defined order. Some articles were separate and not in folders. Original folder headings were retained and the remaining articles were grouped together in an unlabeled category.

The collection consists of 3 series in 1 record carton and 1 document case:

Series 1: Manuscripts and publications, 1969-2021 and undated

Series 2: Articles, 1971-1999 and undated

Series 3: Feminist Press Catalogues, 1974-2002 and undated

Acquisition

The Papers of Kayann Short was donated by Kayann Short in 2012 following her donation of the Friedman Feminist Press Collection. Additional materials were donated by Short in 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022.

Online Materials

Some materials have been scanned and are available through the Colorado State University Libraries website. In the electronic version of this document, direct links appear in context.

Related Collections

The Friedman Feminist Press Collection is related due to its subject area and donor. The Records of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, and Ally Center is related in context with the subject and the feminist press collection.

Processing

Processing was completed in January 2014 and later in 2017. Materials were re-housed in acid-free folders and boxes. Paper clips and rubber bands were removed when necessary and replaced with archival clips. Photographs were housed in acid-free photo sleeves. Folder names were transcribed and folders were organized by series.

Inventory Note

Note: Title information supplied by the archivist is bracketed.

Title
Guide to the Papers of Kayann Short
Status
Completed
Author
Prepared and revised by Victoria Lopez-Terrill
Date
Copyright 2017
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Repository Details

Part of the CSU Libraries Archives & Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Fort Collins Colorado 80523-1019 USA
970-491-1844