The Lilith magazine records contain materials documenting the editorial, administrative, research, and programming activities of Lilith, a Jewish feminist periodical founded in 1976. Materials include newspaper and magazine clippings, manuscripts, notebooks, correspondence, photographs, artwork, cassette tapes, floppy disks, and ephemera. The bulk of the materials are in English, with several items in Hebrew. The materials range in date from 1961-2008, although the bulk of the material dates from Lilith’s founding in 1974 through 1999. Of particular note in the collection are the manuscript submissions, drafts, and stories written and developed for publication in Lilith. These manuscripts cover a variety of perspectives and topics, ranging from personal stories and discussions of Jewish religious life to short fiction pieces and interviews with Jewish women around the world. In addition to the wide variety of content, the manuscripts also include edits made by Lilith staff, which show the evolution of a story from first draft to publication. The subjects covered in the manuscripts are often supported by materials in Series 2: Subject files and in Series 5: Art and design, both of which create a clear image of the reference sources used as support for Lilith’s published content. Also of note in the collection is the significant documentation of Lilith’s community engagement activities, including programming, reader surveys, and several decades of materials from conferences and organizations.
The Lilith magazine records provide clear documentation of the administrative and editorial operations of Lilith and offer valuable insight into the perspectives and lives of Jewish women from the 1970s to the present day. The collection is one of several Jewish feminist collections at Brandeis University.
