Lesbian Calendar records

The Lesbian Calendar, founded in 1987, has its origins in Lesbians of Greater Springfield (LOGS), an organization and publication founded in Springfield, MA by Marie Louise Francoise (formerly Marie Patten) in 1985. After only one year in print, Francoise discontinued LOGS. In 1987, she relocated to Northampton, MA, a town later dubbed "Lesbianville, USA" by a 20/20 news report. There she joined with Pamela Kimmell to launch a new publication, The Calendar, later that year. Although there was editorial continuity between the two publications, there are significant differences between them. The LOGS newsletter was several pages in length and included a calendar of events, poems, short articles, and political viewpoints that often revolved around themes such as parenting and "wimmin of color." LOGS also functioned as an organization that hoped to provide area "womyn" with "alternatives to the limited social resources available" in Springfield. After its first year of existence LOGS, both the newsletter and the organization, disbanded as a result of internal personal and political divisions. Perhaps to avoid the pitfalls of divisive differences of opinion, The Calendar had a policy not to print literary or political submissions from its inception. Originally, a one page fold-out monthly calendar of lesbian and women's events, advertisements, and announcements, The Calendar quickly grew into a more lengthy newsletter that included detailed descriptions of events, classified ads, and for a brief period in 1987-88, letters to and from the community. In 1994, it adopted a new name, The Lesbian Calendar (TLC). TLC Productions publishes the newsletter and sponsors many area events. The organizers co-founded the Northampton Area Lesbian and Gay Business Guild. Patten left TLC in the early 1990s but as of 1999, Kimmell remained the editor.