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Tinuviel papers

 Collection
Identifier: SSC-MS-00518

Scope and Contents

The Tinúviel Papers consist of 7 linear feet and primarily document her work with Olympia, Washington independent record label, Kill Rock Stars as well as her own Boston-based feminist recording and distribution company, Villa Villakula. Types of material include artwork, posters, flyers, correspondence, recordings (including audiotapes, compact disks, and phonograph records), news clippings, subject files, "Girl zines" (with inserts), writings, financial records, and memorabilia. The papers are arranged in five series:

  1. I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL
  2. II. CORRESPONDENCE
  3. III. RECORD LABELS
  4. IV. SUBJECT FILES
  5. V. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

The bulk of the papers date from 1988 to 2000 and focus on promotion, marketing, production and distribution of Kill Rock Stars and Villa Villakula recording artists. The correspondence with artists on the Kill Rock Stars and Villa Villakula labels offers an in-depth look at the life of working indie musicians in the 1990s. Tinúviel's personal notes, correspondence and financial records document her passion for music, dedication to promoting feminist musicians, and the emotional and financial struggle of running a record label and promoting bands as an occupation. In addition, the papers document an influential subculture firmly rooted in a "do-it-yourself" ethic.

Dates of Materials

  • Creation: 1988-2005

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection without any additional restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Tinúviel owns copyright to materials she created. Permission must be obtained to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use." Copyright to materials created by others may be owned by those individuals or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Biographical / Historical

Tinúviel (her full name) was born July 23, 1963 in Los Angeles, California, to Irene Anna Bogdanovs (an immigrant from Latvia who came to the U.S. in 1950) and Richard Joseph Sampson from Los Angeles. A few years later her family moved to Philadelphia, then to Hiroshima, Japan, then Rochester, Minnesota, then Newton, Massachusetts, where she lived until the age of 18 (approximately three years in each location due to her father's schooling and military service). She was a "visiting student" at Smith College in the 1980s, and in 1989, moved to the west coast to finish school at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

In Olympia, she and her friend Slim Moon co-founded the groundbreaking record label Kill Rock Stars, characterized as "open, experimental, full of Riot Grrrls" with a strong feminist voice (from interview for Wire radio program, "The art of dissent," July 2005). A few years later she moved back East where she founded the all-girl record label, Villa Villakula. Tinúviel currently defines herself as a peace activist and political artist, incorporating anti-war messages in much of her artwork.

Extent

9.438 linear feet (17 containers)

Abstract

Music producer; Feminist; Peace activist; Artist; co-founder of the groundbreaking record label Kill Rock Stars, in Olympia, WA, and later the all-girl record label, Villa Villakula. The papers include materials pertaining to Tinúviel's feminist music recording and distribution company; recordings by girls and women; newspapers, magazines, zines, correspondence, and a small amount of writings by Tinúviel.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

As a preservation measure, researchers must use digital copies of audiovisual materials in this collection. Please consult with Special Collections staff or email specialcollections@smith.edu to request the creation of and access to digital copies.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Tinúviel, 2005.

Related Materials

Related materials can be found in the Sophia Smith Collection in the Girl Zines Collection, Music Collection, and the Women of Rock Oral History Project.

Separated Materials

Tinuviel's substantial collection of girl zines have been moved to the Girl Zines Collection in the Sophia Smith Collection.

Processing Information

Processed by Tanya Pearson, December 2015.

Subject

Source

Title
Tinuviel papers
Subtitle
Finding Aid
Date
2014
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • 07/26/2017: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)
  • 2017-07-26T17:48:22-04:00: This record was migrated from InMagic DB Textworks to ArchivesSpace.
  • 2022-03-04: Integrated description of oversized materials

Repository Details

Part of the Sophia Smith Collection of Women's History Repository

Contact:
Neilson Library
7 Neilson Drive
Northampton MA 01063