Tara Emelye Needham and Sasha Cagen Cupsize Zinester Ephemera Collection
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Tara Emelye Needham and Sasha Cagen Cupsize collection contains materials related to the creation and distribution of Cupsize (including drafts with handwritten notes, letters intended to be inserted into the final copy, and draft copies); materials exchanged with other zinesters (traded zines, correspondence, and other ephemera), and promotional materials for events and zine distros.
Dates
- 1990 - 1999
Creator
- Cagen, Sasha (Person)
Access
This collection has no restrictions.
Publication Rights
All copyrights remain with the creators of the materials in this collection. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Barnard College Archives and Special Collections. The Barnard College Archives and Special Collections approves permission to publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron. Check with the Barnard Zine Library for more detailed information about zine copyright.
Reproduction Restrictions
Reproductions can be made for research purposes.
Biography
Cupsize was a zine covering feminism, music, politics, riot grrrl, bisexuality, and pop culture, among other topics, published from 1994-1996. During and after its publication run, Cupsize was featured in the New York Times, Newsday, and museum exhibitions. Excerpts of Cupsize were re-printed and published in The Riot Grrrl Collection, "A Girl's Guide to Taking Over the World", and other anthologies.
Tara Emelye Needham and Sasha Cagen co-created and co-edited Cupsize during the “girl zine revolution” of the mid-1990s, while Needham was a student at SUNY Stony Brook and Cagen was a student at Barnard College. Needham is a poet, essayist, musician, writer,and educator. She has performed music with her bands The Reverse, mad planets, and The Chandler Estate; written and taught feminist theory, literature, and postcolonial literature; and most recently worked as the Assistant Academic Director at the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College. Cagen (BC '96) is a writer, editor, entrepreneur, and originator of the phrase "quirkyalone." She is now an executive life coach.
Extent
3.36 Linear Feet (8 document boxes)
Language
English
Abstract
The Tara Emelye Needham and Sasha Cagen Cupsize Zinester Ephemera Collection includes drafts and copies of various issues of the 1990s riot grrrl zine Cupsize, correspondence with other zinesters, fanmail, zine distros materials, promotional materials, flyers, and zines created by other zinesters. The collection highlights a culture of exchange between zinesters sharing resources as well as each others’ zines in the 1990s.
Collection Arrangement
The collection was kept in roughly the same physical order in which it was received. The collection is organized in the finding aid in two series as follows:
- Series 1: Cupsize materials
- Series 2: Zinester exchange materials and ephemera
Physical Location
This collection is located in the Barnard Archives and Special Collections, Barnard Library. To use this collection, please contact the Barnard Archives and Special Collections at 212.854.4079 or archives@barnard.edu.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Tara Emelye Needham in 2018.
Accruals
Additions are not expected.
Processing History
This collection was first accessioned by and a preliminary finding aid created by Sarah Barlow-Ochshorn in 2019. The finding aid was written by Olivia Newsome in 2022. Finding aid adheres to rules prescribed by Describing Archives: A Content Standard.
- Barnard College -- Alumni and alumnae
- Bisexual activism
- Bisexual rights
- Bisexual women
- Correspondence
- DIY
- Feminism
- Feminist theory
- LGBTQ+ zines
- Nineteen nineties
- Personal zines
- Punk culture and art
- Queer artists
- Riot grrrl movement
- White bisexual people
- Zines
- Zines -- Women authors
- Zinesters
- activism
Creator
- Cagen, Sasha (Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Tara Emelye Needham and Sasha Cagen Cupsize Zinester Ephemera Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Barlow-Ochshorn, Olivia Newsome
- Date
- 2019-2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Revision Statements
- 2022: Revised in 2022 to add description written by Olivia Newsome (updated title, subjects, arrangement, biographical note, and scope and contents, along with component description).
Repository Details
Part of the Barnard Archives and Special Collections Repository