The collection (3.5 linear feet) consists of the background research, notes, early drafts, and manuscripts for Pat's four one woman shows. Also included are Pat's correspondence, her poetry, writing practice, character sketches, stories, incomplete manuscripts, as well as reviews and awards for her shows. Finally, the collection includes Pat's diaries from 1966 through 1987. Some of the diaries are journals with substantial entries; however, most of the diaries are date books in which Pat kept a record of her daily life, including comments about the weather and doctors' appointments as well as notes about friends and relationships.

Patricia Childers was born on February 7, 1925 in Chicago. She grew up in Davenport, Iowa. In 1945 she joined the Women's Army Corps with the hope of meeting other lesbians. In the army, she cared for wounded soldiers returning from the South Pacific and later served in occupied Japan. In 1947, in Tokyo, 500 women were dishonorably discharged from the army on the charge of homosexuality. Pat escaped this "witch hunt," in which many lesbians testified against each other in trial, because before going to Japan she had married a gay man, Paul Bond, in San Francisco. With her marriage license Pat Bond was able to get an honorable discharge from the army on July 3, 1947, and she moved to San Francisco. She studied theater at San Francisco State College, earning a B.A. and an M.A., and for the next several decades she acted in various small theater groups, did some bartending, and for a short time owned her own bar.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society holds copyright to unpublished photographic image only.

Collection is open for research.