Journals, correspondence, contracts, clippings, notes, minutes, fliers, pamphlets, photographs, audiovisual material, etchings, t-shirts, buttons, and other material from comedian, artist and lesbian feminist, Ivy Bottini. One of the founding members of the National Organization for Women (NOW), Bottini was a married mother of two before coming out as a lesbian in 1968. She has been a community leader for numerous activist causes and organizations, including the No on Briggs and No on LaRouche campaigns, the Los Angeles Police Department's Gay and Lesbian Police Advisory Task Force, AIDS Project Los Angeles, the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, and the affordable LGBT senior housing project, Triangle Square. The bulk of Bottini's collection is material relating to her comedy career, her consciousness-raising seminars, and her work for NOW and various LGBT causes. The collection also includes her art works; recordings of a radio program she hosted, called It's a Gay Life; and her collection of t-shirts and buttons from feminist and LGBT organizations.

Ivy was born on August 15, 1926, to a working class family in Long Island, New York. In 1944, she studied art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and later went on to a career in graphic design, working as an illustrator and art director for Newsday. In 1951, she married Edward Bottini. She gave birth to her first daughter, Laura, in 1953, and her second daughter, Lisa, in 1956.

11.2 linear feet. (6 archive cartons + 3 archive boxes + 5 archive flat boxes + 1 map drawer)

Researchers wishing to publish materials must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical owner. Researchers must also obtain clearance from the holder(s) of any copyrights in the materials. Note that ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold the copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials directly from the copyright holder(s).

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.