Pagoda - Temple of Love Records
Scope and Content
The collection was created by Barbara Lieu and consists of administrative records and extensive printed ephemera. The collection includes extensive meeting minutes, newsletters, and correspondence. As the Pagoda was founded in 1978 and changed significantly in 1999, the bulk of the materials date from 1978 to 1999.
Second accession of Pagoda records coming from research materials for Norman’s book The Pagoda: A Lesbian Community By the Sea (2024). Changes newsletters, photographs. Real estate records, documentation of initiatives focused on the Pagoda community donated by Rose Norman and integrated.
This collection is useful to researchers interested in LGBT history, particularly lesbian and queer communities in the late twentieth century. The collection includes extensive documentation of interpersonal affairs at the Pagoda, but also many external publications about living as a lesbian collected by the residents.
Dates
- Creation: 1945 - 2021
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1978 - 1997
Creator
- Lieu, Barbara, 1945- (Person)
Access
The collection is open for research.
Biographical/Historical Note
The Pagoda began in 1977 when four lesbians bought four cottages, leased the nearby two-story house, and began producing feminist plays and concerts. The creator of this collection, Barbara Lieu, was a leader in the first decade of the Pagoda’s life. Barbara did bookkeeping for the collective and took care of various business matters.
Extent
3.5 Linear Feet (6 Boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Pagoda Temple of Love was a woman-only, lesbian communal living and cultural center in St. Augustine, Florida. The Pagoda began officially in 1978 and was sold in 1999. The collection spans 1978-2009. The collection includes organizational records such as newsletters and meeting notes, administrative documents, real estate documents, correspondence and letters, publications, and ephemera related to lesbian culture and community living. The materials were originally collected by Barbara Lieu, a founding member and long-time resident of the Pagoda.
Arrangement
This collection is organized into four series: “Series 1: Administrative,” “Series 2: Politics and Social Issues,” “Series 3: Crones Nest,” and “Series 4: Pagoda History.”
Location
University of Florida Smathers Library Building
Acquisition Information
This collection was donated by Barbara Lieu in 2021.
Additional material donated by Rose Norman in 2025.
- Title
- A Guide to the Pagoda - Temple of Love Records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid created by Tristan Krammel.
- Date
- May 2025 (Updated December 2025)
- Description rules
- Finding Aid Prepared Using Dacs
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida Repository
George A. Smathers Libraries
PO Box 117005
Gainesville Florida 32611-7005 United States of America
352-273-2755
special@uflib.ufl.edu