Author’s note: I created this section to make it easier to find and utilize materials on the riot grrrl movement. The riot grrrl movement occurred in the pre-digital era and much of the music, zines and art work of the time has been lost; however, some of the artists, writers and fans held on to their physical materials and a few archivists have created spaces for these items over the years.

I did a great deal of research, spoke with librarians and visited archives to provide information for anyone who might be interested in learning more or who might like to relive their experience in this movement. It is an incredible experience to be able to sit in a special collection reading room to read zines, flyers and personal letters from the 1990s and I highly recommend it. Handling primary sources allows one the privilege of glimpsing into the past in a very special, visceral way, and I sincerely hope others will take the initiative to do so. Carefully turning the pages of a photocopied and stapled together zine and seeing handwritten notes in the margins of journals or funny little drawings and notes on envelopes is definitely worth a trip to an archive or zine library. 

Please note that these are but a few of the archives and zine libraries that contain information about the riot grrrl movement, so I have provided more information in the zine section of the website.

I believe that supporting community archives is an incredibly important topic, so I wanted to share an important and thought-provoking op-ed from Lisa Darms, who worked to create NYU’s Riot Grrrl Collection before becoming the Director of Hauser & Wirth Institute.

Happy researching, all!