Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Lollipop Power, Inc., Records #4453, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Lollipop Power, Inc., of Carrboro, N.C., in June 1986.

Gift of Susan Ballinger of Chapel Hill in October 1992.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Benjamin H. Trask, February 1987

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, June 2021

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Children's literature, American--North Carolina.
• Children's literature--Publishing.
• Industries--North Carolina--Carrboro--History--20th century.
• Industries--North Carolina--Chapel Hill--History--20th century.
• Lollipop Power, Inc.
• Private presses--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Publishers and publishing--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Sex role in literature.
• Sexism and literature--United States--History--20th century.
• Women in the book industries and trade--United States.

• Carolina Wren Press Records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Lollipop Power evolved in the late 1960s from a women's consciousness-raising forum in the Carrboro-Chapel Hill-Durham, North Carolina area. Dedicated to publishing non-sexist children's literature, the collective published Jenny's Secret Place, its first book, in October 1970. The author, Sara Evans Boyle, was an original member of the group of about ten women that founded Lollipop Power.

Following the success of its early books, the organization continued to hold weekly business meetings and yearly gatherings of the board of directors. The corporation received loans and gifts and, in 1972, it acquired tax-exempt status and hired a salaried employee. Operating from 304 West Weaver Street in Carrboro, Lollipop Power published six books between 1973 and 1975.

The collective's efforts attracted attention, with members giving speeches and lectures to feminist and student groups and granting television interviews. Reviews tended to be favorable. Domestic sales were successful and some of the books were marketed overseas.

After the first six years, the membership became less active. From 1976 to 1982, the group published six more books, but sales never matched the numbers sold in the early years. Advertising was still placed in feminist magazines, but there was a shift to marketing in bookstores and through distributors like Gryphon House and WIND.

In June 1986, Lollipop Power ceased its operations. The Carolina Wren Press of Durham, another non-profit publisher, assumed control of the remaining stock and prepared to reissue Lollipop Power's more popular works.

[Source: Everett, Merrikay, A History of Lollipop Power, Incorporated: Small Press With A Vision (April 1984), unpublished masters paper, School of Library Science, UNC-CH.]

This material has been roughly arranged into categories as outlined below. Most of it remains in the labelled folders in which it was received at the Southern Historical Collection.

Correspondence, meeting notes, and other files of Susan Ballinger, long-time member of the Lollipop Power collective. Some of the material may duplicate material already on file.

• Photographs (P-4453/1-28)
• Audiocassettes (C-4453/1-3)