Nancy Ann Howes and CD Network Papers
Content Description
This collection documents the activities of Nancy Anne Howes, who served as the president of the Rochester-based CD Network during the 1990s. The bulk of the material dates between 1987 and 2004. The majority of the materials consists of magazines, pamphlets, books, and articles on crossdressing, drag culture, transgender/gender-nonconforming identity, celebrity lifestyles, and fashion. Numerous publications have pages of interest tagged for reference. The collection includes a complete run of Dragazine (1991-1997), the first 44 issues of LadyLike magazine (1987-2000), and assorted issues of Transformation magazine (1994-1997).
Personal papers include a personal essay/memoir composed between 2002 and 2015, correspondence with Helene Hirshberg, an oral history interview with Howes discussing the CD Network, and three oversized sketchbooks with magazine clippings, artwork, and other ephemera analyzing the fashion styles of various celebrities.
The collection also contains three binders of materials relating to Howes's involvement with the CD Network. The materials were submitted by members of the CD Network and compiled by Howes into scrapbooks to share with the group as part of the CD Network lending library. Materials include book and film reviews, CD Network pamphlets and newsletters, correspondence with academics researching human sexuality and gender identities, transgender questionnaires, materials discussing the development of terminology transgender/gender-nonconforming identities, advertisements, photographs of CD Network members, and style and cosmetic tips. One binder contains an extensive collection of magazine and newspaper clippings documenting local and national media coverage of celebrity drag performers, drag in popular culture, crossdressing, gender expression, transgender identity, and related topics. Howes discusses the contents of the binders, her sketchbooks, and how the internet changed the crossdressing community in her 2017 interview.
Materials throughout this collection contain creator-supplied language for gender identities and expressions that may be outdated, inappropriate, or derogatory. The processing archivist has retained the original description of these materials so viewers may understand the full historical context of their creation.
Dates
- Creation: 1964 - 2017
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1987 - 2004
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright is held by the Rochester Public Library. Copyright of the papers may be held by the authors', or authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain written permission of the holder[s] of copyright and the Rochester Public Library before publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.
Biographical / Historical
Nancy Ann Howes is the female name of a person who lived publicly as a man but dressed in female clothing in private. Howes was born in 1945. She began crossdressing as a pre-kindergartner and had her first head-to-toe transformation in 1963 at age 18. In 1973, she met and married her wife, Sandy. In 1990, Howes came out as a crossdresser to Sandy while vacationing in Toronto. Sandy expressed support and curiosity. The couple discovered the CD Network in an advertisement in the Empty Closet. They joined the group and later co-edited the newsletter for the CD Network. In 1993, Howes posed as the cover model for LadyLike magazine, in which she was interviewed by transgender activist JoAnn Roberts. Howes and her wife attended the Paradise in the Poconos retreats run by Roberts during the 1990s for crossdressers and their spouses. In 1994, Howes was elected president of the CD Network. She corresponded with crossdressers across the United States and abroad. She compiled CD Network newsletter articles and scrapbooks from the materials sent to her by her correspondents. In 2017, Howes was interviewed by a volunteer from the Out Alliance (formerly the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley) regarding her archive. Howes did not disclose her crossdressing to her children. Howes died in 2024.
The CD Network was a social and support group for crossdressers and their significant others based in Rochester, New York. Gay activist Horace Lethbridge started the support group (originally named "Transvestites Anonymous") prior to 1985. In 1985, members took control of the group. In 1989, the group was renamed the CD Network. By 1991, the group included over 70 members, held special events, published a newsletter, and operated a lending library of clothes, wigs, accessories, books, magazines, and other materials. The CD Network exchanged newsletters with other crossdressing groups across the nation. The CD Network's newsletter was distributed by mail to subscribers locally and around the country. Howes edited the newsletter until it ceased publication in the mid 1990s. Participation in the CD Network declined as the members aged and as information about crossdressing became more readily available on the internet. By the mid 2010s, the CD Network had ceased activity.
Extent
7.48 Linear Feet (6 boxes [5 record cartons, 1 oversize flat box].)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection consists of the personal papers of Nancy Ann Howes and the papers of the CD (Crossdresser) Network, a support and social group for crossdressers located in Rochester, New York. The materials date between 1964 and 2017 with the bulk dating between 1987 and 2004. The materials are comprised of essays, correspondence, pamphlets, magazines, books, news clippings, ephemera, newsletters, photographs, scrapbooks, and sketchbooks.
Arrangement
This collection consists of six boxes divided into four series:
Series I: Nancy Ann Howes Personal Papers
Series II: Print Materials
Subseries A: Crossdressing Culture
Subseries B: Fashion and Style
Series III: CD Network Scrapbooks
Series IV: Sketchbooks and Oversized Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated by Nancy Ann Howes to the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley in 2014 and transferred to the Local History and Genealogy Division in 2021.
Bibliography
Tamar Carroll, Ben Eshleman, et al. "Glossary." Trans Rochester Speaks. Accessed February 21, 2025. https://tamarcarroll.com/transroch/#glossary.
Rochester Cross Dressers Network. LadyJ. Archived October 2009. Accessed March 6, 2025. https://www.oocities.org/rcdnet.
Buffalo Belles, "What's Up In Rochester?" (1999). Buffalo Belles Newsletters. 103.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/buffalobelles/103
Processing Information
The collection arrived at the repository with no discernable order for the published materials (i.e., magazines, periodicals, pamphlets, books) in the collection. The processing archivist imposed order by sorting publications by format into series and arranging in chronological order. All other materials are retained in their original order.
- Title
- Nancy Ann Howes and CD Network Papers
- Author
- Ron Martin-Dent
- Date
- 2025-03-06
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- This project was made possible in part by a grant from the Documentary Heritage Program of the New York State Archives, a program of the State Education Department.
Repository Details
Part of the Local History & Genealogy Division Repository
115 South Ave.
Rochester 14604 USA
585-428-8370
585-428-8353 (Fax)
lochistref@libraryweb.org