Administrative/Biographical History

Paula Harrowing moved to London from her native Wokingham when she was 17 to move in with her then girlfriend, feeling that London would give them the opportunity to live and be who they were. Her passion for music and dancing made for, in her own words, a thrilling introduction to the LGBTQ+ community.

Harrowing spent over 15 years working within the HIV sector, setting up an HIV/AIDS support agency called Body & Soul for women, teenagers, children and families in 1994. As Co-founder/Director, the challenge she faced was to raise awareness of those living with or closely affected by HIV/AIDS. Working with The Body Shop, Comic Relief, Children in Need and MTV helped to bring the conversation of HIV into the mainstream.

Harrowing’s early personal experiences of HIV/AIDS started in the world of Queer Clubland in the early 1990s. As a Club promoter/host, she found that life began to change quite rapidly as HIV/AIDS spread throughout the LGBTQ+ community. Friends diagnosed as HIV positive were falling ill and dying. Harrowing spent four nights a week with queer people, who became 'family' over the years. Juggling her work in the clubs and at Body & Soul, she saw that much of the strongest support came from the hundreds of lesbians who cared for their queer siblings – a part of history that she feels has been erased from stories from the period such as the recent television series It's A Sin, which portrayed a wholly inaccurate picture of those days. Harrowing feels this is just one example of the issue of misogyny within the LGBTQ+ community.

Harrowing’s work as a Clubland Promoter began while she was working as ‘door bitch’ at Queer Nation. She wanted to try and find a balance for queer women that was neither hard Trade techno beats nor trashy disco. She found some amazing DJs and Sister Friction was born. While the music was important, for Harrowing there had also to be an attitude of inclusiveness. Her club nights attracted a mix of queer women, and the flyers and advertising she produced made sure there was a real mix of queer women represented. Over the years these nights included Cruella (at the WKD Bar, Camden); The Fruit Machine (Girl Bar, VIP Area, Heaven); Queer Nation and She’s Got to Have It (Gardening Club, Covent Garden); A Club Called Alice and FISH at YMCA.

Scope and Content

Archive of activist Paula Harrowing (fl 1988-2019) including: ephemera including audio-visual materials, clothing, and printed ephemera regarding the Bowery club night held at Soho House and Teen Spirit, the youth group of Harrowing’s organisation Body and Soul, a HIV/AIDS children and family support agency [1988-2017]; papers and facsimile press cuttings regarding Body and Soul and its youth group Teen Spirit [1996-2012]; press cuttings, flyers, and correspondence regarding clubs and club nights, and media representations of lesbians and gay men; photographic materials, including photographic prints of Harrowing’s own work, and postcards of the work of other photographers [1989-2016]; Emotional Learning cards box set, with commentary and questions exploring sexual identities and intimate relationships [2016]; photographic materials, publicity, and ephemera including leaflets, flyers, and tickets regarding Girl Bar club night, and publicity regarding The World club night at Home Nightclub [1994-2003]; printed ephemera including postcards, tickets, programmes, and leaflets for LGBTQ+ films and cultural events; personal colour and black and white photographic prints depicting unidentified people and events [n.d.]; press cuttings regarding Harrowing and people she was a fan of [1973-1993]; two pairs of handmade Lawler Duffy shoes [1980s-1993], (1988-2019)

Quantity

3 Boxes