Yolanda Retter

Retter was born in Connecticut but spent most of her childhood in El Salvador. Her mother was Peruvian and her father was American. Her first encounter with racism took place when she was twelve years old, when she returned to school in Connecticut. This incident spearheaded her activism.[3]

Retter attended Pitzer College in Claremont, California and graduated in 1970 with a degree in sociology.[4] In the 1980s she completed master's degrees in library science (1983) and social work (1987) from the University of California, Los Angeles and in 1996 she received her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.[5]

Before becoming a librarian and archivist, Retter held a variety of jobs, some as a volunteer. She worked in prison and parole programs, as a director of a rape hotline, and original publisher of the Los Angeles Women's Yellow Pages.[3] She then became the founding archivist of the Lesbian Legacy Collection at the ONE Archives and volunteered at the June Mazer Lesbian Archives.[3]

From 2003 to the time of her death, Retter served as the head librarian and archivist of the Chicano Studies Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.[6]

Retter had a wide variety of skills and hobbies. She died after a short battle with cancer surrounded by women she chose, including her partner of thirteen years: Leslie Golden Stampler.[4]

• "Childcare." Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories. ed. Lorraine Code. New York: Routledge, 2002.
• Gay and Lesbian Rights in the United States: A Documentary History with Walter Lee Williams (Eds.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003.
• Great Events in History: Gay Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Events. with Lillian Faderman, Horacio Roque Ramirez, et all (Eds.). Pasadena: Salem Press, 2006
• Identity Development of Lifelong vs. Catalyzed Latina Lesbians. M.A. Thesis. University of California Los Angeles, 1987.
• "Lesbian Activism in Los Angeles (1970-1979)," Queers in Space: Communities, Public Places, Sites of Resistance. eds. Anne-Marie Bouthillette, Gordon Brent Ingram, and Yolanda Retter. Bay Press, 1997.
• "Los Angeles." Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures, ed. Bonnie Zimmerman. NY: Routledge, 2000. 479-480.
• On the Side of Angels: Lesbian Activism in Los Angeles, 1970-1990. Ph.D dissertation, University of New Mexico, 1998.
• "Sisterhood is Possible." Time It Was: American Stories from the Sixties. eds. Karen Manners Smith and Tim Koster. London: Pearson, 2007.
• "Lesbians." Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. New York: Oxford, 2005.
• "Martinez, Betita." Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. eds. Gary L. Anderson and Kathryn G. Herr. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2007.
• "Preservation of LGBT History: The ONE Archive." Pathways to Progress: Issues and Advances in Latino Librarianship. eds. John L. Ayala and Salvador Güereña. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2012.