Even popular fiction portrayed us as stunted in adolescence awaiting sex with a good stud to set us free. But, Val did lend it to me. In introductory essays Foster's opus raised traces of lesbians in recorded literature from the erotic tales of Juevenal, Ovid, and lesser Greek and Roman classics, back through the Old Testament, citing the Book of Ruth as an early example of women loving women. The Valerie Taylor Collection comprises 8.8 cubic feet and spans the years 1923-1997, with the bulk of the materials in the 1980s and 1990s. It consists mainly of literary manuscripts and correspondence, but includes also materials relating to her personal life, drafts of speeches, book reviews, and news stories.
Unpublished materials represent the vast majority of the literary manuscripts.
The collection is also a rich source for poets who were friends of Valerie Taylor's and sent her their works.