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Ladyslipper is a North Carolina non-profit, tax-exempt organization which has been involved in many facets of women's music since 1976. Our basic purpose has consistently been to heighten public awareness of the achievements of women artists and musicians, and to expand the scope and availability of musical and literary recordings by women.
One of the unique aspects of our work has been the publication of the world's most comprehensive Catalog and Resource Guide of Music by Women . For many years this was a print catalog only. In 1996, we introduced the first Ladyslipper Online Catalog, which contained the same number of titles as our print version. For the new millenium, we have developed a greatly expanded online edition.
This New-'n-Improved Ladyslipper Music Online Catalog & Resource Guide contains listings for approximately 15,000 (and growing!) current and past Artists and Titles. You can read about them, listen to music samples for most of them, and purchase many of them. Our updated website, the most comprehensive ever, now contains information on many of the recordings featured during the past 10 years of Ladyslipper Print Catalogs (and information on approximately 10 times the number of titles we ever had room for in a single print catalog), as well as up-to-the minute new release information.
This annotated Ladyslipper Catalog has given millions of people information about and access to recorded works by an expansive variety of female musicians, writers, comics, and composers. Many public and university libraries have added large portions of the catalog to their collections; thus the recordings are accessible to much larger populations, and are archived at the same time.
Ladyslipper is also a small independent label; our purpose is to further new musical and artistic directions for women musicians. We have issued albums by Kay Gardner, Nurudafina Pili Abena, Libana, Lisa Thiel, Casselberry-DuPree, Ruth Barrett, Ubaka Hill, and other innovative artists.
Our Beginnings
Ladyslipper began in 1976 as a 4-page resource guide devoted to the musical accomplishments of women artists. The initial hope was to create a comprehensive guide to all the recordings women had ever made, and (underestimating the reality) we expected there might be hundreds of them To our surprise, when we went to our local university music libraries (with otherwise large collections) to research this project, we found virtually no recordings by women at all!! Clearly there was a need for information about Women in Music, as well as for the accessibility of these recordings.
In the past 30 years, the second wave of the women's movement grew with and alongside Ladyslipper: a movement composed of and inspired by the music, arts, culture, and ideas. Works by women are thankfully more visible and available now, but still comprise too small a percentage of many library, school, store and personal collections. The achievements of many great women musicians are still not known and recognized by large portions of the general public.
The Ladyslipper Name
Our name comes from an exquisite flower which is one of the few wild orchids native to North America and is currently an endangered species.
Donations
Donations are tax-deductible, and we do need the help of friends to continue to grow. As a tax-exempt organization, we are also eligible for grants. If you are a grant-writer, and know of an agency you think will fund us, and would like to help us out by writing and submitting a grant application for us, please send an email!