Skip to main content
Use the right side menu to identify relevant boxes and place requests.

Shawna Kenney collection on punk and alternative rock

 Collection 0449-SCPA-KENNEY

Shawna Kenney (b. 1969) is an author and instructor who was active as a concert promoter in the Washington, D.C. punk subculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s. She also co-edited and published the fanzine No Scene with Pam Gendell from 1986 through 1988, which features interviews with punk bands and reviews of concerts and recordings. Along with Gendell, Kenney promoted concerts at the Safari Club in Washington, D.C., helping to build a second wave of hardcore punk within D.C.'s punk scene in the late 1980s. Her books include 2017's Live at the Safari Club : A history of hardcore punk in the Nation's Capital, 1988-1998, co-authored with Rich Dolinger, and her award-winning 1999 memoir, I Was a Teenage Dominatrix. The Shawna Kenney collection on punk and alternative rock consists of 0.5 linear feet of fliers, photographs, recordings, and publications. Most of the fliers were used to promote concerts that Kenney organized in the Washington, D.C. area in the late 1980s. The other materials in the collection generally relate to the broader punk and alternative rock communities of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Dates

  • Creation: 1984-2023
  • Creation: Majority of material found in 1988-1994

Collection use and access

The collection is open for research use. Materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room during SCPA’s operating hours. Please contact the curator for an appointment or if you have questions related to digital access of the materials.

Duplication and copyright information

Copyright was not transferred to the University of Maryland with the gift of any copyrighted materials. All rights remain with the creators and rights holders. The University of Maryland Libraries is granted permission for the use in scholarly research by the Libraries’ patrons under fair use in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.

To inquire about duplication of materials for research or for publication, please contact SCPA’s curator.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents

The Shawna Kenney collection on punk and alternative rock consists of 0.5 linear feet of fliers, photographs, recordings, and publications. Most of the fliers were used to promote concerts that Kenney organized in the Washington, D.C. area in the late 1980s. The other materials in the collection generally relate to the broader punk and alternative rock communities of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Biographical / Historical

Shawna Kenney (b. 1969) is an author and instructor who was active as a concert promoter in the Washington, D.C. punk subculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s. She also co-edited and published the fanzine No Scene with Pam Gendell from 1986 through 1988, which features interviews with punk bands and reviews of concerts and recordings. Along with Gendell, Kenney also promoted concerts at the Safari Club in Washington, D.C., helping to build a second wave of hardcore punk within D.C.'s punk scene in the late 1980s.

Kenney earned a BA in Communications from American University in Washington, D.C. and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She teaches creative writing for UCLA's Extension Writers’ Program and as a Pen in the Community Writer in Residence through PEN USA. Kenney's writings have appeared in The New York Times, Playboy, Vice, Bust, Salon and other outlets. Her books include 2017's Live at the Safari Club : A history of hardcore punk in the Nation's Capital, 1988-1998, co-authored with Rich Dolinger, and her award-winning 1999 memoir, I Was a Teenage Dominatrix.

The Shawna Kenney collection on punk and alternative rock consists of 0.5 linear feet of fliers, photographs, recordings, and publications. Most of the fliers were used to promote concerts that Kenney organized in the Washington, D.C. area in the late 1980s. The other materials in the collection generally relate to the broader punk and alternative rock communities of the 1990s and early 2000s.

Custodial History

Gift of Shawna Kenney in 2018, with subsequent accruals.

Related Materials

• Sharon Cheslow Punk Flyers collection, 1979-1991, Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland Libraries. (finding aid)

• Aaron Claxton collection on D.C. Hardcore, Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland Libraries. (finding aid)

• D.C. punk collection, Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland Libraries. (finding aid)

• D.C. punk and indie fanzine collection, Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland Libraries. (finding aid)

• Jason Farrell collection, Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland Libraries. (finding aid)

• Ian MacKaye digital collection on punk fanzines, Special Collections in Performing Arts, University of Maryland Libraries. (finding aid)

The D.C. Punk Archive, District of Columbia Public Library

Status
Completed
Author
John Davis
Date
July 2023
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Library Details

Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library

Contact:
University of Maryland Libraries
8270 Alumni Drive
College Park MD 20742 United States