Cathy Cade
Catherine Elise Cade (February 24, 1942 – November 16, 2024), was an American photographer noted for her work in documentary photography, including photos about lesbian mothering. She was a feminist and lesbian activist from the early 1970s, starting as an activist and inspired by the power of photography in the early 1960s as part of the Southern Civil Rights Movement. Cade lived in Berkeley, and worked with her archives at The Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley.
Cathy Cade
- Name
- Cathy Cade
- Born
- 24 February 1942
- Birthplace
- Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
- Died
- 16 November 2024
- Place of death
- Berkeley, California, U.S.
- Education
- Carleton College Tulane University (PhD)
- Occupation
- Photographer, activist
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Catherine Elise Cade (February 24, 1942 – November 16, 2024), was an American photographer noted for her work in documentary photography, including photos about lesbian mothering. She was a feminist and lesbian activist from the early 1970s, starting as an activist and inspired by the power of photography in the early 1960s as part of the Southern Civil Rights Movement. Cade lived in Berkeley, and worked with her archives at The Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Cathy Cade (1942–2024) was an artist, photographer and women's rights activist. The artist was born in Honolulu and died in Berkeley.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Cathy Cade. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q61987035 · wikipedia · Cathy Cade
In this article
Biography
Biography
She was a member of the Bay Area Civil Rights Veterans and had memoir material at the Civil Rights Movement Archive. She was a member of Old Lesbians Organizing for Change.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Cathy Cade • Born — 24 February 1942 • Birthplace — Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. • Died — 16 November 2024 • Place of death — Berkeley, California, U.S. • Education — Carleton College Tulane University (PhD) • Occupation — Photographer, activist • Children — 2
Early life and education
Early life and education
Cade was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 24, 1942. She grew up in the South and the Midwest. While attending college, Cade participated in the Southern civil rights movement. In 1969, Cade received a PhD in sociology from Tulane University in New Orleans.
Work
Work
"Cade is a longtime activist in the civil rights, gay liberation, and women's liberation movements, and her photographs are intricately linked to her work for social justice." In 1989 she shared her photographs "showing the strength, diversity and pride of lesbians" at a presentation in Davis. In late 2000, she started her business "Cathy Cade: Personal Histories, Photo Organizing and Photography".
Personal life and death
Personal life and death
Cade was the mother of two sons. She died from complications of dementia at her home in Berkeley, California, on November 16, 2024, at the age of 82.
Selected exhibitions
Selected exhibitions
Cade was featured in the three person exhibit LESBIANS SEEING LESBIANS: Building Community in Early Feminist Photography at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in 2011.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1942
Cathy Cade was born on 24 February 1942.
2024
Cathy Cade died on 16 November 2024.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Honolulu.
Birth place
Berkeley.
Death place
Publications
• A Lesbian Photo Album: The Lives of Seven Lesbian Feminists. (Oakland, Ca: Waterwomen Books, 1987). • Woman Controlled Conception by Sarah and Mary Anonymous, drawings by Billie Mericle, copyright 1979 by Womanshare Books. Produced and distributed by UnionWAGE.
Collections
Collections
Cade's work is held in permanent collections including: • Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art • Oakland Museum of California • San Francisco History Center
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q61987035: Cathy Cade
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Cathy Cade”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Awards and fellowships
2004—Pat Bond Memorial Old Dyke Award: Honoring Extraordinary Lesbians Over 60
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Hammond, Harmony (2000). Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History. Rizzoli. pp. 156-157
- 2.Online Archive of California
- 3.Lord, Catherine. Art & Queer Culture. Phaidon Press Limited. 377. 2013. 9780714849355.
- 4.Vider, Stephen. Picturing a Lesbian Feminist Household: A 2015 Interview with Cathy Cade by Stephen Vider. outhistory.com. OutHistory.
- 5.CATHYCADE.COM. www.cathycade.com.
- 6.Civil Rights Under Three Hats: Photographs by Matt Herron and Some Movements of the 1970s & 1980s: Selected Photographs by Cathy Cade. Crossman Gallery, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. 26 September 2013.
- 7.Lord, Catherine. Art & Queer Culture. Phaidon Press Limited. 378. 2013. 9780714849355.
- 8.Photographer/author chronicles lesbian life. California Aggie. 2. January 23, 1989.
- 9.Corinne, Tee. Cathy Cade - Biography. www.cla.purdue.edu.
- 10.Rafkin, Louise. Hairpin Turns, Oncoming Traffic, and a Proposal. New York Times. 2023-12-23.
- 11.Williams, Alex. Cathy Cade, Groundbreaking Lesbian Photographer, Dies at 82. The New York Times. 20 December 2024.
- 12.Feminine Moments. Lesbian Art Herstory: Lesbians Seeing Lesbians. Feminine Moments Queer Feminist Art Worldwide.
- 13.CAMILLE GRAESER STIFTUNG. Collection: Cathy Cade. Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art.
- 14.Oakland Museum of California. Oakland Museum of California Collections: Cathy Cade. museumca.org.
- 15.San Francisco Public Library. Cathy Cade Photograph Collection 1972-2002. sfpl.org.
- 16.Kalem, Stephanie. Holy Catfish. East Bay Express. March 24, 2004.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Catherine OpiePhotographer
- Catherine SullivanPhotographer
- Catherine WagnerPhotographer
- Cathleen NaundorfPhotographer
- Cathy ChurchPhotographer
- Catriona FraserPhotographer
- Cavendish MortonPhotographer
- Cecil BeatonPhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Cathy Cade?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.