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William Ryder Mathers Collection of David Wojnarowicz and Montanna

Call Number

MSS.433

Date

1982-1990, inclusive

Creator

Houston, M. (Montanna)

Extent

1.75 Linear Feet in 1 manuscript box, 1 half manuscript box, and 1 oversize flat box.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

Montanna Houston was a writer, artist and musician who lived in New York City and later in Houston, Texas. This collection includes correspondence, collages and twelve-step program narratives written by Houston. The correspondence is mostly addressed to William Mathers, and there is one letter from Wojnarowicz to Montanna.

Biographical Note

Born Monte Hewson (circa 1952-1990), Montanna Houston (which he also stylized as Montana, Montini, and Montanna Hewston) was an artist, musician, writer, and contemporary of David Wojnarowicz, Richard Kern and Tommy Turner. Houston was raised by an adoptive family, whom he referred to as his step-family, and spent his childhood in Texas. After moving to New York in his mid-twenties, he met and became friends with Kern and Turner around 1979, and later met Wojnarowicz through the two filmmakers. Houston acted in Kern's Stray Dogs (1985) as well as Where Evil Dwells (1985), an unfinished Turner and Wojnarowicz film, in which he was cast as Satan (Joe Coleman is also credited as this character). He also contributed to many of Turner and Kern's zines. For most of his adult life, Houston lived with mental health issues and severe substance use. He left New York in 1986 to return to Houston, Texas, where his adoptive family still lived, and checked himself into West Oak Hospital for treatment. The twelve-step program he took part in there was an important part to his recovery from addiction. Houston died by suicide in 1990.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically, except for the single oversize folder listed at the end.

Scope and Contents

This small collection is made up mostly of correspondence from Montanna to his friend William Mathers, who was living in Dallas at the time these letters were written. Much of the material is undated, but most of it seems to have been written in 1989. Along with the letters, he often sent collages made up of newspaper and magazine clippings, some of which are pasted onto "pediatrics therapy record" stationary, as well as found objects. Over the course of the correspondence, he refers to Mathers with a series of nicknames derived affectionately from "worm," including "Wormus," "Verm," and "Wormicus." Houston also sent Mathers sheet music he had written, as well as addiction narratives from his twelve-step program, and an invitation to attend a family therapy day at West Oak Hospital. There are two letters from Houston to Mathers' one time partner, Terry, and one letter from David Wojnarowicz, written right after his controversial essay for a November 1990 Artists' Space show, "Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing," made headlines across the country. There is also one photo collage sent from Mathers, to Houston, in which Houston is pictured.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; William Ryder Mathers Collection of David Wojnarowicz and Montanna; MSS 433; box number; folder number or item identifier; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was donated to NYU's Fales Library and Special Collections in 2015 and 2018 by William Ryder Mathers; the accession numbers associated with these gifts are 2015.433 and 2018.091.

Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures

Born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact Fales Library and Special Collections, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Related Materials

The David Wojnarowicz Papers, MSS 092
Nancy Woolley/Montanna Houston Correspondence, MSS 436

Collection processed by

Sophie Glidden-Lyon

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 17:01:31 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

Decisions regarding arrangement, description, and physical interventions for this collection prior to 2021 are unknown.

In 2021, narrative description was revised in the biographical note to edit harmful language regarding mental health, addiction, and suicide.

Revisions to this Guide

August 2018: Record updated by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2018 accretion
April 2021: Edited by Amy C. Vo to revise harmful language regarding suicide, addiction, and mental health

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012