From the Co-Chairs:
Over 35 people attended LAGAR’s annual meeting this past August in Washington during the yearly conclave of the Society of American Archivists. Those attending had the pleasure of being introduced to our two talented LAGAR Scholarship winners: May Hadoung, a 2006 UCLA graduate particularly interested in the archives of queer film; and Marguerite Moran, who finished her archival studies at the University of Wisconsin last year and is now working for International Harvester.
We also heard Billy S. Jones, a long-time DC LGBT activist, give a vivid talk on the origins and evolution of the gay and lesbian community in the Washington, D.C. areasince the McCarthy era. John Olinger, Chair of DC’s Rainbow History Project, provided us with an update on their efforts to promote and preserve queer history in our nation’s capital.
Since then, the Roundtable Steering Committee has been active on several fronts. In September we responded to the Report of SAA’s Task Force on Sections and Roundtables. We expressed our concerns with several aspects of it, especially those proposed requirements that would make it harder for Roundtables to reserve space at the annual SAA meeting. Response from most other Roundtables was similar, and we hope that Council will heed these comments before taking action on the Task Force’s recommendations.
Work continues on the Community Archives Guide and we hope to have portions of it up on our website before the annual meeting in August. For those not familiar with it, the LAGAR website can be found at
Lastly, we are happy to welcome Bonnie Weddle of the New York State Archives as the newest member of the LAGAR Steering Committee.
Belated best wishes for the New Year and we look forward to seeing many of you at the SAA meeting in Chicago this August!
Mary Caldera and Stephen Novak
Scenes from
Sydney
[Australia]
Gay MardiGras
Parade
[BBC news, 3 March 2007.
For more pictures, go to
2/hi/in_pictures/6415475.
stm]
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Editor’s notes:
Hello LAGAR-ites!
Well, since the last issue of the LAGAR newsletter things have been busy here in Chicagoland. Projects have been completed, changes in employment and geographic location are occurring, the loss of friends in our community have saddened us, and with the happy transition from winter to spring, things are changing all over.
Hopefully one thing that hasn’t and won’t change, is your interest in the LAGAR newsletter; but with this hope comes my usual begging for your help and assistance to make this the most informative newsletter concerning itself with LGBT archives, history, etc, etc. As I’ve scoured as many online LGBT newspapers as I can find, only a few articles found have to do with LGBT history and fewer still with LGBT archives. So, as I am doing the best I can with what the LGBT and the general media are providing, this newsletter could always be improved but only with your assistance. I hope these articles meet with your approval but, I can’t help but feel I’m missing important and interesting tidbits of LGBT archival news. So, in a word [or several], I still could use your HELP with LGBT archival news, articles, announcements, etc. Please send all to me, Maggi, your friendly newsletter editor, at .
One final word before I continue with our newsletter, this past February we lost one of our early history makers and most staunch gay/lesbian rights advocates, Barbara Gittings. I had the pleasure to meet Barbara and hear her speak at the GLBT-ALMS conference in Minneapolis last year. When I read of her passing after fighting against breast cancer for years, well, when we met, she never let on, nor could you have known the personal fight she was fighting. She and I had a chance to talk briefly between sessions and Barbara was one of the most gracious, unassuming, and unpretentious persons I’ve ever met. At our all too brief meeting, I approached her shyly and with a bit of trepidation because I was meeting a Gay and Lesbian Rights Icon and had placed her on a pedestal, but Barbara immediately quashed this inferior/superior illusion in me and we spoke as two engaged, intelligent lesbian women who appreciated our LGBT common history and shared our concerns and hopes with each other that this history never fade from importance among our ever growing, ever changing LGBT community. Though Barbara and I only had the opportunity to talk for a few brief minutes, I will never forget her or her very giving, loving demeanor. I personally have always been interested and dedicated to LGBT history and, now after meeting this icon of our own times, I feel a far better person for meeting Barbara Gittings and tremendously honored that she took a moment to speak with me. I hope I can carry on with her mission in my own small way to continue the struggle for LGBT rights and preserving our history. She will be sorely missed.
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SAA Announcements
ARCHIVES / Chicago 2007
71st Annual Meeting
Pre-conference Programs: August 26–29, 2007
Conference Dates: August 29–September 2, 2007
2007 Exposition Dates: August 30–31, 2007
Early bird registration ends June 29, 2007!
Go to for more information.
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LAGAR Roundtable meeting at the annual SAA conference is scheduled for Wednesday, August 29, from 6 – 8 pm. Room TBA.
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ARCHIVES News & Announcements
Cornell Library exhibition goes online Feb. 8 featuring 25 years of gay-rights struggles and activism.
A reception and talk helped launch the Human Rights Campaign Archives housed at Cornell. A view of the historical archives of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender advocacy organization, became available for the first time on the Cornell University Library Web site on Feb. 8 [see Highlights from the HRC’s paper trail – strategic-planning documents, faxes, minutes, e-mails, press releases, posters and campaign buttons – are posted on the online-only exhibition, “25 Years of Political Influence: The Records of the Human rights Campaign.” The physical collection at Cornell Library opened to scholars the same day.
At the Feb. 8 reception held in Cornell’s Kroch Library, HRC President Joe Solmonese launched the event with a talk entitled “Landscape of Activism”. The events were free and open to the public.
The HRC’s records arrived at Cornell in 2004 with the support of Cornell Provost Biddy Martin, and curatorial staff have been managing them ever since. At 84 cubic feet, the HRC’s records constitute the second-largest of 225 collections within the Human Sexuality Collection in Cornell Library’s Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections.
Founded in 1980, the HRC claims 650,000 members. The HRC entrusted its records to Cornell over the Library of Congress and other contenders.
The library’s online exhibit offers highlights of the HRC collection as well as videos of demonstrations and AIDS activism in a section that outlines the past 60 years of national LGBT activism.
The exhibition is sponsored at Cornell by the Office of the Provost; Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies; the Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Studies Program; and Cornell University Library.
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Rainbow Historyhas added a large number of documents on 1960s regional homophile organizations and on the Mattachine Society of Washington to its virtual archive on their website [ The Mattachine Society resources include internal organizational documents, research prepared for discussions with the US Civil Service Commission and for the Washington Area Council on Religion and the Homosexual. Also included are scans of Mattachine’s Gazette, additional issues of The Insider, and complete issues of the Easter Mattachine Magazine tracing the development of picketing as a homophile tactic.
The documents for regional homophile organizations include documents, conference documents, flyers, and correspondence about the East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO), the Eastern Regional Homophile Conference (ERHC), the Eastern Regional Conference of Homophile Organizations (ERCHO), and the North American conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO). These documents are available for viewing at
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ONE Acquires the Gay Sunshine Press Archives
With the help of publisher Winston Leyland, the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles has acquired the archives of Gay sunshine Press. This includes the Archives of Gay Sunshine Journal, Gay Sunshine Press and the Leyland Press. The new collection documents the work of Winston Leyland, a pioneering post-Stonewall publisher of gay literature and interviews. The collection consists of a complete set of the Gay Sunshine and Leyland Press Library with over 150 titles, a set of the Gay Sunshine Journal, publisher files, ephemera, transcripts of important Gay Sunshine interviews and correspondence with well known authors such as Allen Ginsberg, Gore Vidal, Tennessee Williams, John Rechy, Lou Harrison, and Ned Rorem. Just as important are the letters of the hundreds of lesser known gay poets and writers whose work will allow researchers an important glimpse into the origins of post-Stonewall gay writing.
“We are thrilled to accept this collection. The Gay Sunshine Archives gives researchers an enormous opportunity for discovering the roots of gay literature,” said ONE President Joseph Hawkins. :It also complements the Archives of ONE Magazine by giving researchers an unparalleled continuity in the development of gay writing.”
Gay Sunshine Journal began publication as a tabloid style newspaper in 1970 and was published by Gay sunshine, a Berkeley collective. As the publication moved toward a literary rather than political stance, Winston Leyland took over sole editorship of the journal in 1973. The Journal ended publication in 1982 after 47 issues and was transformed into Gay Sunshine Press which published books between the mid-1970s and 1990s. Leyland Press published erotica and other titles between the 1980s and the early 2000s.
Books published, reprinted and/or edited by Leyland and Gay Sunshine Press include Straight Hearts Delight by Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky; A thirsty Evil by Gore Vidal; Flesh-True Homosexual Experiences; Gay sunshine Interviews; My Deep Dark Pain is Love: A Collection of Latin American Gay Fiction; Calamus Lovers on Walt Whitman’s poetry; Bayou Boys and other Stories by Lars Eighner; Enemy by robin Maugham; Men Loving Men: A Gay Sex Guide and consciousness Book; Orgasms of Light: A Gay Sunshine Anthology; over 23 Meatmen Comic anthologies; Queer Dharma: Voices of Gay Buddhists; Out of the Blue: Russia’s Hidden Gay Literature; Out in the Castro; and many others.
The Gay sunshine Press Archive will be processed over the next year and should be available for researcher use by Fall 2007.
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LGBT History News
Gay Vets Group Makes History
[From The Independent, 2 March 2007.
By Michael James
American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER), a national organization for GLBT veterans announced this week they will be able to expand their offerings and services to members due to their new IRS status.
“This places the organization on equal footing with such esteemed organizations like the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans, [and others],” said Mark LaFontaine, National Treasurer for AVER. “AVER has received a new IRS status… now AVER is standing up a new organization (AVER-VSO) – a true Veteran’s Service Organization (VSO).”
AVER had previously been a 501-3 IRS exempt organization, which allowed them to accept donations for support. Now they are a 501-19, making it a Veterans Service Organization.
LaFontaine further stated, “It has been a long time in coming that the GLBT veteran community was given credibility as being a vital part of the history of the Armed Services of this country.” He states that there are estimated to be over 1 million GLBT veterans who have served in the past and approximately 65,000 GLBTactive duty military members.
“Each one deserves respect and admiration for their service, Lafontaine said. “It is unfortunate that so many veteran service organizations are not GLBT friendly and some even promote homophobic sentiment and support discriminatory policies with regards to military service. This is why AVER felt the need to become the first ever GLBT Veterans Service Organization in United States history. The nation’s GLBT Veterans deserve equal treatment and access to services, just as any other veteran who has served our country.”
AVER – VSO will serve the entire veteran community, but will have an emphasis on reaching out to GLBT veterans. “We will promote social services for all veterans by having veteransservice officers based throughout the country that will be able to assist veterans with obtaining or upgrading their benefits, getting certain discharge statuses changed, and developing outreach and education to our communities at large,” he said. “This escalation in service coupled with the most recent support of General John Shalikashvili, a retired general and former Chief of Staff who now wholeheartedly supports GLBT military personnel in our active duty forces show that the climate of cold discrimination is thawing. Our mission at AVER is to move forward and serve our GLBT veterans”
Dave Guy-Gainer, National AVER Vice President said, “The emergence of the AVER Veterans Service Organization, sanctioned by the government and recognized by the Veterans Affairs (VA) as a legitimate agency is a victory – a victory over all the previous prejudices and discrimination our GLBT Veterans have faced.”
He continued by stating, “Over 1 million GLBT veterans have served in the US Military. These veterans served in silence and in fear of discharge. Furthermore, many of these veterans were discharged unfairly and their stellar service discredited. AVER, as a whole, intends to move forward vigorously toward the defeat of ‘Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell!’ … Our service will increase to these cherished veterans who still are not enjoying the freedoms they fought so diligently to protect. In my career I have participated in the standup of many units and missions. Never has one been so important … we need the support and membership of ALL LGBT veterans.”
The American Veterans for Equal Rights is a nationwide organization with many local Chapters to support the defeat of the Department of Defense’s “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell” policy and now to serve every GLBT Veteran via a new Veterans Service Organization (VSO).
For more information visit their website at
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Longtime Donors Endow LGBT Faculty Position at UCLA
[From: OutRadio at , 21 Feb. 2007]
The Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law & Public Policy announced the endowment of the first academic chair ever dedicated to sexual orientation law and public policy. Philanthropists John McDonald and Rob Wright donated over $1 million to endow the position at the UCLS School of Law.
The McDonald/Wright Chair of Law will be held by a member of the faculty of UCLA Law and the Williams Institute who has distinguished herself or himself in, and demonstrated a dedicated commitment to, research related to sexual orientation law and public policy or a field that advances the understanding of sexual orientation law and public policy.
“The McDonald/Wright Chair is the first academic chair in the country focusing on sexual orientation law and public policy,” said Brad Sears, Executive Director of the Williams Institute. ”The Chair will attract new scholars to the Williams Institute and will encourage younger faculty members to pursue their academic interests in sexual orientation issues. It will greatly enhance the work and prestige of the Williams Institute, UCLALawSchool, and the entire field of sexual orientation law and public policy. We are deeply indebted to John McDonald and Rob Wright for their generous and visionary gift.”
“Winning equality is never quick or easy“, said McDonald. “The Williams Institute at UCLA is leading the way in well-reasoned research and education about sexual orientation and the law.”
“By endowing a chair for this very important mission, our contribution will help turn societal wrongs into civil and human rights “, he continued. “Wright and McDonald were already major donors at Williams, funding the Judicial Education Program for four years. In addition, the pair has an impressive track record of support for numerous lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and HIV organizations nationwide. Most notable among them is the Los AngelesGay & LesbianCenter, where a building bears the couples’ name.
Ever since the first endowed chair was established 500 years ago at OxfordUniversity, privately funded “chairs” have been essential tools for building universities and encouraging research and scholarship I specific academic fields. By providing additional research and other funds, as well as conferring prestige, endowed chairs are a key tool in attracting and retaining top faculty and developing and conferring legitimacy on new and innovative areas of academic inquiry. Historically, endowed chairs have been used to focus the talents of the best and the brightest on research to cure diseases, develop new technologies, explore the roots of economic problems, and create innovative solutions to pressing social issues.
Wright and McDonald [were] honored at a cocktail party following the Williams Institute’s 6th Annual Update on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy. The conference, held at the UCLA School of Law on February23, featured an impressive array of experts in the field of sexual orientation law. A complete schedule of the events can be found here: