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Melissa (Lisa) Crow

LIBR 256

September 12, 2013

Assignment 1:  Archive Visit

The ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives

The One National Gay and Lesbian Archives  celebrated its 60^th anniversary last year.  It started with creator Jim Kepner.  He began collecting newspaper clippings and books about homosexuality after witnessing the now infamous Black Cat gay bar raid in in 1942.  He started his collection with a copy of Radclyffe Hall’s Well of Lonliness.  He kept his growing collection in his apartment, calling it “The Western Gay Archives.”   Presumably, his collection grew beyond his apartment’s capacity, because it was moved to a Hollywood storefront and named “the National Gay and Lesbian Archives.” In 1994, The ONE institute, which Mr. Kepner helped found, acquired Mr. Kepner’s collection and it has grown into what is now the ONE National LGBT Archives.  In 2000, the collections were sponsored and moved to their current home on Adams by the University of Southern California and ten years later, they are now a part of the USC Library system.

James Kepner was a member of the Mattachine Society, one of the first homophile organizations which later became ONE, Inc.  and published a magazine  -- or “’zine” since it was self-published and has a relatively small circulation, at least at first --  of the same name.  There is a photo portrait of Mr. Kepner hanging prominently in the archives.  Across from that is a display case containing hundreds of LGBT ‘zines, including ONE (which was published 1952-1967) and the Ladder, published by the Daughters of Bilitis from 1956 – 1972).  Many of the original Ladder issues are located at SJSU’s King Library, though most are available in digital form from USC’s digital archive, as are much of the processed records in ONE’s catalogue.  It has now grown to be the largest collection of LGBT materials in the world.  The archive is housed at 909 Adams Blvd in Los Angeles.  The ONE is part of the University of Southern California Library System.  The collection is truly immense.  I was impressed at the wealth of material available there.  I was also struck by the horrible thought at one point in the tour that so many rare and unique records in one place could be gone forever if a fire ever started. 

My tour was impromptu, but thorough.  I stopped in to make an appointment and there was time, so Mr. Oliveira, the project archivist, led me through the labyrinthine hallways through two floors of rooms filled with bins, envelopes, filing cabinets, ring binders – as I said, it was impressive and a bit overwhelming.  There are literally hundreds of archival collections and it grows constantly through donations.  Every medium of record, books, photographs, journals, newspaper and magazine clippings, letters, etc., is stored and available to researchers as primary sources, though some media (film, etc.) is stored off-site at UCLA, Fortunately, the processed materials are catalogued through the USC Library system OPAC.  A great deal of the collection is available in digital format.  Researchers can go online to the catalogue, find the record and page it to study in the archive.  There is a photocopying service for a nominal fee. Laptops and cell phones are permitted, but personal scanners are forbidden because of copyright and privacy issues. There is a gallery on site as well as an affiliated gallery in West Hollywood where exhibitions are sponsored by and advertised in the archive building.  The stacks are closed to the public as they contain rare copies of books, however, researchers can study them in the research are, which is an open space containing tables and chairs in front of the reception area. There are also donated books for sale, the proceeds of which go primarily to support the preservation work done with the materials and the exhibitions and other programs sponsored by the ONE.

The ONE is open to the public, though the hours vary widely:
Tuesday & Friday:  10:00am – 6:00pm
Wednesday & Thursday: 1:00pm – 9:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am – 5:00pm
Closed Sunday & Monday

It was really fortunate with my schedule that Mr. Oliveira was available.  He was very helpful and very thorough in showing me the materials, asking me my area of research interest (I am writing a novel, so this tour served two purposes.) and helping me to find resources applicable to my research needs.  All of the staff went out of their way to be helpful.  It’s a busy place. The collections are many and massive with probably millions of records, thousands of which still need sorting and processing and preservation measures applied. The ONE is always looking for volunteers and offers internships for credit to library school students because there is a lot of work to do there. In fact, I intend to intern there next fall semester.

Bibliography/References

D’Emilio, J.  (1983).  Sexual Politics, sexual communities:  The making of a homosexual minority in the United States 1940-1970.  Chicago, IL:  University of Chicago Press.

Harmon, A. (2005). Buried treasure. Los Angeles Magazine, 50, 58-64. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/219700993?accountid=37892

Huffington Post. (10/04/2012). In ONE National Gay And Lesbian Archives Celebrates 60th Anniversary. Retrieved 09/12/13, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/one-national-gay-and-lesbian-archives-60th-anniversary_n_1937087.html.

ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives. (2013).  http://www.onearchives.org.  Retrieved 09/10/13.