TITLE | DESCRIPTION | DATE CREATED | IS FORMAT OF |
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Shanti records 2006-02 | The records of Shanti document the organizational history and work of an agency dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening or chronic illnesses. There are a wide range of record types in this collection, which focus on the years 1987-2003. The bulk of these include materials related to the board of directors and to training volunteers and other organizations. There are also newsletters; publicity and fundraising materials; cloth artifacts; a scrapbook; audio-visual material; and photographs. |
1983 to 2006 | |
Wide Open Town History Project records 2003-05 | |||
Thrillpeddlers collection 2018-85 | Thrillpeddlers was a San Francisco-based multigenerational queer theater company specializing in Grand Guignol plays and Theatre of the Ridiculous. |
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Sanchez (Maria) Papers 2006-19 | Maria Sanchez was a popular San Francisco DJ who spun records at many venues including the Sutro Bathhouse and the Fairoaks Hotel. She was a member of the Bay Area Disco DJ Association (BADDA) and wrote a monthly disco gossip column in "Baseline: Bay Area Disco Report." |
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Libertarians for Gay and Lesbian Concerns records 1992-02 | Libertarians for Gay and Lesbian Concerns (LGLC) records document the activities of LGLC especially those of George Meyer, LGLC's National Coordinator from 1983 to 1987. LGLC was established during the 1981 national Libertarian Party Convention in Denver, Colorado. LGLC succeeded the Thomas Jefferson Libertarian Club, a 1970's gay and lesbian political organization. Despite LGLC's ties with the libertarian movement, it has never been an official organization of the Libertarian party. The organization's mission was to support gay and lesbians libertarians, to persuade gay and lesbians to consider the libertarian view of civil liberties, and to bring awareness of gay and lesbian issues to libertarians.
After a slow beginning in Salt Lake City (1981-1983), LGLC moved to Washington, D.C. (1983- 1984). George Meyer moved to San Francisco in late 1984, and began the San Francisco chapter (August 1984) while serving as National Coordinator. Meyer's efforts as National Coordinator saw an increase in the organization's membership and influence. He edited the bi-monthly LGLC Newsletter, which had 400 subscribers during the mid-1980's. Meyer supported the Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco local chapters. By 1986, despite his efforts, only the New York City and San Francisco chapters were still active. Meyer also arranged information booths at Libertarian party state and national conventions, encouraged LGLC participation in Gay Freedom Day parades, and maintained a network of contacts in thirteen states.
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Joseph (Roz) Photographs, 2010-08 | Roz Joseph (1926–2019) was a San Francisco-based photographer who in the mid-1970s photographed the pageantry and activism of the city’s diverse drag cultures at Gay Freedom Day parades, Halloween celebrations, Imperial Court coronations and drag and costume balls. The collection consists of matted color photographic prints, notebooks of slides, interviews and manuscript materials, and various ephemera. |
1975 to 1984 | |
Carhaix (Jean-Baptiste) Papers, 2019-39 | Jean-Baptiste Carhaix (1946-2023) was a French photographer. The collection includes photographs of early members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and images of events, including AIDS fundraisers and marches. |
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Finocchio's Collection, 1999-79 | This collection contains materials relating to Finocchio’s, one of the oldest and best-known female impersonation clubs in the world. The term, "female impersonators" is a historic term that comes from a straight-coded Victorian theatrical form and continued until the mid-20th century before merging into what we now call drag. Finocchio's performers included what we now know as drag queens, trans people, and cis men in drag. |
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MacHarg (Janet) Papers, 2003-41 | Janet “Janny” MacHarg was a political songwriter, cabaret performer, writer, and feminist activist, known as the “Tallulah Bankhead of San Francisco.” Contents include photographs, sheet music, writings, publications, correspondence, drawings, notes, and other ephemera. |
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Lesbian and Gay Chorus of San Francisco Scrapbooks, 2006-11 | The Lesbian and Gay Chorus of San Francisco was founded in 1980 and is the nation’s oldest self-identified LGBT mixed chorus. This collection contains six scrapbooks of materials relating to the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of San Francisco. The scrapbooks include photographs, programs, flyers, chorus notes, buttons, ticket stubs, and other ephemera. |
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San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus Records, 2009-01 | The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus is the world’s first openly gay men’s chorus. The Chorus sang in public for the first time on the steps of San Francisco City Hall in November 1978 at a candlelight vigil for Harvey Milk. In 1981, The Chorus embarked on a national tour that helped spark the creation of similar choral groups in the U.S. and overseas. They are credited with igniting the worldwide gay and lesbian choral movement and continue to tour the country today. |
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Lesbian and Gay Chorus of San Francisco Ephemera, 1997-14 | This collection contains ephemera produced by the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of San Francisco. Materials include 35mm slides of concert programs, as well as flyers and posters advertising chorus events. |
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Sylvester Collection, 2018-05 | Sylvester (born Sylvester James Jr.) was a disco-soul singer-songwriter known for his androgynous appearance, falsetto singing voice, and the moniker the “Queen of Disco.” |
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Scholl (Steve) Collection of San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corps Materials, 2017-07 | This collection contains materials produced by the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corps and collected by Steve Scholl. Materials include directories, band notes, programs, bylaws, flyers, posters, photographs, scrapbooks, and other ephemera. It also contains flyers and programs relating to local LGBTQ theater events. |
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Collection of Event and Sylvester Concert Slides, 1997-39 | The collection includes 35mm photographic slides depicting nightlife events, circa 1970-1977, including images of a Sylvester concert and what may be Halloween 1977. The images predominantly depict Black performers and attendees, including people in costumes and drag. These slides were salvaged by the donor, Deborah Deegan. |
1970 to 1977 | |
Rouder (Wendy) Papers, 2022-24 | The Arcaids Theatre was a theatre troupe composed entirely of people with AIDS and what was then called ARC (AIDS-Related Complex, referring to the broad spectrum of AIDS-related symptoms and opportunistic infections). Arcaids was founded in 1988 by Wendy Rouder, and attracted a core troupe of both professional and amateur actors. The troupe existed for about two years, during which time the players developed scripts and put on small public performances. Performances were a mix of scripted and semi-improvised material, often with a blackly comic tone, and with frequent musical interludes. This collection contains a wide range of documents: publicity materials, news clippings, rehearsal photos, brochures, scripts and improv scenarios, fliers for recruiting performers, notes from creative meetings, business documents, correspondence, and bylaws related to the management of the theater as a nonprofit. |
1988 to 1989 | |
Lyon-Martin House oral histories, 2023-52 | Oral history recordings and supplemental material for the Lyon-Martin House Oral History Project. Interviewees include: Kendra Mon, Pauline Shulman, Diane McCarney, Kate Kendell, Marcia Gallo, and Margie Adam. Located at 651 Duncan Street in San Francisco, the Lyon-Martin House is the former home of lesbian activists Phyllis Lyon (1924-2020) and Del Martin (1921-2008). In 2021, the City of San Francisco designated the Lyon-Martin House a City Landmark in recognition of its association, through Lyon and Martin, with the lesbian rights, homophile, and marriage equality movements. The oral history project documents the narrators’ memories of the Lyon-Martin House as a social and activist space, as well as of Lyon and Martin. |
2022 to 2023 | |
Wilderness Women | Wilderness Women was a monthly newsletter of outdoor and nature activities for women in the San Francisco Bay Area, published from 1981-2015. According to one of the original creators, the newsletter grew out of members’ previous involvement in lesbian birdwatching groups. The newsletter was first published as a San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Camping Women. The name was changed to Wilderness Women after the group decided to disassociate from the national Camping Women organization. Event listings included hikes for single lesbians over 50, outings hosted by the Gay and Lesbian Sierrans, camping trips throughout California, and many others. |
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Baker (Gilbert) Collection, 2017-18 | Gilbert Baker was an artist, drag queen, and Sister of Perpetual Indulgence who played the central role in the 1978 creation of the rainbow LGBTQ pride flag. Baker’s collection consists largely of textiles, sewing supplies, art, and audiovisual materials, along with a small number of documents. |
1950 to 2017 | |
Gonzalez (Efrain John) Papers, 2022-59 | Efrain John Gonzalez is a bisexual photographer, tour guide, and artist. This digital collection consists of selected photographs by Gonzalez of the first National Bisexual Conference, held in San Francisco in 1990. |
1990 | |
Evans (Richard William) Papers, 2023-56 | Richard William Evans (1942 January 20-2023 April 26) was a Black, gay artist, community advocate, and participant in the “back-to-the-land” movement in Northern California. As a member of the Stellar Arts Collective, Evans helped to create “The Power of the Sun,” a large-scale stained glass installation that was displayed in the State of California office building at 455 Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco from 1979 until the artwork’s destruction in a protest in 1991. The project proposal, photographic slides, oral history interview, and digital film in this digital collection document Evans's artistic work with the Stellar Arts Collective. |
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Richards (Mary) Audiotapes, 2002-34 | Mary Richards was a freelance writer for the Bay Area Reporter, an LGBTQ newspaper, for twelve years in the 1980s and 1990s. This collection contains audiotape recordings of interviews Richards conducted with LGBTQ people on a wide range of topics. |
1983 to 1996 | |
Rossmoor Lesbian Social Club Interviews, 2022-96 | The Rossmoor Lesbian Social Club (RLSC) is a club in the Rossmoor senior community in Walnut Creek, California. The club was founded in 2009 by Carol Morton with a mission of providing social activities for Rossmoor residents who identify as lesbian, bisexual, or transgender women. This collection contains 24 interviews with RLSC members about their life stories, as well as an introductory panel discussion. |
2021 to 2022 | |
Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits Records, 2019-81 | BAAITS was founded in 1998 by community members that organized the International Two-Spirit Gathering in the Bay Area that same year. Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits (BAAITS) exists to restore and recover the role of Two-Spirit people within the American Indian/First Nations community by creating forums for the spiritual, cultural and artistic expression of Two-Spirit people. BAAITS is a community-based volunteer organization offering culturally relevant activities for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Native Americans, their families and friends. Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits comes together to socialize, share and network in an alcohol and drug-free environment. |
1999 to 2018 | |
Veronica Friedman papers (1994-01) | Veronica “Ronnie” Friedman (1945-1986) was a transgender woman who lived in San Francisco. The collection consists of Friedman’s detailed and emotional diary entries, as well as drafts of letters to her mother and children, personal notes, daily planner pages, timelines and autobiographical statements relating to transition, greeting cards, and other correspondence. |
1980 | |
Kinsey Sicks Collection, 2015-16 | |||
Larry Buttwinick collection (2006-44) | Larry Buttwinick (1924-2004) was a gay Jewish man and an original member of the Imperial Court of San Francisco. His life intersected with prominent LGBTQ figures such as Jose Sarría (drag star, political activist, and founder of the Imperial Court) and Henry Diekow (a drag artist also known as the Baroness von Dieckoff). He was also a member of the Society for Individual Rights (SIR), an early gay and lesbian rights organization, and one of the founders of the Lavender Seniors of the East Bay. |
1960 to 2004 | |
Baker (Tom) Oral History, 2024-12 | Oral history of Tom Baker (S. Thomas Baker), interviewed by Shawn Sprockett in January 2024. At the time of the oral history, Baker was a 93 year-old gay man living in the Castro in San Francisco, CA. He had lived in San Francisco for nearly 50 years. The interview discusses Baker’s early life and teenage years, his coming out experience in the 1950s, his gay community, experiences with gay bars in San Francisco, his interactions with police, and other related topics. The collection includes an mp3 audio recording and pdf transcript of the interview. Also included are matchbooks of bars, collected by Baker and given to Sprockett. |
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Smith (Daniel A.) and Queer Blue Light Videotapes, 1999-52 | This collection contains tapes recorded by Queer Blue Light, a gay activist video collective active in San Francisco in the 1970s. Daniel Smith, who donated the collection to the GLBT Historical Society, was a member of the collective. The tapes contain raw and edited footage of gay and lesbian political and cultural activities, including recordings of a 1975 meeting on relations between the San Francisco Police Department and the gay community, particularly in Eureka Valley; a meeting featuring Bobby Seale’s mayoral campaign manager and members of the East Bay gay community; a 1975 demonstration of gay teachers in San Francisco; several poetry, theater, and musical performances; and the 1976 and 1978 Castro Street Fair, among other events. It also includes “Sign 504 Now,” a documentary about the 1977 504 Sit-in by activists with disabilities. |
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Cyberski (Charles) Videotapes, 1994-03 | Videos from the Charles Cyberski Videotapes collection. Charles Cyberski (February 12, 1949-September 28, 1993) was a gay video journalist and, with his partner Richard Wright (July 5, 1955-October 20, 1990), owner and operator of the mail-order video business Male Entertainment Network (MEN). MEN produced and sold videos documenting gay and lesbian events, including San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Day Parades, numerous leather competitions, and Gay Games; as well as lesbian and gay rights advocacy and AIDS activism. The collection also includes videos produced for several San Francisco Bay Area-based businesses, including Megatone Records, Mercury Mail Order, and Voyager Travel; as well as personal videos, including memorial videos for friends.
From 2010 to 2011, GLBT Historical Society volunteer John Raines processed and digitized nearly all of Cyberski’s video collection. Some items may not available to view online. Please contact the Archivist for information about access. |
1975 to 1992 |