LAGAR Newsletter, No. 22 (May 2002)

News in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Community

 

National Park Service

/National Historic Landmarks

GLBT Sites Project 

The gay and lesbian civil rights struggle has been one of the subjects of an in-house study at the National Park Service. In the summer and autumn of 2001, the National Historic Landmarks Division of the NPS prepared a study of major civil rights movements in the United States as a step towards recognizing important sites associated with the movements. The study focuses on the struggles for civil rights of women, Native Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and gays and lesbians. The report of the study has been printed but is undergoing internal NPS review and is not yet available for public access. When completed, NPS will present the study to Congress. 

NPS worked with the Organization of American Historians in defining issues, potential themes, sites, and chronologies in each civil rights struggle. The gay and lesbian component of the study was assisted by Dr Leila Rupp of Ohio State University. The review of the national struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights incorporated a bibliography and identified the major issues as public accommodations, employment, and other areas of discrimination. According to Dr. John Sprinkle, of the National Park Service, another in-house study focusing on public assembly and public accommodations issues has also addressed the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights struggle. 

News of the study has renewed interest in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender archival circles in pursuing local and state historic preservation status for sites important to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. 

Mark Meinke, Chair of the Rainbow History Project, in Washington, DC, indicated that he hopes the LBGT community becomes involved in giving input on the National Park Service's project of documenting GLBT historical sites. At present only the Stonewall Inn in New York City, has been designated as a national historic landmark for its association with gay and lesbian history. We can start this process by nominating local sites for historic preservation/landmark status in our local and state jurisdictions. A shortlist of historic lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender sites for inclusion on the National Historic Landmarks list would also be good. We can start the discussion now and be ready to make concrete suggestions to NPS/NHL when the time comes. 

For information on our participation in the NPS/NHL survey, contact info@rainbowhistory.org

In Memoriam:

Catherine Jean Shepard

2 September 1950 - 29 January 2002

by Sharon Larade 

Members of the North American archival community who knew Catherine Shepard will be sad to learn of her death from cancer on 29 January 2002. 

When I last met with Catherine for lunch in mid- November, she had been battling liver and colon cancer for 16 months. Resigned to the routine of treatment and recovery, she was very matter of fact; despite some successes, nobody knew the prognosis. Our shared passion for writing dominated our conversation. 

Catherine had written several screenplays, one of which had been short listed for an internship at a creative writing program in Vancouver. We spoke of the rigorous discipline required to generate our ideas and stories, and contracted to spur each other on. Quite simply, Catherine said, "Get your ass in the chair." 

I first met Catherine at a professional conference in Windsor, Ontario, in 1988. At that time, I was struck by her willingness to argue different issues, and to think expansively. I was also encouraged to see a visible lesbian in archival management. Catherine was a very social member of Toronto's archival community, participating in an informal baseball league, and a regular face at pub crawls. She initiated martinis at the "Dorothy Parker Club" atop the Park Plaza Hotel, and was the catalyst behind the "Lesbians for Patsy Cline" float in the New York City Pride Parade. She was my friend, my colleague and my mentor. 

Catherine was born in Kitchener, Ontario. She has a BA and an MA from the University of Western Ontario, London; she received her archival training at the Georgia State Archives. Catherine joined the Archives of Ontario in 1975 and since 1979 was the archivist responsible for court records. In 1988, she was appointed supervisor of the Government Records Section, and was portfolio manager responsible for education, culture, justice, municipal records, and central agencies of the Ontario government. By the mid 1990s Catherine was in charge of Information Technology projects. Her vision and leadership contributed to the institution's success. 

Catherine was a member of the Legal Records Committee of the Osgoode Society. She served on the executive of the Association of Canadian Archivists and as a member of the ACA's Finance Committee. Catherine also served as chair and state/provincial representative of the Government Records Section of the Society of American Archivists. Catherine was always willing to listen, and mentored many colleagues by sharing her experiences. 

Catherine's extensive professional archival experience served her well as a Board member for the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA) of Toronto in the early 1990s. CLGA is a group of volunteers working since 1973 to preserve lesbian and gay history in Canada . CLGA was established to acquire, preserve, organize, and give public access to information and materials in any medium, by and about lesbians and gays, primarily produced in or concerning Canada. To support this function the Archives also maintains major non-archival collections including a research library, international subject files, and a collection of international lesbian and gay periodicals. She was among the new Board acclaimed in 1992 signaling the reorganization of the Archives, and represented the CLGA at meetings of LAGAR. 

In addition to numerous book reviews, Catherine published two significant articles in her field : "Court Records as Archival Records," Archivaria 18 ( Summer 1984):124-134 and "Court and Legal Records at the Archives of Ontario," Archivaria 24 (Summer 1987):117-120.

 

Catherine's friends and colleagues appreciated her determination, quick wit and feisty spirit. She left us with her characteristic grace and strength after a fierce, fearless and determined fight with cancer. She will be greatly missed by her beloved partner, Clair Duff. She will be remembered with tremendous love and affection by her mother Colleen, sisters Barb, Pat and Jan, and their families. 

Donations in Catherine's memory may be sent to: The Colorectal Cancer Screening Initiative Foundation, 127 Rochester Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4N 1N9 Canada

Committee on Lesbian and Gay History

& LAGAR Consider

Cooperative Venture

on "LavenderLegacies" 

Professor Marc Stein of York University in Toronto and Ms. Brenda Marston of LAGAR have been working on a possible cooperation between the Committee on Lesbian and Gay History (CLGH) and LAGAR on Lavender Legacies, LAGAR's guide to repositories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender materials in the United States and Canada. The two major issues facing the two groups are updating the references and expanding the coverage to include international repositories. 

Just a brief introduction. Committee on Lesbian and Gay History is an affiliate of the American Historical Association. The organization has members from various disciplines and promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenderQ studies and teaching of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenderQ content in general history courses. The web site for CLGH is http://www.usc.edu/isd/archives/clgh/

Initial responses from the CLGS are excitedly positive. Up to the point of Brenda's first message to Professor Stein, no one in the CLGS knew of the work we in LAGAR have done. The good news for us obviously is that an important group of potential users know of our guide. Further, we now have additional sources of update information  historians interested in doing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history. 

In early May, Professor Stein posted a list of seventy plus archives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender materials to the discussion list CLGS sponsors. It is not yet posted to their web site. If, however, you wish to view the list or to help update it, check on the archives of LAGAR-L, since Brenda posted it to the list, or contact Marc Stein at mrstein@yorku.ca. Stay connected with LAGAR-L for newer developments.  

lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Repository News 

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Library/Archives of Philadelphia,

William Way lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender

Community Center 

Though the William Way lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Center has not really been closed, its move to new quarters and the gradual unpacking of holdings in the library/archives has, until recently, severely curtailed access. The unpacking is now mostly completed. The staff is "back up to speed and able to locate pretty much anything we have." 

Steven Capsuto, Archivist, also announces that the Library/Archives has a web site again. In January of this year, the Library online catalog went live, available through the same site: http://www.stevecap.com/libdraft. One can search via author or title words; the latter is a browse search. Newer than the online catalog is the image gallery. The Library/Archives hopes to add finding aids in the near future. They welcome suggestions on ways to improve the site; a link to email Steven is on site. 

Rich  Macdonald Papers

Schlesinger Library 

Deborah Richards reports that the Schlesinger Library has acquired the papers of Barbara Macdonald and Cynthia Rich, writers, activists in lesbian feminist politics, and partners for twenty-six years. Macdonald and Rich co-authored "Look Me in the Eye: Old Women, Aging and Ageism" (1983), a groundbreaking examination of ageism from a feminist perspective. 

The Rich-Macdonald papers detail their work for peace and social justice, and include diaries, correspondence, published and unpublished writings, photographs, and an autobiography by Macdonald with an account by Rich of the years before Macdonald's death from Alzheimer in 2000. For more information, see http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles

ONE Institute Online Catalog

and Website Update 

The ONE Institute has completed its initial efforts to bring the library catalog database online. There is a temporary website for the test version of the catalog. 

The catalog includes books, periodicals (including holdings and missing issues), and videos. The video listing is incomplete as ONE Institute just received a donation of over 800 videos from GLAAD and those titles have not yet been added. 

The catalog does not yet include our subject files, photographs, art or the archival collections. 

We would greatly appreciate if anyone who is interested would look at this preliminary catalog and offer their suggestions for improving the site:http://toia.legalinformationmanagement.com/ 

We will be meeting to discuss the site by the middle of the May, to incorporate changes and suggestions; when the revisions are finished, the final site will be available through a link on the main website.

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Jim Morrow, ONE Institute and Archives morrowj@cshs.org 

Health Crisis Network (HCN)

of Miami Records

Acquired by

Stonewall Library and Archives

by Fred Searcy

courtesy, Florida Archivist 

Stonewall Library and Archives recently acquired the organizational records and papers of Health Crisis Network (HCN) of Miami. HCN was a community based group that networked volunteer support services to individuals and their loved ones facing health crisis and bereavement. Services included providing free crisis intervention and counseling services by trained supervised volunteers to individuals, conducting training and educational forums for the general community, and helping professions involved in the care of people with AIDS. Volunteers, the core of the organization, provided such services as homemaking assistance, transportation, community education, fund raising, public relations and clerical help. 

In many ways, HCN provided leadership and guidance for other organizations in the US beginning to grope with the AIDS issue in their communities. Beginning in May 1983, HCN was one of the early organizations to address the needs of people with AIDS. Dr. Nancy Klimas, immunologist from the University of Miami, and Bill Kipp, a licensed social worker and psychotherapist formed the first support group of this organization in May of 1983. 

In 1985, HCN began the White Party, now famous throughout the United States as one of the first and best circuit parties in the glbt community. The first White Party was named "Journey to Romance" and was held at Miami's Vizcaya on Thanksgiving weekend in 1985. Today, the White Party routinely sells out an entire, week-long series of events. 

As AIDS spread beyond the gay community, HCN needed to expand services. It merged with Community Resource Initiative in 1998 and the two became Care Resource. CR donated the HCN records to Stonewall 

Robert Longstreth and Neil Sartori processed the material and prepared the report. A full listing of material available in the collection, is available at our web site: http://www.stonewall-library.org/Archives/ 

Stonewall Library and Archives, Inc. is one of the largest glbt library and archives in the United States with over 10,000 volumes and 700 linear feet of archival materials. It is located at 1717 North Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311. SLA is open six days a week, Monday-Friday from 11AM to 9PM and Saturdays from 12-3PM. Our telephone is 954-763-8565 and our email is info@stonewall-library.org. 

GLBT Historical Society

Announces Merger with

International Museum of Gay and Lesbian History,

and Exhibit 

In early May 2002, the Gay, Lesbian Bisexual, and Transgendered Historical Society (which used to have the additional words "of Northern California" in its name) planned to announce the merger of GLHS with the International Museum of Gay and Lesbian History. Future plans include building a museum facility in San Francisco. 

The Society website, http://www.glbthistory.org/ , has wonderful details about the exhibit, "Oranges and Butterflies," sponsored by the Society and held at the Society and at the James Hormel Center at the San Francisco Public Library from March to mid-May 2002. "Oranges and Butterflies" focuses on critical events of 1977 which saw the transformation of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population in San Francisco into a powerful, viable, politically active community. This is the twenty-fifth anniversary of that eventful summer. 

The Archives reading room is open to researchers twenty hours a week, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. One current project involves the reorganization of the periodicals collection; this will lead to the creation of a new web-based catalog of periodicals, and the extension of the catalog into a California union catalog of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender periodicals. 

The Society is located at 973 Market Street, suite 400, San Francisco, CA 94103. Send snail mail to P.O. Box 424280, San Francisco, California 94142; send email to info@glbthistory.org. Thanks to Julia Bazar for the information in this article, julia@glbthistory.org

News from other Repositories 

Seattle/King County AIDS Prevention Project Records

Available in Archives 

Rebecca* Pixler forwards the announcement that the King County Archives has completed processing of eight series of administrative records for the HIV/AIDS Program, Seattle-King County Department of Public Health. The program, which began in 1983 as the AIDS Prevention Project, was the second city/county-funded AIDS program established in the United States. During most of the period covered by these records (1983-2000) the Seattle-King County program was headed by Robert Wood, M.D., a gay man with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Wood took an active role in HIV/AIDS research and his expertise became nationally recognized. 

These records consist of correspondence, studies and reports, grant files, project files, legislative files, presentation files, and publications. They reflect local outreach efforts; local controversies such as condom distribution, needle exchanges, confidentiality of patient names; and collaborative work with state and federal programs and agencies. Series descriptions and container lists are available online athttp://www.metrokc.gov/recelec/archives/kcarch/publichealth.htm, under Record Group 112.172. 

For additional information, contact the King County Archives, 1215 East Fir Street, Seattle, WA 98122. telephone: (206) 296-1538; emailarchives@metrokc.gov.

*Apologies for misspelling Rebecca's name in original version. 

Women and Leadership Archives

Loyola University Chicago 

The Women and Leadership Archives at Loyola University Chicago announces that the Women's Archives Mapping Project Directory is now available at:http://www.luc.edu/orgs/gannon/archives/donordirectory.html. This directory contains information on archives in the United States with significant holdings relating to women. The directory can be searched by organization name, city, state, and keyword. 

The directory was made possible by a seed money grant from Irene Tinker, a member of the National Council for Research on Women. Inspired by an international effort begun in the Netherlands to map archives worldwide, Dr. Tinker envisioned a project to map archives in the United States with strong holdings relating to women and women's organizations, especially those with an active interest in documenting the women's movement since the 1960s. The main purpose of the grant was to aid potential donors in more easily identifying archival repositories to which their papers could be donated. An equally important side benefit is to help researchers in locating relevant material for research relating to women. 

Teresa Yoder, former part-time archivist with the Women and Leadership Archives, did preliminary research, designed the forms, and conducted the original solicitation for the mapping project. Kathy Young, current archivist, has been invaluable in bringing the project to fruition. Managers of the directory encourage continued contribution. A form is available on the website to submit data for those who did not previously participate in the survey and for those who wish to update their information. 

For further information, please contact: Valerie Gerrard Browne, Director/Archivist, Women and Leadership Archives, Gannon Center and University Libraries, Loyola University Chicago, 6525 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60626. Tele: (773) 508-8837; fax: (773) 508-8492; email: vbrowne@luc.edu

LAGAR Co-Chairs:

 

Birmingham Conference Update


Save the date and mark your calendars  both electronic and paper! The next LAGAR meeting is set for 23 August 2002. Our engagement, which is part of SAA's 2002 Annual Meeting in Birmingham, AL, will be held at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel. (Check your SAA program for on-site location). We are scheduled to meet from 4:45 to 6:15 p.m. 

This year's program consists of three speakers, from various locations and institutions. 

Linda Long, Manuscripts Librarian at the University of Oregon, will talk about documenting the history of lesbians in Oregon. 

David Williams, a long-time Louisville, KY gay activist, and founder of the Williams-Nichols Collection (originally known as the Kentucky Gay Archives) will speak about documenting Kentucky's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history. 

Ron Joullian, a librarian with the Birmingham Public Library, and second president of the Birmingham Lesbian and Gay Archives, which was founded in 1977, will speak about his role in developing a library for the organization. Ron will also discuss his involvement with the Alabama Conference for Personal Rights, and the Southeastern Conference of Lesbian and Gay Men, Inc. 

Following our meeting, we encourage LAGAR attendees to join in as we meet for dinner and/or drinks at an establishment that has yet to be determined. 

We look forward to seeing you in Birmingham and welcoming you to the LAGAR Roundtable Meeting. 

Deborah Richards

Manuscript Processor

Schlesinger Library

Radcliffe Institute 

Daniel May

Company Archivist

MetLife 

 

What to Do in Birmingham


Out in Birmingham, URL: http://www.outinbirmingham.com/, lists these businesses as supportive of the gay, lesbian, bisexual community or GLB owned/managed.

 

BARS & NIGHTCLUBS

(all in Birmingham, AL, except the Vieux CarrT) 

22nd Street Jazz Café

710 22nd St. S., Telephone: 205-252-0407

(bar/lounge, music/dancing) 

729 Club

2830 7th Ave S., Telephone: 205-324-0997

(female oriented, bar/lounge) 

Bill's Club

208 23rd St. N., Telephone: 205-254-8634

(bar/lounge) 

Club 21

117-1/2 21st St. N., Telephone: 205-322-0469

(bar/lounge) 

Club Latroy

316 20th St. S., Telephone: 205-322-8338

(Multi Racial Clientele) 

Kings Knight

2627 7th Ave S., Telephone: 205-326-3637

(bar/lounge) 

Misconceptions Tavern

600 32nd St. S., Telephone: 205-322-1210

(bar/lounge) 

Southside Pub

2830 7th Ave S., Telephone: 205-324-0997

(bar/lounge) 

The Quest Club

416 24th St. S., Telephone: 205-251-4313

(bar/lounge) 

The Station

2025 Morris Ave., Telephone: 205-254-3750

(bar/lounge) 

Tool Box

5120 5th Ave S., Telephone: 205-595-5120

(bar/lounge) 

Vieux CarrT

1204 Posey Road, Huntsville, AL

(bar/lounge, music/dancing) 

BOOKSTORES (all in Birmingham, AL) 

Birmingham Adult Books

7610 1st Ave. N., Telephone: 205-836-1580 

Lodestar Books

2020-B 11th Ave., Telephone: 205-939-3356 

The Downtown Bookstore

2731 8th Ave N., Telephone: 205-328-5525 

lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender NEWSPAPERS 

Alabama Forum

Birmingham , AL Telephone: 205-328-9228 

The Rainbow Pages

Birmingham, AL Telephone: 205-425-2286 

RESTUARANTS/COFFEE/DESSERTS (all in Birmingham, AL, except La Boheme) 

Angels CafT Bar

Hurst Street/Kent Street, tele.: 121-244 2626

(Bar/Lounge, Coffee Shop, Dining/Food) 

Anthony's

2131 7th Ave. S., Telephone: 205-324-1215

(Dining/Food) 

Bottega Cafe & Restaurant

2240 Highland Ave., tele.: 205-939-1000

(Coffee Shop, Dining/Food) 

Highlands Bar & Grill

2011 11th Ave S., Telephone: 205-939-1400

(Bar/Lounge, Dining/Food) 

John's

112 21st St. N., Telephone: 205-322-6014

(Dining/Food) 

Sarvac's

401 18th St. S., Telephone: 205-251-0347

(Dining/Food) 

La Boheme

704 Pratt Avenue, Huntsville , AL

(Coffee Shop) 

Introductions to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Resources 

New online resources for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community exist. Among them is our own electronic list, LAGAR-L available at lagar-l@cornell.edu. To subscribe, send the following command to: listproc@cornell.edu "SUBSCRIBE LAGAR-L Firstname Lastname" [in place of "Firstname Lastname" put your real name]. 

A second online resource is the GLBT Inter-Archive Coop, promoting exchange among the various world-wide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender archives and museums. Subscribe at the website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/interarchive/ or send a blank email to: interarchive-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Thirdly, the Committee on Lesbian and Gay History also has a web site of value to the community. (See article on page 2, above.) 

The following repository is not new, but the information about it may be new to LAGAR members. 

Survey of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Holdings

Central Connecticut State University

by Frank Gagliardi 

Collecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered materials at Central Connecticut State University began in 1993 when the library received the libraries and records of the George W. Henry Foundation and the Hartford Women's Center. 

The George W. Henry Foundation was a project of the Committee for Sexual Minorities of the Capital Region Council of Churches, one of the earliest counseling centers for gays in the United States having been formed in 1963. The organization flourished between 1963 and 1985. In addition to the records of the organization, the donation included a library of about 1,300 volumes. 

The second significant accession in 1993 was the library of the Hartford Women's Center consisting of about 1,000 books and periodicals dealing with women's liberation as well as lesbian issues. The gift included complete runs of their newsletters. 

Central Connecticut State University holds several other important collections pertaining to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. The interviews and other materials assembled by John Loughery for his book, The Otherside of Silence: Men's Lives and Gay Identities (Holt,1999); the library and papers of Le-Hi-Ho (Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization), 1970-1986; and the records of ANGLE (Aetna's Network of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Employees), 1993-present, one of the earliest gay employees' groups in the Insurance industry, are among the important collections. The AIDS epidemic and civil rights issues are also documented by collections at CCSU. In addition to the records of the Hartford Women's Center mentioned above, the University also holds the papers of Victor D'Lugin an activist on behalf of gay civil rights and AIDS issues; the records of the Connecticut AIDS Action Council,1990-1999; and the papers of Christine Pattee, discussed below. Finally, the Connecticut Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival Collection, 1982 to the present, contains memorabilia relating to this event. 

CCSU holds collections dealing with the relationship of the Roman Catholic Church with the gay community. The Richard Cardarelli collection documents Cardarelli's work as a Catholic priest who at one time served as the representative of the Archdiocese of Hartford to the gay community. CCSU also hold the records of Dignity Hartford, 1975 to c 2000 and the records of Dignity Providence, 1974-1977. 

The Christine Pattee Lesbiana collection, consists of over 1200 books including approximately 300 examples of lesbian pulp fiction, 250 long playing records of women singers as well as of all-women bands. Ms Pattee was the founder of the Connecticut Women in Music festival and a long time activist for gay civil rights. 

Information on most of our collections are available on our web site: http://wilson.ctstateu.edu/lib/archives/equity

March on Washington

Records

at ONE Institute

by Ken Megill 

In 1987, when I began working in this field, I worked with the "March on Washington " committee and tried to convince them to organize their records for others to use later. I thought I had failed, having last seen some boxes I helped

organize shoved under a table as the remnants of the organizers dispersed. 

During the March, there was a meeting of archivists and I had the pleasure of meeting Jim Kepner. We talked about where to put the records of the March and had some communication when it was over. As a result of that encounter, Kepner put me on his mailing list and from time to time I watched the odyssey of his papers which eventually ended up at the ONE Archives. 

In January, I was in Los Angeles on career development, I found the ONE archives and was surprised and delighted to discover that the boxes I had last seen under the desk in Washington had found their way to the Archive. 

Jim Morrow was there and organized folks to carry out the dozen boxes. I did a very quick finding aid for them and discovered some really wonderful stuff. Perhaps some of you folks would find it useful: 

  1. Programs and brochures from the many special interest groups that met.
  2. The basic documents of the March, including check stubs and bank statements. The March had a very substantial surplus and after it was over received many applications from grass-roots organizations around the country for grants. I did not see any documents about which grants were given (although that might have been somewhere in the boxes). The applications show the vitality of the community and how widely dispersed it was.
  3. Correspondence from people from all over the country to the March.
  4. The film of the March--several reels.
  5. Clippings from newspapers all over the country
  6. Several hundred xerox copies of Wedding Certificates from The Wedding. 

The March was, without a doubt, one of the turning points for our community. No real count or estimate was made, but there were probably

500,000 to 750,000 folks there -- making it (I think) the largest political gathering on the Mall. The March was opposed by all of the national organizations. (I was the first Development Director for the Human Rights Campaign Fund for a few months before the March.) It was truly a grass-roots movement that surprised everyone. The organizers came from outside Washington and shared all of the normal suspicions about Washington folks. 

Jim and I agreed that the Wedding Certificates are a particularly rich resource. They give documentary evidence of several hundred committed couples in 1987 who were ready to announce and rejoice in their commitment, several years before the notion of Gay Marriage was even on the agenda. Jim said it would be really great to find a doctoral student to follow up on these certificates to see how long the couples stayed together. I would bet that Queer Marriages last as long as Straight Marriages. 

I urge any of you who are in Los Angeles to visit the Archives and, if you have some time, lend a hand. Jim is rightfully protective of the collection and has been thoroughly warned of the dangers of breaking it up -- as is so tempting -- so it can be displayed. Since most of the building is devoted to a library, the temptation to unknowingly dismantle the collection is very great. 

Of particular interest to me was a folder labeled "Archives" with only one document in it -- a letter from me suggesting how to organize and keep the records of the March. In my letter I urged The March to preserve the electronic database that contained the names and addresses of the contacts. That seems to be lost. Though a list could be reconstituted from the paper documents, but it would take a lot of work. 

I hope to meet many of you in Birmingham. The best place to find me will be at the Cuadra STAR Booth. 

Ken Megill, 202-297-5778, http://nav.to/kenmegill