LAGAR Newsletter, No. 24 (July 2003)

New Accessions

Equality Colorado

Records 

The Western History Department of the Denver Public Library announces the acquisition of the records of the organization which began in 1988 as Equal Protection Ordinance Coalition and ended up as Equality Colorado. Originally organized to help pass a nondiscrimination ordinance, the organization soon became embroiled in fighting to defeat Amendment #2. 

The thirty plus boxes of records document the organization's twelve years of activism, including strategies for education; legal strategies such as "Boycott Colorado;" information on opposing organizations; participants; and files on related issues in other states. 

This acquisition complements other lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender archives at Denver Public: Records of Colorado Aids Project; Lambda Reports, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender public access television program; Denver Nevaar/Sister Who, creator of Denver chapter of Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence; oral history of Women's Outdoor Club, 1979--2000; and papers of activists Dee Farrell and Ellis McFadden. 

Foster Gunnison, Jr. Papers

at U. Connecticut

submitted by Rutherford Witthus 

The University of Connecticut Archives & Special Collections announces the partial processing of the library and papers of Foster Gunnison, Jr. Though the bulk of the collection pertains to railroading and other topics, Gunnison is known as an early, self-proclaimed archivist of the gay and lesbian movement in America. He formed the Institute for Social Ethics as the umbrella under which he collected lesbian and gay periodicals and newspapers from many parts of the country. 

Gunnison's papers have been divided into series that include correspondence, organizational files, topical files, and newspaper clippings. Of particular interest is Gunnison's correspondence with such seminal figures as Richard Inman and Bob Martin. Among the extensive organizational records are the nearly complete files of the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO) and its regional offshoots. Because Gunnison considered himself the archivist for the movement, he convinced a few leaders to send him their own papers. Gay Liberation Front (GLF) activist Morris Kight sent large amounts of material to Gunnison that chronicle gay liberation in Los Angeles. 

Phil Samponaro, PhD candidate in history at University of Connecticut, has worked on the collection this past year and contributed to this announcement. For information on access to the papers, contact Rutherford W. Witthus via email at rutherford.witthus@uconn.edu or by telephone at (860) 486-4508. 

Tobias Schneebaum Papers,

University of Minnesota Libraries. by Jean-Nickolaus Tretter 

In a special ceremony on 17 June 2003, the University of Minnesota Libraries marked the official acquisition of the field notebooks and personal papers of Tobias Schneebaum. 

Beginning on 12 May 2003, the Library opened an exhibit honoring Schneebaum which will run through July in the Atrium, Elmer L. Andersen Library. The hours for the exhibit are 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays except holidays. 

For further information, contact Jean-Nickolaus Tretter, GLBT Collections Specialist, Special Collections & Rare Books, 111 Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222-21st Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455; email: trett007@umn.edu; telephone: (612) 624-7526. 

Records of

Theatre Rhinoceros

Donated to Bancroft Library

at UC, Berkeley 

Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley has announced the accession of the archives of Theatre Rhinoceros from San Francisco. The records document the entire history of the twenty-five year old theater company. 

Theatre Rhinoceros has presented numerous plays over the years which have reflected the then-current issues in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered community. As a result the records document the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. 

Theatre Rhinoceros has also done the very unusual among small theaters in the United States. It has remained a viable theater company even while focusing on the works of relatively unknown playwrights and while not relying upon big name stars to draw in the audiences. The collection includes a complete set of board meeting minutes which may help document the why's and how's this theater group has succeeded. 

For other interested patrons, the archival materials also include original scripts, videos, tapes of sound cues, programs, files of plays rejected with accompanying evaluation sheets, and reviews of plays performed, some coming from lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender publications which no longer exist. 

For more information, see the web site http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releas%20es/2003/06/16_theatre.shtml. 

News of LAGAR Members

Susan von Salis

Becomes First Curator of Archives at Harvard University Art Museums 

The Harvard University Art Museums has announced the appointment of Susan von Salis as Associate Curator of Archives. At HUAM, Susan will be responsible for developing acquisitions and access policies, overseeing the arrangement and description of the museums' archival collections, implementing a records management program, and managing preservation initiatives. She will also participate in the planning process for upcoming institution-wide initiatives such as the renovation of the museums' facilities and reimplementation of the website. 

The Harvard University Art Museums began with the founding of the Fogg Art Museum in 1895. The archives document the Harvard University Art Museums' buildings, institutions, collections, and staff; as well as the teaching of art history, museum curatorship, and art conservation at the University and in the United States. Von Salis indicated that "the archives contain rich collections that document not only the history of Harvard's art museums, but of the development of the pedagogical philosophy that demands that original works of art play a central role in the education of art historians, curators, and conservators." 

Susan's new email is susan_vonsalis@harvard.edu; she can also be reached by telephone at (617) 384-7983. 

News of Repositories

GLBT Historical Society

Opens New Space

by Julia Bazar 

The Gay, Lesbian Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society in San Francisco has moved. The new facilities provide much more space, divided into storage, spacious office, and separate gallery and reading room. GLBT Historical Society opened to the public in the new place on 1 March 2003. 

The new location is across the street from the California Historical Society, around the corner from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and upstairs above the Cartoon Art Museum. The address is 657 Mission Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 777-5455. 

Greetings From

LAGAR CoChairs

Greetings LAGARites, 

SAA is just around the corner! We look forward to seeing you in Los Angeles and welcome you to our annual meeting. Our time slot is 22 August (Fri.), 4:45 to 6:15 pm at the Century Plaza Hotel and Tower. Check the on-site program for the room number. Aside from our usual business, Jim Carson will report on the recent activities of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Religious Archives Network. Also, we will give an update on LAGAR's involvement with the Encyclopedia of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender History in America to be published by Scribner's. 

Following our meeting, the ONE Institute and Archives is generously hosting a tour and reception for us! The ONE Institute & Archives houses the world's largest research library on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered heritage and concerns. Their collections include memorabilia, records, printed documents, photographic images, maps, and graphic materials as well as audio-visual materials and books. The reception will last from 7:00 to 9:00 pm and is free of charge. We hope you will join us for this special event at the ONE Institute and Archives at USC. ONE Institute's URL ishttp://www.oneinstitute.org/

Other news is our own Jim Cartwright, newsletter editor extraordinaire, will be on the panel "Who is in the workplace now? Diversity reflected in today's archives" on Sat., 23 August. We are also pleased to announce that our renovated web site will be up and running by SAA 2003 so look for that athttp://www.archivists.org/saagroups/lagar/home.htm 

See you in Los Angeles! 

Daniel May dmay@metlife.com

Debbie Richards richards@radcliffe.edu

LAGAR co-chairs 

Out and About

Some Things to Do

While in LA 

Country Western & Line Dancing is available at Oil Can Harry's at 11502 Ventura Blvd., Studio City. Studio City, however, is in the San Fernando Valley. Unless one has access to a car or is willing to use taxi, going will not be practical. Anyway, dancing is Tues., Thurs., and Fri. with lessons at 7:45 and open dancing from about 9:15 p.m. until midnight. Telephone is (818) 760-9749. 

Eating in Century City Neighborhood 

Avenue of the Stars, on which the Century Plaza Hotel is, runs somewhat northwest from West Olympic Blvd. to Santa Monica Blvd. Just before arriving at Santa Monica Blvd., one comes to Century City Shopping and Marketplace. Gelson's Market is here, perhaps best reached via Constellation Dr. Here one can pick up various fruits, vegetables, deli items, for immediate consumption or for taking back to the hotel for snacks. On the Santa Monica Blvd. not far

away are Clementine and Wind and Flower, two restaurants recommended by one of my patrons who has lived in the LA area. 

Otherwise, there is little in the Century City area. Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are about one and a half miles and three and a quarter miles respectively to the right along Santa Monica Blvd.; Santa Monica is about five and a half miles the other direction. 

The challenge therefore seems to be to get inexpensive but tasty breakfasts and lunches. For dinners people can pool for a taxi and get many places. 

Dinners 

I'm going to quickly list a few places primarily in West Hollywood, with web sites you can look at for these and other places. My initial write up was far too voluminous. Moreover, hopefully the local arrangements committee will have a good list of restaurants. 

From westhollywood.com, I found Fat Fish which seems interesting for dinner

and Pizzetta. You may find others better to your taste. 

The Los Angeles Times Restaurant Review pages have a long list of places to eat or drink. The URL is http://www.calendarlive.com/dining/. My list from this source would include Angelini Osteria, for a special dinner; Borders Grill for more casual and for Mexican food slightly different; Crest, in Silverlake, looks to have good variety on the menu and offers nice breakfast variety, if we can get there so early in the morning and still return for sessions -- not likely. Other interesting finds include Doughboys Bakery & Café, which has fresh breads daily and some interesting sandwich possibilities, Rosen Brewery in Koreatown, some distance east toward downtown Los Angeles, and The Abbey, primarily because the Chocolate Lover's Suicide Cake said to me, "Come, eat! Die happy!" 

When I logged back onto the LA Times site, I could find only two of the above. I found many others equally interesting and exciting. I will bring addresses to the above places with me to LA.