LGBT Thought and Culture is an online resource hosting the key works and archival documentation of LGBT political and social movements throughout the 20th century and into the present day. The collection contains rare archival content, including seminal texts, letters, periodicals, speeches, interviews, and ephemera. The resource provides a unique look into LGBT life, creating research opportunities and course material for educators of cultural studies, history, women's and gender studies, political science, sociology, and more.
A significant portion of this collection is available exclusively through Alexander Street, including:
- The Pat Rocco Collection: Acquired from the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, this collection features ephemora and correspondence from gay rights organizer and filmmaker Pat Rocco, documenting his impact in Southern California and Hawaii in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Includes letters from SPREE (The Society of Pat Rocco Enlightened Enthusiasts)
- The Jeanne Cordova Papers: The collection offers ephemera documenting the 1970’s activism of editor Jeanne Cordova. It includes correspondence regarding her magazine The Lesbian Tide, and other letters that provide insight into her role as a leader for Los Angeles-based LGBT and feminist movements.
- The Magnus Hirschfeld Collection, including the professional correspondence, publications, confidential reports, news clippings, court documents, and other materials from renowned German sex researcher Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935).
Alexander Street’s interface provides a series of tools designed for researchers seeking new insight into their subjects.
- For those who own our other product LGBT Studies in Video, the two collections are cross-searchable through a single interface, allowing for new research opportunities.
- Semantic facet browsing provides intelligent information which evolves as users search.
- Users can narrow searches precisely using a range of criteria including content type, date published, author, person discussed, and more.
Alexander Street is proud to partner with the top names in LGBT Studies, including:
- The ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
- The Kinsey Institute Archive and Library
- Windy City Media Group
- The National Archives at Kew
- Flinders University
- Cleis Press
- RedBone Press
Featured content includes:
- Case papers for a number of indecent publication trials, including the 1928 obscenity trial for The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall.
- The Damron Guides: The collection includes the 1965-1980 runs of this pocket-sized National Directory that documents LGBT-friendly places, presenting insight into the evolution of pro-LGBT establishments in the United States and Canada.
- The editorial files and books of Tracy Baim a key LGBT and feminist reporter since 1980.
- Outlines (1987?2000), a newspaper serving Chicago's LGBT community, featuring LGBT and AIDS coverage, news, interviews, photos, events, and community features.
- Blacklines (1996?2006), a monthly newspaper covering African American LGBT issues with a focus on gay media.
- En La Vida (1996?2006), a monthly newspaper addressing Latino/a LGBT issues and culture.
- Rare books and major winners of the Stonewall Book Awards and Lambda Literary Awards, many of which are no longer in print.
Topics and Key Word Searches: activism and activists, AIDS, bars and saloons, censorship, discrimination, film, gay communities, gay liberation movement, gay pride, gay rights, gender identity, health, homophobia, laws and legislation, medical treatments and procedures, music, performance, politics, same-sex marriage, social organizations, theatre, and more.
Content Types: advertisements, brochures, comic strips, conference materials, diaries and memoirs, ephemera, essays, letters, government/institutional documents, interviews, meeting minutes, obituaries, pamphlets, periodicals, photographs, poetry, posters, press releases, speeches, and more.
Organizations: ACT UP; AID for AIDS; American Civil Liberties Union; Christopher Street West Association; Fag Rag Collective; Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation; Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund; Gay Community News; Gay Publications Co-operative; Horizons Community Services; Human Rights Campaign; IMPACT; Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction; Lambda Legal; Lambda Publications; Lesbian Community Cancer Project; Mattachine Society; National LGBTQ Task Force; North American Conference of Homophile Organizations; ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives; Outrage (magazine); and more.
