Contact Info
Archive, Manuscript & Rare Book collections are accessed in Olin Library at the Special Collections reading room.
*HOURS: Monday - Friday 9:00-5:00 by appointment
*LOCATION: Olin Library, 1st floor, Danforth Campus
*REQUESTS / APPOINTMENTS: 314-935-5495 spec@wumail.wustl.edu
*collections stored offsite require advance notice for retrieval and use
Questions about a specific topic? Contact:
University Archives: Sonya Rooney
Rare Books: Cassie Brand
Manuscript: Joel Minor
Local History: Miranda Rectenwald
Modern Graphic History Library: Skye Lacerte
Film & Media Archive: Andy Uhrich
This guide is an overview of sources for researching the history and culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans*, and queer (LGBTQ) communities in the the larger St. Louis region. Sources listed available at Washington University, and other St. Louis Archives
Image source: WikipediaCommons
Archival Collections @ WUSTL
Materials at the Washington University Special Collections related to LGBTQ history are listed below. Some are large collections, and relevant items can be located by browsing the finding aids (linked from the title). Contact the archives for information about accessing the actual documents, most of which are not online.
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St. Louis LGBTQ+ Research Collection (WUA00438)Includes local and national periodicals, conference and task force publications, buttons, t-shirts, photographs, and posters related to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community of Greater St. Louis.
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Laura Ann Moore PapersLaura Ann Moore was a St. Louis civil rights leader and community activist.She was a co-founder in St. Louis of the Lesbian Alliance in the late 1960s. With others, Moore helped found a rape crisis center and the St. Louis Abused Women’s Support Project.Moore also became the first "out" LGBTQ person appointed to the St. Louis Civil Rights Commission in 1993 by Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. She co-founded Gay Liberation Front, Lesbian Acts, and Mid-west Women’s Festivals.
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Tom Miles PapersThe St. Louis chapter of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) is one of the oldest in the nation. These newsletters and others documenting LGBT legal and political topics were collected by PFLAG member and activist, Tom Miles.
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John Hansford and Bill Leach Personal PapersCollection includes correspondence, writings, photographs, audiovisual material, and memorabilia. Hansford and Leach were partners for 37 years after meeting in January 1974 in Ohio. They moved to St. Louis when Hansford accepted a job at Washington University. He retired after 25 years as the Director of Development Communications in July 2008.
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Cynthia Walker PapersCollection consists of LGBTQ+ social and activist group materials collected by Walker. Included are t-shirts from Q-Fest St. Louis and St. Louis Prides; catalogs of feminist and lesbian films; information about the 1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights; and a large array of LGBTQ+ and lesbian publications, some of which were published locally in St. Louis.
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Women's Resource Center (WRC) RecordsIncludes flyers related to the 1979 and 1980 St. Louis Pride events (Series 01, Box 01, "HerStory 1973-80, folder 2")
Collection also includes independent publications, such as 'Coming Out', 'Dykes, Disability and Stuff', 'Les Talk' and more (Series 03) -
Women's Studies Program Administrative FilesPrecursor to the Women Gender and Sexuality Studies Department; includes administrative information including correspondence, planning documents, course descriptions and evaluations, curriculum changes, publications, event material, and more.
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4th National Conference on Men and Masculinity RecordsThis collection documents the planning and promotion of the 1977 conference at Washington University. It includes audio recordings of various session and speakers at the conference, and related conference ephemera.
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Office of Student Affairs (Student Activities) RecordsSeries 01, Box 01 for AIDS Awareness and Related Activism, 1988 - 1992; Series 01, Box 02 for flyers distributed on campus 1969 – 1972, including Women’s Movement and Gay Liberation; Series 05, Box 01 for Pride Alliance (formerly Spectrum Alliance), 2000 – 2005;
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American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri RecordsMany topics including housing discrimination due to sexual orientation, privacy rights, and gay liberation. [Note: Researchers should contact Special Collections for information regarding access restrictions in this collection.]
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City of St. Louis, Office of the Mayor Files of James ConwaySee Series 02, Box 44, “Parades, April 1977 –" for letters and flyers from the Magnolia Committee, about first Gay Pride Parade in St. Louis in 1980 (about 5 pages)
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Publications by Student GroupsSubject To Change Vol.2/No.3 Feb. 1976 included a "Special Section on Sexual Awareness" including an interview with Daniel Curzon when he visited campus; The publication X Mag circa 2004-2010, is focuses on topics of sex and sexuality.
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Speaking Out: Writings About Women byCall Number: HQ1154 .S58 1985, Spring (Archives)See especially Hinckley's "A Letter Never Sent," Morgan's "Therapy with Lesbians," and Deutschman's "Harassment on the South-40"
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Speaking Out: Writings About Women (2nd ed)Call Number: HQ1154 .S58 1985b (Archive)includes essays above, plus Hanlon's "Confronting Heterosexism"
Local History: Published Sources
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In Her Place by Call Number: HQ1439.S87 C67 (Olin2)Publication Date: 1999See pages 180-181 for a brief biography of Lillie Rose Ernst (WU Class 1892), of St. Louis, who chose a life of "work, social reform and relationships with women" in the early 20th century. -
Out of the Closets by Call Number: HQ76.8 U5 H84 (Olin2)Publication Date: 1972Chapter 2 includes events at Washington University, and the greater St. Louis community. -
The tearoom trade : impersonal sex in public places (thesis) by Call Number: LD5791.8 PhD68 H86Publication Date: 1968original thesis for PhD in sociology completed in 1968; published in 1970 under same title as non-academic book -
A study of a public lesbian community (Thesis) by Call Number: LD5791.8 AM65 S38Publication Date: 1965
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The Story of a Life by
Call Number: RC558 .H36 1985 (Olin B)Publication Date: reprint 1985Autobiography from 1901 about his life as a gay man in St. Louis -
Torn Allegiances: The Story of a Gay Cadet. byCall Number: UB418.G38 H64 1993ISBN: 9781555832162Publication Date: 1993-03-01James Holobaugh was an ROTC student at Washington University when he was discharged for being a gay service member in 1991.
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'Performing the "Unnatural" Life: America's First Gay Autobiography' byCall Number: FULL TEXT ONLINEISBN: 0912516925Publication Date: Fall 2002Review of The Story of a Life, by Hartland (Biography, Vol 25, No 4, pp. 545-568)
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Reclaiming the Heartland: Lesbian and Gay Voices from the Midwest by Call Number: PS508.G39 R43 1996 (Olin A)Publication Date: 1996Anthology of work by gay men and women who live or have spent a significant part of their lives in the Midwest. Includes some mentions of Missouri, and St. Louis. -
Out in the South by Call Number: HQ76.3.U52 S276 2001 (Olin 2)Publication Date: 2001Includes some references to Southern Missouri / Ozarks area.
Archival Collections @ other local libraries & archives
Please contact each listed organization for more info:
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Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection Descriptions (MO State Historical Society)Collections can be requested for use on the campus of University of Missouri -St. Louis. Contact stlouis@shsmo.org / Phone: (314)516-5143
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Lesbian and Gay News Telegraph Collection, 1969-1993. #A0893 (Missouri History Musuem Library & Archive)Contact: Missouri History Museum Library & Research Center, 225 S. Skinker (across from Forest Park), St. Louis, Missouri, (314) 746-4500
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Saint Louis Gay and Lesbian Community Collection, 1988-2000 #A1422 (Missouri History Musuem Library & Research CenterContact: Missouri History Museum Library & Research Center, 225 S. Skinker (across from Forest Park), St. Louis, Missouri, (314) 746-4500
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Slawin, Michael S. Collection, 1989-1995. #A1519 (Missouri History Musuem Library & Research Center)Contact: Missouri History Museum Library & Research Center, 225 S. Skinker (across from Forest Park), St. Louis, Missouri, (314) 746-4500
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Saint Louis Effort For AIDS (Saint Louis, Missouri). Newsletters, 1988-1991. #A1417 (Missouri History Musuem Library & Archive)Contact: Missouri History Museum Library & Research Center, 225 S. Skinker (across from Forest Park), St. Louis, Missouri, (314) 746-4500
Collections in the Midwest / national
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GLAMA Gay & Lesbian Archives of Mid-Americadocuments and artifacts that reflect the history of the gay and lesbian community of the Kansas City region
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Lavendar LegaciesOnline guide to primary source material relating to the history and culture of lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgendered (LBGT) people held by repositories in North America.
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LGBT Publications via "Independent Voices"Independent Voices is a digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
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Digital Transgender Archivean online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world
Published Sources on LGBTQ History (general)
Links to more resources
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LGBTQIA+ Organizations, Events, and Resources at WUSTLa resource for the LGBTQIA+ community with links to organizations and events in the St. Louis metropolitan area and nationwide
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WU Library Resouces, Gender StudiesLinks to books, articles, and databases from the WU Libraries
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St. Louis LGBT History ProjectLinks, suggested readings, and more
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GLTB History in St. Louis 1977-1980A work in progress to document local history; by retired SIUE Professor Jim Andris
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Comics at the Modern Graphic History LibraryThe Center for the Humanities Comics Collection (1970 - 2000) contains a particularly strong selection of titles featuring female superheroes, and also includes important underground feminist comix, such as FemForce. Also includes self-published comics & magazines, such as Black Gay Boy Fantasy.
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LGBT Student Involvement and Leadership @ WUOnline clearinghouse providing information about events, resources, programs, and volunteer opportunities designed for WU's LGBTQ community
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OutHistory.orga freely accessible, community created, educational, non-profit website on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and heterosexual history
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People with a History: An Online Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* HistoryLinks to various online sources