Research Guides: St. Louis LGBTQ+ History Guide: LGBTQ+ St. Louis History

Primary Sources (Archives)

rainbow flag over blue sky 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 St. Louis region.

Sources listed are available at Washington University Libraries, and from other local and regional archives.

Image source: WikipediaCommons

Archives @ WashU Special Collections

Please note: Collection inventories (finding aid) are linked below, however most materials are in original (paper) format and are not available online.

Some are large collections, and relevant items can be located by browsing the finding aids.
Contact the Department of Special Collections by phone or email to access the collections.

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.
Laura Ann Moore Papers
Laura 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.
Tom Miles Papers
The 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.
John Hansford and Bill Leach Personal Papers
Collection 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.
Cynthia Walker Papers
Collection 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.
Women's Resource Center (WRC) Records
Includes 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)
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Collection covers 1973 – 2002, and includes WRC events, WashU newsletters and course listings, and various publications.
Women's Studies Program Administrative Files
Precursor 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.
4th National Conference on Men and Masculinity Records
This 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.
Office of Student Affairs (Student Activities) Records
Series 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;
American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri Records
Many 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.]
City of St. Louis, Office of the Mayor Files of James Conway
See 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)
Publications by Student Groups
Subject 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.

Books to consult at WashU Special Collections (library use only):

Speaking Out: Writings About Women by WU Women's Programming Board, et al.
Call 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"
Speaking Out: Writings About Women (2nd ed)
Call Number: HQ1154 .S58 1985b (Archive)
includes essays above, plus Hanlon's "Confronting Heterosexism"
A study of a public lesbian community (Thesis) by Ethel Sawyer
Call Number: LD5791.8 AM65 S38
Publication Date: 1965
The tearoom trade : impersonal sex in public places (thesis) by Robert Allan Laud Humphreys
Call Number: LD5791.8 PhD68 H86
Publication Date: 1968
original thesis for PhD in sociology completed in 1968; published in 1970 under same title as non-academic book

Primary Sources (digital)

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.
Digital Transgender Archive
an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world

Primary Sources @ other libraries and archives

Please contact each listed organization for more info about the following collections:

St. Louis area

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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Collections include:
Gay News-Telegraph, Records, 1981-1986, (S0445)
Lesbian Alliance Of St. Louis, Missouri, 1972- , Records, 1973-1980, (S0129)
Metropolitan Community Church Of Greater St. Louis MCC (1973- ) (S0543)
Mid-Continent Life Services Corporation Records, 1975-1978, (S0050)
St. Louis Lesbian And Gay Archives Collection, 1972-1992, (S0545) and (SA0972)
St. Louis Lesbian & Gay Pride Celebration Committee Records, 1983-1992, (S0544)
and many others.
Lesbian and Gay News Telegraph Collection, 1969-1993. #A0893 (Missouri History Museum 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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Collection consists of newspapers, press releases, newsletters, fliers and brochures, books
and other printed matter, generated mostly by organizations concerned with issues related to or
effecting the homosexual community throughout the United States and other countries, used by
the editor and staff of the Lesbian and Gay News Telegraph in the production of its monthly
newspaper. Collection also includes the newspaper's working files, consisting of bills and receipts, layout sheets, and correspondence. Some portions, namely letters to the editor, of the collection are restricted pending resolution of questions relating to confidentiality. Finding aid available.
Saint Louis Gay and Lesbian Community Collection, 1988-2000 #A1422 (Missouri History Museum 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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Collection includes minutes and newsletters from various St. Louis organizations involved with gay and lesbian issues
Slawin, Michael S. Collection, 1989-1995. #A1519 (Missouri History Museum Library & Research Center)
Contact: Missouri History Museum Library & Research Center, 225 S. Skinker (across from Forest Park), St. Louis, Missouri, (314) 746-4500
Saint Louis Effort For AIDS (Saint Louis, Missouri). Newsletters, 1988-1991. #A1417 (Missouri History Museum 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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Collection consists of consists of an incomplete run of monthly newsletters produced by Saint Louis
Effort for AIDS and distributed to its members. The newsletter is titled Frontline . Also includes items mailed to members of the organization regarding legislative concerns, fund-raisers, etc.

Missouri, Midwest region, and National

GLAMA Gay & Lesbian Archives of Mid-America
documents and artifacts that reflect the history of the gay and lesbian community of the Kansas City region.
(Located at the University of Missouri - Kansas City)
Ozarks Lesbian and Gay Archives (OLGA) (M 18)
Finding aid describing collection at Missouri State university (located in Springfield, MO)
Lavender Legacies
Online 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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Published by Society of American Archivists' Lesbian and Gay Archives Roundtable (LAGAR)
Invisible Histories: Digital Collections
Digitized periodicals and materials from Southern archives in the United States.

Secondary Sources (Published Local History)

Browse: Mapping LGBTQ St. Louis
A digital interactive map exploring how the region’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and queer communities have changed over time, from the end of World War II in 1945 through the passage of St. Louis city’s first gay and lesbian inclusive civil rights ordinance in 1992.
GLTB History in St. Louis 1977-1980
online articles and research by retired SIUE Professor Jim Andris

Left in the Midwest: St. Louis Progressive Activism in the 1960s and 1970s. by ed. Izzo, Amanda L., and Benjamin Looker.
See chapters:
*The gospel of the gay ghetto : Trinity Episcopal Church, the urban crisis, and the origins of queer activism in St. Louis
*"The seed time of gay rights" : Rev. Carol Cureton, the Metropolitan Community Church, and gay St. Louis, 1969-1980
*"We were on a mission" : feminist activism in St. Louis in the 1960s and 1970s
*"Together we can make a safe home" : space, violence, and lesbian organizing in 1970s St. Louis

Books to borrow from the library:

Gay and Lesbian St. Louis by Steven Louis Brawley; St. Louis LGBT History Project
Call Number: HQ76.3.U52 S223 2016
Publication Date: 2016
In Her Place by K Corbett
Call Number: HQ1439.S87 C67 (Olin2)
Publication Date: 1999
See 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 Humphreys
Call Number: HQ76.8 U5 H84 (Olin2)
Publication Date: 1972
Chapter 2 includes events at Washington University, and the greater St. Louis community.
The Story of a Life by Claude Hartland (pseudonym)
Call Number: RC558 .H36 1985
Publication Date: reprint 1985
Autobiography from 1901 about life as a gay man in St. Louis (reprinted)
'Performing the "Unnatural" Life: America's First Gay Autobiography' by Sonstegard
Call Number: ebook
ISBN: 0912516925
Publication Date: Fall 2002
Review of The Story of a Life, by Hartland (Biography, Vol 25, No 4, pp. 545-568)
Torn Allegiances: The Story of a Gay Cadet. by Jim Holobaugh; Keith Hale
Call Number: UB418.G38 H64 1993 & ebook
ISBN: 9781555832162
Publication Date: 1993-03-01
James Holobaugh was an ROTC student at Washington University when he was discharged for being a gay service member in 1991.
Crooked Letter i by B. Andrew Plant; Beth Richards; Christina Holzhauser; Ed Madden; Elizabeth Craven; Jack; James Villanueva; Jeff Mann; Logan Knight; Louie Crew; Merril Mushroom; Stephanie Woolley-Larrea; Susan L. Benton; Suzanne Lea; Thom Koch; Vickie L. Spray; Connie Griffin (Editor); Dorothy Allison
ISBN: 9781603063623
Publication Date: 2016
Revealing a vibrant cross-section of Southerners, the writers of these narratives have in common the experience of being Southern and different, but determined against all odds.
See: Chapter 1 by Elizabeth Craven, who also wrote for LesTalk and lived in St. Louis.
Reclaiming the Heartland: Lesbian and Gay Voices from the Midwest by Osborne & Spurlin
Call Number: PS508.G39 R43 1996 (Olin A)
ISBN: 0816627541
Publication Date: 1996
Anthology 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 Dews and Law
Call Number: HQ76.3.U52 S276 2001
ISBN: 1566398134
Publication Date: 2001
Includes some references to Southern Missouri / Ozarks area.

Books to use in Special Collections (library use only):

Sweeter Voices Still by Ryan Schuessler (Editor); Kevin Whiteneir (Editor); Kevin Whiteneir (Editor)
Call Number: Spec Col PS508.S49 S94 2020
ISBN: 1948742810
Publication Date: 2021-01-12
creative nonfiction collection about queer life in the Midwest.

Secondary Sources (general LGBTQ history)

OutHistory.org
a freely accessible, community created, educational, non-profit website on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and heterosexual history
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hosted by University of Illinois, Chicago
People with a History: An Online Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trans* History
Links to various online sources
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hosted by Fordham University

Toward Stonewall by Nicholas C. Edsall
Call Number: ebook and HQ76.3.E8 E37 2003
ISBN: 0813922119
My Desire for History by Allan Berube
Call Number: ebook
ISBN: 0807877980
Publication Date: 2011

Books to borrow from the library:

Bodies of Evidence: the practice of queer oral history by Nan Alamilla Boyd (Editor); Horacio N. Roque Ramírez (Editor)
Call Number: HQ76.3.U5 B63 2012
ISBN: 9780199890668
A Queer History of the United States by Michael Bronski
ISBN: 0807044393
Publication Date: 2011
Queer America by Vicki L. Eaklor
Call Number: HQ76.3.U5 E35 2008
ISBN: 9780313337499
Gay rights and moral panic : the origins of America's debate on homosexuality by Fred Fejes
Call Number: HQ76.8.U5 F45 2008
ISBN: 9781403980694

Links to more resources

WashU Libraries Resources, Gender Studies
Links to books, articles, and databases from the WashU Libraries
St. Louis LGBT History Project
Links, suggested readings, and more
Queer Terminology: LGBTQ Histories and the Semantics of Sexuality
Dr. Katherine Bain, her friend Christine Glass, and their home at 2710 Quebec Street
By Sarah Bush — July 15, 2024 (Becker Archives and Rare Books, WashU School of Medicine Library.)