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LGBTQ+ Manuscript Collection, 1972-2012

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Western Washington University. -- Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.
Title
LGBTQ+ Manuscript Collection
Dates
1972-2012 (inclusive)
Quantity
4 linear feet
Collection Number
XOE_CPNWS0136glbtmiscman
Summary
The LGBTQ+ Manuscript Collection documents some of the history of the LGBTQ+ community of Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington.
Repository
Western Washington University, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
Goltz-Murray Archives Building
808 25th St.
Bellingham, WA
98225
Telephone: (360) 650-7534
cpnws@wwu.edu
Access Restrictions

Some access restrictions apply to oral history interviews - contact repository for details.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the Washington State Legislature to the Washington Women's History Consortium. Funding for encoding the finding aid was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

Originally titled the "Gay and Lesbian Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection", this archival collection resulted from collecting efforts by the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies that began in 2001. During the Center's 2001-2002 Gay and Lesbian Archives Project, Center staff solicited archival materials including photographs, publications, posters and other printed materials. A number of individuals from Bellingham and Whatcom County donated materials about the history of the local LGBTQ+ communities. The Center hosted a workshop to discuss the history and experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in Whatcom County, encouraged donation of materials and conducted oral history interviews with several community members. Since the original Archives project, CPNWS has continued to collect and provide stewardship for historical resources about LGBTQ+ history and add donated materials to this and other distinct collections.

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Content Description

This collection documents different aspects of the history of the LGBTQ+ community of Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington. The collection spans the period circa 1972-2012, with the bulk of material from 1972-2002.

Manuscript materials include fliers, posters, journals and a small number of photographs documenting events and activities in the Bellingham and the surrounding area, clippings and articles, as well as information about local LGBTQ+ resources. These materials include incomplete runs of local women's publication the "Women's Network Newsletter", and a local lesbian publication called "The L Word". Manuscripts also include a journal, posters and fliers pertaining to a traveling women's coffeehouse in the early 1990s, and several programs from the Pacific Northwest Women's Music & Cultural Jamboree (held at Western Washington University in the early 1990s). Information about gay and lesbian community resources in Bellingham include histories of the Womencare Shelter (founded in 1979 as a safe house for victims of domestic violence) and the Elizabeth Blackwell Women's Clinic. Manuscripts also include a 1972 photograph of a local gay bar in downtown Bellingham, ephemera documenting LGBTQ+ events held at Western Washington University, and programs from the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Evergreen Empire's drag ball show in Bellingham. The collection contains one folder of records reflecting the concerns and actions of women at the Puget Sound Women's Peace Camp circa 1983-1984. Posters and fliers document anti-nuclear protests at the Boeing Cruise Missile Plant in Kent, Washington, and include the 1985 publication We Are Ordinary Women: A Chronicle of the Puget Sound Women's Peace Camp.

Audio recordings include copies of Chris Pastorino's lesbian radio show, produced by Western Washington University's KUGS station from the early 1980s through 1993. The collection also contains several oral history interviews conducted in conjunction with the Gay and Lesbian Archives project in 2001-2002.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

LGBTQ+ Manuscript Collection, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The LGBTQ+ Manuscript Collection is organized in accordance with the following series arrangement:

  1. Series I: Manuscripts, circa 1972-2001
  2. Series II: Audio Recordings, circa 1982-2002

Acquisition Information

The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies solicited archival materials for this collection in the course of the Gay and Lesbian Archives Project in 2001-2002. Several individuals donated materials relating to local LGBTQ+ history at the time of the project, with some additional gifts of archival material from community members made in subsequent years.

Processing Note

This collection was originally titled and described as the "Gay and Lesbian Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection".

Processing Note

To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialog on this topic), see our Statement About Potentially Harmful Language and Content

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and Subjects

Subject Terms

  • Antinuclear movement--Washington (State)--History--Sources.
  • Bisexuals--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Feminism and the arts--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Gay rights--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Gays--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Lesbians--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Oral history--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Women and peace--Washington (State)--History--Sources.
  • Women musicians--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Women's health services--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
  • Women's rights--Washington (State)--Whatcom County--History--Sources.
  • Women's shelters--Washington (State)--Bellingham--History--Sources.
  • Women--Political Activity--Washington (State)--History--Sources.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Interviews.
  • Records (Documents)


2007

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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