Hidden Histories: Discovering Los Angeles' LGBTQ+ Collections

The Claremont Colleges Special Collections & Archives

The Claremont Colleges Special Collections & Archives is the library’s principal repository for print and manuscript primary sources. The collections number nearly 200,000 volumes and more than 11,000 linear feet of a diverse array of literary and historical manuscripts, personal papers, and college archives that span more than 900 years of human history. The collections are available for research, teaching, and study in person, and, increasingly, digitally in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library.

LGBTQ+ topics and themes represented in the collections held by the Claremont Colleges Special Collections & Archives include gay men and lesbians.

Featured Collections

Claremont Colleges oral history collection, 2017-2019
This collection contains the coursework produced by students of the Claremont Colleges' oral history classes. Currently, the collection contains materials from the oral history courses at Claremont Graduate University. Of particular note is Morgan Goodman's 2017 interview with queer, Mad, femme of color author and professor, Shayda Kafai. 
Claremont Colleges Special Collections zine collection, 1980-2014
This collection contains zines created in California. LGBTQ+ zines include Baitline, Factsheet Five — Bi-Lifestyle, Queer Zine Explosion, and six gay male spanking zines by Control T Studios.
Claremont Colleges Vertical Files
This collection contains announcements, flyers, programs, and other promotional material concerning the LGBTQ+ community and Queer Resource Center of the Claremont Colleges. 
Claremont COVID-19 Archive, 2020-2021
This collection contains interviews with students at the Claremont Colleges about their experiences at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews of specific relevance to the LGTBQ+ community include Harel and Duflock's interview of Alessia Zanobini, and Hernandez's interview of Angel Ornelas.
Davis (Angela) materials, 1970-1972
This collection contains 27 pamphlets, books and related ephemera concerning the imprisonment and trial of Angela Davis, published during and immediately after her 18-month incarceration. The materials illustrate the efforts of several Free Angela Davis support groups in spreading her story and raising funds for her defense. The books and pamphlets generally describe the events surrounding Davis's trial, including opening and closing statements, questionable legal wrangling, and pledges of support from political, African-American, and international communities; one pamphlet written in German and another a translation from a German politician.
Feminist Publications collection, 1961-1978, and undated
Feminist publications such as comics, magazines, and pamphlets. Some of the queer material represented includes an issue of "Women" magazine on androgyny, a biographical pamphlet on Dr. Angela Y. Davis, and directories of local and national feminist and queer organizations.
Humphreys (Laud) papers, 1969-1980
Personal records of priest and sociologist Robert Allan Humphreys, more commonly known as Laud Humphreys. His research focused on the "Tearoom Trade," otherwise known as "cottaging." Humphreys came out as gay in 1974 and went on to found the Sociologists' Gay Caucus.
Japanese Women's Contemporary Artist Zines
This collection consists of 124 zines, all created by young female Japanese artists. These publications represent the entire output of the "Feminine" show—an exhibition of zines curated by Tokyo store Zine's Mate, presented exclusively at the 2011 New York Art Book Fair. This collection reflects an important trend in underground print publishing among young women in Japan, and captures the zeitgeist of an exploding cultural phenomenon.
Leonelli (Elisa) photographs and essays, 1973-2017*
Photographs, negatives, slides, and supplemental material by photojournalist Elisa Leonelli. Of particular note are the folders "Gary Essert, American Cinematheque (1985)" and "Lavender Fair; Gay parades: San Francisco, West Hollywood (1974-1979)." View the finding aid for this collection here.
Outspoken: A Six-College Queer Publication
Unbroken run of Outspoken, a publication by LGBTQ+ students across the Claremont Colleges.
Radical Newspaper collection
This collection is comprised of primarily broken runs of radical newspapers. Of particular relevance is Altar Native Sun, Issue 2 which contains an interview regarding the gay liberation movement in Santa Barbara.
Social Movements collection, 1938-2018
This collection is made up of materials from multiple social movements throughout the 20th century. The LGBTQIA+ materials series spans 1971-1991 and includes issues of Black Lesbian Newsletter (later known as Onyx), the Los Angeles Gay Community Alliance's news magazine Lewd Conduct, pamphlets from the Silicon Valley queer tech organization "High Tech Gays," and a flier for the First Annual Latino Female Impersonators Beauty Pageant in Los Angeles.
Scott (Tony) collection of Alice B. Toklas and Thornton Wilder
Tony Scott carried on a lively and long correspondence with Alice B. Toklas, author and partner of Gertrude Stein, from the time he left Paris in 1946 until her death in 1967. Over the years of their friendship, Scott sent her manuscripts of several novels and plays he'd written, and her 35 letters are full of advice, admiration, and support for his creative work. Toklas introduced Scott to the playwright Thornton Wilder, who was posthumously outed as a gay man. Wilder's 23 letters to Scott are full of advice, as well as anecdotes about the productions of Wilder's works in New York and other places. Scott's unpublished 'memoir' about Wilder relates their meeting and friendship in detail.

Books and Manuscripts

Browder, Clifford. The Pleasuring of Men. Arlington, Virginia: Gival Press, 2011.

“In New York City in the late 1860s, Tom Vaughan, a respectably raised young man, chooses to become a male prostitute servicing the city's affluent elite, then falls in love with Walter Whiting, a renowned scholar and lecturer who proves to be his most difficult client” (text from cover). Author is alumnus of Pomona College, class of 1950.  

Bumgarner, Sean, Josh Wolff, Alan Lopez, and Lanetta Smyth, eds. Square Pegs: Queer Youth Zine. Vol. Issue 1, V.1. Santa Cruz, Calif: Equinox, 1995.

Zine of poetry, essays, short fiction and art from queer youth in mid-90s Santa Cruz, California. Covers topics such as racial fetishization, bisexual erasure, religious trauma and fat reclamation in the queer community. 

Burton, Richard Francis, and John Addington Symonds. Terminal Essay to "the Thousand and One Nights". London, 1901.

"Richard Burton's ten-volume translation of the The Arabian Nights was followed by a 'Terminal Essay' addressing a number of interpretative issues. Section D addressed "pederasty". Although Burton is careful to use words like "vice" and "inversion", this essay represents one of the earliest modern efforts to collect and make know both cross-cultural and historical information about "homosexuality" (a word not used by Burton)” (text from Fordham University). Claremont Colleges Special Collections copy is no. 40.  

Carlquist, Sherwin John. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Pinecone Press.

Books and manuscripts by botanist, photographer, and Claremont Graduate University professor Sherwin John Carlquist. Holdings primarily include books of erotic male photography, as well as an anti-circumcision publication and a book of gay fiction.  

Chevalier Publications. Double Switch. Los Angeles, Calif.: Chevalier Publications, 1964.

"A masculine woman and a feminine man cross-dress and assume opposite-gender roles, meet at work, and fall in love" (text from library record). Claremont Colleges Special Collections copy in illustrated paper wrappers. 

Darling, Candy, and Hanuman Books. Candy Darling. Edited by Jeremiah Newton, Raymond Foye, and Francesco Clemente. Madras, India: Hanuman Books, 1992.

“These works published are taken from Candy Darling’s journals of 1970, 1971, 1972” (text from Introduction). 10 centimeters.  

Erickson Educational Foundation. Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Erickson Educational Foundation.  

Six pamphlets and one book concerning trans* people, distributed by the Erickson Educational Foundation. The Erickson Educational Foundation was founded by Reed Erickson, a trans man who underwent gender-affirming surgery in 1965.  

Ginsberg, Allen, Larry R Collins, and Bill Morgan. Old Love Story. First ed. New York: Lospecchio Press, 1986.

Poem advocating for the rights of gay [male] couples. Illustrations by Larry R. Collins are mounted throughout. Claremont Colleges Special Collections copy is signed by Ginsberg and Collins; no. 3 out of 150.  

​​​Lee, Kang Seung, Jen Hutton, Alice Lang, Beatriz Cortez, Gina Osterloh, Jennifer Moon, Lecia Dole-Recio, et al. Untitled: (Artspeak?). California: self-published, 2015.

"Untitled (Artspeak?) came from a desire to create a critical/queer history of art. . .In order to challenge this narrow, and often colonial perspective, I invited a number of collaborators with very diverse backgrounds (female, black, queer, immigrant, etc.) and asked them to "edit" one page of the timeline section of the book. . .The results are poster-sized drawings (made by me, edited by them) that become portraits of the collaborators, and that speak about margins, interpretation, rewriting, labor, etc” (text from Kang Seung Lee). Claremont Colleges Special Collections copy is no. 167 of 200.  

Murdoch, Royal. The Disrobing: Sex and Satire. Edited by Winston Leyland. First ed. San Francisco: Gay Sunshine Press, 1982.

Comedic and satirical poetry about gay male sex and relationships. Claremont Colleges Special Collections copy has three items about Royal Murdoch laid in.  

Murdoch, Royal. Chills and Fevers: Poems and Letters. Budleigh Salterton: Interim, 1985.

Poems and letters by Royal Murdoch. 

Pearson, Carol Lynn. The Hero's Journey of the Gay & Lesbian Mormon. Walnut Creek, Calif.: Pivot Point Books, 2012.

“This book is an invitation for gay people to see their difference not as a defect, but as a calling to travel a new territory and bring a new gift to their Tribe” (text from library record). Claremont Colleges Special Collections copy has printing line down to 1, indicating a first printing; author inscription. 

Pomona College (Claremont, Calif.) Museum of Art. Allied against Aids: A Zine Project. Edited by Benjamin Kersten and Janet Inskeep Benton. Claremont, Calif.: Pomona College Museum of Art, 2014.

"This zine was done with the lives of those affected by acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in mind. This zine is to say that AIDS has not been solved and does not exist only in certain parts of the world. It is to show that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) does not differentiate based on race, class, gender, sexual orientation, or ability” (text from page 1).  

[Unidentified author(s)]. LGBTQ Voices: A Mini Poetry Anthology in Honor of Stonewall Remembrance Days. Joshua Tree, California: Space Cowboy Books, 2017.

Poetry zine to remember Stonewall and acknowledge the continued struggle of the LGBTQ+ community. 

*online materials available

Contact the Claremont Colleges Special Collections & Archives

For more information about the Claremont Colleges Special Collections & Archives' LGTBQ+ collections and holdings, including citation and copyright information, please contact the reference desk.

✉ Email: specialcollections@claremont.edu
☎ Call: 909-607-3977

The Claremont Colleges Special Collections & Archives is an L.A. as Subject member. For more information about L.A. as Subject, visit their website here.

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