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Hidden Histories: Discovering Los Angeles' LGBTQ+ Collections Main Menu Hidden Histories: Discovering Los Angeles' LGBTQ+ Collections Welcome to Hidden Histories! Discovering Los Angeles' LGBTQ+ Collections! What is Hidden Histories? A partnership between ONE Archives at USC and L.A. as Subject, Hidden Histories' goal is to create a centralized resource of LGBTQ+ archival material for researchers and community members. Participating Institutions L.A. as Subject member institutions from across Southern California have joined with ONE and LAAS to collaborate on this project. Topical Guide Collections from participating institutions organized based on the subject or topic of the materials.

Ella Strong Denison Library, Scripps College

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Opened in 1931, the Ella Strong Denison Library at Scripps College is the oldest library at The Claremont Colleges. It functions as a non-circulating special collections library with spaces for study and research. Faculty collaborate with library staff to host classes in Denison Library so that students may engage with the library’s unique collections in a hands-on learning environment.

LGBTQ+ topics and themes represented in the collections held by the Denison Library include lesbians and transgender people.

Featured Materials

Greene (Joss) papers, 2009-2011

As a transgender man attending Scripps College in the early 2010s, Joss Greene's papers record a LGBTQIA+ history of Scripps and the Claremont Colleges, centered on campus activism and education. The collection highlights a greater political movement for queer and trans liberation, with material related to the protest against CA Prop 8, a petition to include a Queer Studies major at Scripps College, and art advocating for gender-neutral bathrooms on campus.

Scripps Senior Theses, 2002-present*

Collection of undergraduate senior theses by Scripps College students. Some theses of note include:

Abelove, "Coming Out of the Margins: LGBTI Activists in Costa Rica and Nicaragua," 2015
Gothard, "Trans Joy: A Transgender Perspective on Positive Psychology," 2023.
Zackery, "The Genre Formerly Known As Punk: A Queer Person of Color's Perspective on the Scene," 2014.

Scripps Underground: Exploring the Queer Histories of Scripps College*

This project by Melville Gilcrest (Scripps College alum, c/o 2019) brings together the voices of past and present generations of LGBTQ+ Scripps students using archival materials, interviews, and surveys.

The Voice, circa 1990s-present

Collection of Scripps College newspaper, The Voice.

*online materials available

Contact the Denison Library

For more information about the Denison Library's LGTBQ+ collections and holdings, including citation and copyright information, please contact Jennifer Martinez Wormser.

✉ Email: dension@scrippscollege.edu
☎ Call: 909-607-3941

The Denison Library is an L.A. as Subject member. For more information about L.A. as Subject, visit their website here.