This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

Hidden Histories: Discovering Los Angeles' LGBTQ+ Collections

COPH Logo

This page is referenced by:

Lawrence de Graaf Center for Oral & Public History, California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) 31 plain 2024-04-05T14:37:08-07:00 33.88196627992692, -117.88851581360271
Established in 1968, the Lawrence de Graaf Center for Oral & Public History is a teaching, training, research, publication, and public service archive located at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF)'s Pollak Library. It contains more than 6,000 oral histories covering a wide range of people and topics from California and beyond.

LGBTQ+ topics and themes represented in the collections held by the Center for the Oral & Public History include Asian & AAPI LGBTQ+ people and LGBTQ+ activism.
Featured Collections
Los Angeles Gay Asian Pacific Community Oral History Project, 1997-1998
A series of oral histories with Asian and Asian American gay men in California. For more information on the collection, please contact the archive.
Grassroots Politics Oral History Project, 2010-2013
The Grassroots Oral History Project looks at the different and varying circumstances that lead individuals to take political action in their communities. This project emphasizes individual participation in the context of broad historical politics, movements, and events. This project also seeks to study why average citizens take action, how they label their activism, and how they alter or reinforce the common understanding of political engagement and activism.

Of particular note within this collection are the following LGBTQ+ oral histories:
Personal & Family Histories, 1968-2013
A series of oral histories centered around personal lives and family histories and connections of the narrators. For more information on the collection, please contact the archive.
Women, Politics, & Activism Project, circa 1960-present
The Women, Politics, and Activism Project (WPA) focuses on the political lives and actions of Southern California women. By recording women’s memories, we are demonstrating the myriad of ways women have participated in politics from formal, elected office to local community-based organizations. These oral histories highlight how as individuals and collectively women have made a difference in the types of policies enacted by county and municipal governments in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

Of particular note within this collection are the following Latinx LGBTQ+ oral histories:
Contact the Center for Oral & Public History
For more information about the Center for Oral & Public History's LGTBQ+ collections and holdings, including citation and copyright information, please contact Natalie Navar Garcia.

✉ Email: nngarcia@fullerton.edu
☎ Call: 657-278-3693

The Center for Oral & Public History is an L.A. as Subject member. For more information about L.A. as Subject, visit their website here.
Participants LA as Subject member institutions from across Southern California have joined with ONE and LAAS to collaborate on this project. To learn more about each institution and their LGBTQ+ collections, click on the images below.

California Historical Society
California State Library
Center for the Study of Political Graphics
The Clark Library
Center for Oral and Public History
California State University, Dominguez Hills, Gerth Archives and Special Collections
California State University, Northridge
FIDM Museum and Library