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

Hidden Histories: Discovering Los Angeles' LGBTQ+ Collections

CSUDH Logo

This page is referenced by:

Gerth Archives & Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) The Gerth Archives & Special Collections at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) serves the research needs of the CSUDH community. The archives collects material across a wide range of academic disciplines and subjects, including correspondence, photographs, pamphlets, organizational records, and other material that documents vital and unique personal, business, or organizational history. The archives also collects materials on the history of CSUDH, the California State University System archives, and rare or special collections publications and born-digital materials.

LGBTQ+ topics and themes represented in the collections held by the Gerth Archives at CSUDH include gender non-conforming people and lesbians.
Featured Collections
B-E Collection: Lesbians & their Careers, 2021-2023*
This collection contains an ongoing series of oral history interviews of lesbians talking about their lives and includes discussions regarding childhood, family, careers and other employment opportunities, lesbian relationships and experiences with coming out, education, gender and sexual identity, friendships, hobbies, and other topics; as well as experiences with discrimination, sexual harassment, activism, affirmative action, and equal opportunity. View the finding aid for this collection here.
Drag Performance & Cross-Dressing resources collection, 1972-2005
This collection contains event flyers, programs, postcards, and ticket stubs mostly related to drag performance events, as well as a few flyers regarding cross-dressing support services. Included is material related to San Francisco's Imperial Court and founder, Jose Sarria- Empress I; Shirley Empress de San Francisco III; Collette LeGrande, Countess of San Francisco; Cockatielia for Empress; Angelina Josephina Manicotti for Grand Duchess; and others; as well as two postcards and a flyer related to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc.; and material for other events.
Hensley (David) LGBT magazine collection, 1953-2014
This collection consists of magazines, journals, and other material devoted to the gay and lesbian community. Included this collection are ONE Magazine and other publications of ONE, Inc., Mattachine Review, Tangents, and the Daughters of Bilitis publication, The Ladder, and other publications. Most were a part of the personal collection of David Hensley (b.1941), a lifetime resident of Los Angeles County. Hensley was a school librarian and teacher before retiring in 2001.
LGBTQ digital collection, 1970s-2000s*
Materials from the physical collections listed in this guide including the Pansy Division ephemera collection, the Drag performance and cross-dressing resources collection, the Transgender resources collection and the “Photos, Catalina Island, CAL" collection.
LGBTQ literature collection, 200+ titles
Authors include Gore Vidal, William S. Burroughs, Gertrude Stein, John Rechy, Thomas Mann, T.E. Lawrence, Paul Bowles James Purdy, W. H. Auden, John Addington Symonds, Andre Gide, Jean Genet, Jean Cocteau and many others. Collected by Walter Pomeroy.
LGBTQ publications collection, 1935-2022*
Publications dedicated to LGBTQ communities and issues have been in existence since the early twentieth century, but started to become more prevalent in the 1960s-1970s when there was an increase of activism and visibility in regard to the LGBTQ community. This collection, which spans decades, contains a wide variety of material devoted to the LGBTQ community from more prominent publications to lesser known and more obscure publications.
Lundon (Ace) collection, 1862-2013
Ace Lundon, previously named Adrian Raymond Lundberg, was born on August 1, 1936 in South Dakota. In 1974, he married actress Jean London but later divorced in 1974. Two years later, he was partnered with Patrick Algarin. The Ace Lundon Collection includes writings, letters, photographs, videotapes, posters, drawings, audiotapes, and ephemera from the Ace Lundon Estate. The majority of the collection contains material regarding Ace Lundon's life as an actor, singer, writer and businessman. This series contains 14 boxes of materials related to Ace Lundon's personal life, such as materials that were owned by Ace Lundon, Patrick Algarin, and the Lundberg Family such as a diary, letters, cassettes, floppy disks, CDs, photographs, and legal documents.
National Association of Black and White Men papers, 1982-2006
This collection contains meeting minutes; by-laws; strategic plan; chapter development manual; correspondence; memorandums; financial statements; resources lists; and newsletter issues of the National Association of Black and White Men Together. The National Association of Black and White Men Together (NABWMT) was a gay, multiracial, multicultural organization committed to fostering supportive environments wherein racial and cultural barriers can be overcome and the goal of human equality realized. The NABWMT is a collective nationwide network of affiliated and developing chapters in cities that identify themselves as Black and White Men Together (BWMT), Men of All Colors Together (MACT), or People of All Colors Together (PACT) in keeping with the cultural dynamics of their respective areas.
Pansy Division (rock band) ephemera collection, 2000-2013
This collection contains 37 flyers and one sticker regarding the gay rock band, "Pansy Division." Pansy Division formed in 1991 in San Francisco, CA as one of the first openly gay bands. As of 2022, they have released seven studio albums and have played close to 1,000 shows.
"Photos, Catalina Island, Cal," circa 1908
This collection contains one photograph album entitled "Photos, Catalina Island, Cal." The album contains fourteen black-and-white photographs and one postcard featuring images presumably taken on Santa Catalina Island of women cross-dressing and dressed in costumes and menswear; as well as portrait style images, and a picture of women sitting under a parasol. Also included is one Santa Catalina Island souvenir postcard dated 1908.
Price (Vivian) collection, 1970-2014*
This collection documents the academic and professional life of Dr. Vivian Price, a political scientist, videographer, and union electrician, who has played an active role in the labor and non-traditional women's occupation movement in Los Angeles. Materials include legal and business papers, labor union records, professional organization and conference materials, correspondence, newsletters, press releases, newspaper clippings, ephemera, lectures, miscellaneous academic papers, photographs, and videotapes.
Transgender resources collection, 1994-2019
This collection contains flyers, programs, informational resources, and a zine regarding support groups, organizations, and events by and for transgender people; as well as material related to topics such as healthcare and gender identity.
Williams (Pat) collection, 1895-2019*
This collection documents the academic and professional life of Pat Williams, a former union operating engineer and an advocate for women in trades. Materials in this collection include correspondence, personal papers, materials related to International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), newsletters, magazines and other documents collected from trades unions, materials concerning career development, materials regarding events and conferences, photographs, videocassettes, and ephemera.

*online materials available
Contact the Gerth Archives at CSUDH
For more information about the Gerth Archives at CSUDH's LGTBQ+ collections and holdings, including citation and copyright information, please contact the archives.

✉ Email: archives@csudh.edu
☎ Call: 310-243-3013

The Gerth Archives at CSUDH is an L.A. as Subject member. For more information about L.A. as Subject, visit their website here.