MASSACHUSETTS
 

Amherst College Library
and Marshall Bloom Collection
Location: Amherst College
Amherst, MA 01002
Address: Box 2256
Amherst College
P.O. Box 5000
Amherst, MA 01002-5000
Phone: (413) 542-2299
Contact: Archivist
Email: archives@amherst.edu
Internet address:http://www.amherst.edu/library/archives
Hours: Mon-Fri: 9 am - 12 pm, 1-4 pm
Wheelchair Access: yes
History
Amherst College was founded in 1821. Marshall Bloom graduated in 1966, and shortly thereafter, he founded the Liberation News Service. The Bloom Alternative Press collection consists primarily of the archival copies of underground newspapers from LNS (they required all subscribers to send copies of publications using LNS material; the collection is therefore national in scope).
Information about holdings
Printed material: Library: 1700 volumes, 20 periodical titles; Bloom: 110 periodical titles; Special Collections: 20 periodical titles, 400 paperbacks.
Film/Video/Sound: Library: 50 videos, 20 sound recordings
Other holdings/notes: Archives: 6 theses

Collecting interests
Additions of similar material not already held (i.e., new underground titles and missing issues from titles already held).
Use requirements
Archives/Special Collections materials must be used in the Archives and Special Collections reading room.

Comments about access/use:
The underground newspapers are stored in a remote facility and must be requested at least one day prior to use.
Services
Research space, copying, audiovisual facilities, exhibitions, reference assistance on site, telephone reference, Internet reference (email/web), and borrowing privileges for individuals.

Other services/notes:
Research space: only while actively using materials in our collection (i.e., not general study space or places where people can store their books from one day to the next).
Copying: we will make photocopies of anything that a) can physically tolerate it without damage and b) can legally be copied.
Borrowing: Special Collections and Archives materials do not circulate; books from the main library collection do circulate.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
Guide: DeSantis, John, and Jaquith, Matthew V., compilers. Gay and Lesbian Materials in the Amherst College Library: A Bibliography. Amherst, Mass., 1994.
 
 

Archive Project
Address: 317 Pleasant St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Phone: (413) 585-0369
Contact: Phil Gauthier, archivist
Email: gokey3@hotmail.com
Hours: By appointment only.
Wheelchair Access: site is not accessible, but archivist will bring materials to an accessible site by request.
History
The Archive Project started ca.1991 as an outgrowth of the two local ACT UP and Queer Nation chapters. Initially, it held organizational and subject files related to these two groups. As both organizations grew in size, the archive expanded its purpose by collecting materials relating to local gay organizations and the Northampton Pride March. A news photocopy archive was set up for local gay events, and HIV/AIDS-related information and organizations. Eventually folks in the community started donating items, such as national periodicals, gay men's erotica, buttons, T-shirts and organizational files of groups that disbanded.
Information about holdings
Manuscripts: 4 standard file drawers
Organizational records: 7 standard file drawers
Printed material: approx. 300 books; 7 large boxes gay men's erotica; 10 large boxes periodicals.
Clippings/vertical files: 2 boxes AIDS journals/reports; 2 large boxes unsorted clippings (1990-present); 3 ft. photocopies of newsclippings.
Objects/ephemera: 200 buttons; 8 t-shirts.
Film/Video/Sound: 6-10 videos

Time periods/geographical regions documented:
1969-present, mostly post-1988. Pioneer Valley of Western Mass, especially Northampton-Amherst area. Some general northeastern U.S.

Significant People/organizations/subjects documented:
People: Phil Gauthier (1980-present), Sam Gianneli. Organizations: ACT UP Western Mass. (1990-94), Queer Nation (ca.1990-94), Pride March Committee (1981-96), Pioneer Valley GLB Youth (1991-present), PWA Coalition of W. Mass. (1989-1990), Dignilife (an AIDS organization, 1987-ca.1990), and Valley Gay Alliance.
Subjects: local gay events, HIV/AIDS. As an outgrowth of the archivist's personal interest, subject files relating to Radical Faeries and Needle Exchange are extensive.
Periodicals include: Metroline, Gay Community News, Outweek, Advocate, Valley Women's Voice, Outlook, VWV, Outright families, Queer Noho, Lesbian Calendar, Gay Men's Calendar, VGA Gayzette, RFD, Faeriegram, and Draghead.
Collecting interests
Materials relating to the growth of the gay communities of Western Mass. and community and institutional responses to the AIDS crisis. Also materials documenting Radical Faerie community in the U.S., and local periodicals, especially missing issues of above mentioned titles.
Use requirements
Call ahead to arrange to view the collection.
Services
Research space, copying, audiovisual facilities, exhibitions, reference assistance on site, Internet reference (email/web), and borrowing privileges for individuals.

Other services/notes:
Copying services must be arranged; VCR and tape deck available. Internships are available.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
The collection is not indexed, although filing is by subject. Some periodicals are cataloged.

 
Bear History Project 
Address: Nashoba Institute, Inc.
P.O. Box 926
Fitchburg, MA 01420
Phone: (978) 343-4631
Contact: Dr. Les Wright
Email: curator@bearhistory.com
Website: http://www.bearhistory.com
Collecting areas: Bears, gay masculinity, non-hegemonic masculinity, art, iconography of bears. The Human Sexuality Collection at Cornell is our archival repository.

The History Project:
Documenting Lesbian and Gay Boston
Address: c/o Cambridge Women's Center
46 Pleasant St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: (617) 557-1082 Fax: (617) 354-8807
Contact: Libby Bouvier (phone/fax)
Email: info@historyproject.org
Internet address:  http://www.historyproject.org
Hours: By appointment only.
Wheelchair Access: First floor is wheelchair accessible. Materials housed on upper floors can be brought downstairs.
History
Founded February 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts. Incorporated July 1981.
Information about holdings
Organizational records: 16 cubic ft. (10 of BALGHP/OBHEF; 6 of other Boston-area groups/orgs.)
Printed material: 250+ titles; reference only
Clippings/vertical files: 3 ft.
Objects/ephemera: 1000 items
Film/Video/Sound: 3 ft.
Photographs: 6 ft; also slides
Other holdings/notes: Computer disks of exhibit: "Public Faces/Private Lives"

Time periods/geographical regions documented:
1940s to the present in the greater Boston area.

Significant People/organizations/subjects documented:
Lesbians and gay men pre-Stonewall era (oral histories and photos); history of gay men and lesbians in Boston and beginnings of lesbian and gay scholarship; bar culture; passing women; early homophile organizations (1950s-1974); extensive database of post-1968 lesbian and gay groups/organizations.
Collecting interests
In the process of locating permanent storage space, which will enable us to accept new acquisitions.
Use requirements
None.
Services
Research space, copying, reference assistance on site, telephone reference, and loan agreements for exhibits.

Other services/notes:
Exhibit "Public Faces/Private Lives" available for rental or loan.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
Entries for all collections currently housed in the Cambridge Women's Center are currently being entered into NUCMC. A finding aid for the Records of the Boston Area Lesbian and Gay History Project is available at the Cambridge Women's Center, 46 Pleasant St., Cambridge.
News about collections
New collections are listed in the Women's Center newsletter, including materials on temporary deposit. Also, Our Boston Heritage distributes press releases.

Northeastern University Library
Archives and Special Collections Department
Location: 92 Snell Library
360 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02115
Phone:  (617) 373-2351
Fax:  (617) 373-5409
Contact:  Joan Krizack
E-mail:  archives@neu.edu
Web page:  http://www.lib.neu.edu/archives
Wheelchair Access: Yes
Information about holdings
The collection contains organizational records, clippings, objects and ephemera, film, video, sound, photographs, and microfilm from the 1970's - 1990's.

Significant People/organizations/subjects documented
Aids Action Committee
Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus
Bromfield St. Education Foundation
        Gay Community News
        Outwrite Writers Conference
        The Prisoner's Project
Student Homophile League and other partial collections of early homophile organizations.

Collecting interests
Northeastern is actively collecting lgbt organizational records.
Comments about access/use
Restrictions may be set by donors, otherwise not restricted.  Access is the same as for non-lgbt collections.
Services
Research space, copying, audivisual facilities, exhibitions, reference assistance.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
Finding aids are mounted on the web when they are complete.
News about collections
News releases on website
 
 
 

Schlesinger Library
on the History of Women in America
Location: Radcliffe College
10 Garden Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: (617) 495-8647 Fax: (617) 496-8340
Email: slref@radcliffe.edu
Internet address:  http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles/
Hours: Mon-Fri: 9 am - 5 pm. Some evening hours. Call for current schedule.
Wheelchair Access: yes
History
The Schlesinger Library was founded as the Women's Archives in 1943, when Radcliffe alumna Maud Wood Park (1898) donated her papers relating to the woman suffrage movement. In 1967 the library was renamed the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America to honor historians Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger. The library's collections have grown to over 50,000 books and hundreds of periodical titles, as well as thousands of shelf feet of manuscript collections.
Holdings summary
The library holds mostly 19th and 20th century books, periodicals, and manuscript collections; LGBT-related manuscript materials cover ca.1930 - present.
Note: the following collections (ca.180 linear ft.) include papers of self-identified lesbians and women whose primary relationships seem to have been with other women, as well as papers of others that contain LGBT-related materials.
Lura Beam: 2 ft. (1900-1969)
Susan Bolotin: .5 ft. (1982-1983), unknown amount of LBGT-related materials.
Louise Bosworth: 4 ft. (1881-1982)
Lesbian activist Charlotte Bunch: 7 ft. (1950-1988)
Labor education expert Eleanor Coit: 1.5 ft. (1894-1971)
COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics): ca.40 folders of LBGT-related materials (1962-1989)
Daughters of Bilitis Cambridge (Mass.): 1 ft. (1974-1986); temporarily closed.
Lesbian writer and activist Barbara Deming: 30 ft. (1908-1985)
Birth control advocate Mary Ware Dennett: 4 folders of LBGT-related material (1894-1948)
Advisor to F.D.R. Molly Dewson, and Polly Porter: 1 ft. and 3 reels microfilm (1861-1962)
Sculptor Harriet Hosmer: 2.5 ft. (1830-1908)
Photographer Bettye Lane: 58 LBGT-related photographs (1969-1981)
Robin Ruth Linden: .25 ft. and 9 videotapes (1978-1983)
Frieda S. Miller: 6.5 ft. (1909-1973). See also Pauline Newman.
Letters to Ms. Magazine: 4 folders of LBGT-related materials (1972-1980)
Mass. Society for Social Health: 2 folders of LBGT-related materials (1947-1956)
Writer, lawyer, activist for African American and women's rights, Episcopal Priest Pauli Murray: 59 ft. (1827-1985)
N.O.W. (National Organization for Women): 42 folders, 6 videotapes, and 7 audiotapes of LBGT-related materials (1975-1988)
Singer/songwriter Holly Near: 10 ft. (1974-1991)
Advocate for the rights of women workers Pauline Newman: 6 ft. (1903-1982). See also Frieda S. Miller.
Lesbian writer Adrienne Rich: 12 ft. (1933-1984)
Sharonah Robinson: 2 folders of LBGT-related materials (1956-1985)
Activist Rochelle Ruthchild: 1.5 ft. (1966-1980)
Flora Belle Surles: .25 ft. (1917-1973)
Alice B. Toklas: 1 folder (1934-1954)
Prison reformer Miriam Van Waters: 27 ft. (1861-1971). See also Anna Gladding collection.
"Visible for a Change" exhibit records: 1 ft.
Winnifred Wygal: .25 ft. (1916-1972), unknown amount of LBGT-related materials.
Collecting interests
Anything that falls into our collecting scope will be considered: U.S. women (primarily 19th and 20th century), social activism, social welfare and reform, employment, the professions, suffrage, labor, women's rights, government, politics, education, medicine/health, and the family.
Use requirements
Open to the public; photo ID and registration required.

Comments about access/use:
Noncirculating.
Services
Research space, copying, audiovisual facilities, exhibitions, reference assistance on site, telephone reference, and loan agreements for exhibits.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
All holdings are cataloged in HOLLIS (Harvard's online public access catalog); manuscripts are cataloged in RLIN; finding aids for some collections are in National Inventory of Documentary Sources (NIDS); finding aids for all collections are available from the library (fee charged for photocopying and postage). Books on lesbian, gay and bisexual issues are also listed in a bibliography available on the web site or from the library.
News about collections
Newsletter mentions notable acquisitions on all topics.
 
 

Sexual Minorities Archives
/New Alexandria Lesbian Library
Location: Private home
Address: P.O. Box 60402,
Florence, MA 01062
Phone: (413) 584-7616
Contact: Bet Power
E-mail: betpower@yahoo.com
Hours: By appointment only on week nights and weekends. Call or write a week in advance.
Wheelchair Access: yes, by request
History
Founded as New Alexandria Lesbian Library in Chicago, Ill., on July 12, 1974, as part of the lesbian Feminist Center there. In 1977 Bet Power became the curator; she moved the collection to western Massachusetts in 1979. On January 1, 1992, the collection was expanded and renamed the Sexual Minorities Archives.
Information about holdings
Manuscripts: ca.50 collections
Organizational records: ca.100 boxes
Printed material: 3,000 items (660 periodicals sets; 200 signed volumes, first editions, or rare books)
Clippings/vertical files: 10 4-drawer file cabinets
Objects/ephemera: ca.1,000
Film/Video/Sound: several hundred titles
Photographs: thousands
Other holdings/notes: approx. 100 pieces of art; 300 comic books.

Time periods/geographical regions documented:
Early 1900s to present; bulk is 1930s to present. Covers entire USA, with some international materials. Strongest regions represented: Chicago, IL and Northampton, MA.

Significant People/organizations/subjects documented:
Documents the lives of all sexual minorities (lesbians, bisexuals, gay men, transgendered people, S/M leatherfolk, fetishists). Significant holdings: Lesbian Feminist Center archives, Chicago, IL late 1960's to 1977; Womonfyre Books archives, including partial archives of the Common Womon Club, Northampton, MA, 1970's to late-1980's; SHELIX archives (Lesbian, BiWomen, and Transgender S/M group) late 1970's to early 1990's, Northampton, MA; East Coast Female-to-Male Group (ECFTMG) archives, 1992 to present, Northampton, MA
Collecting interests
All sexual minorities, especially (but not exclusively) US; individuals and organizations.
Use requirements
Free access to all sexual minority individuals and supporters.
Services
Research space, copying, reference assistance on site, and telephone reference.

Other services/notes:
Also video rental service. Copying is done overnight by staff only.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
Card catalog for basic collection; some indices to lesbian periodicals (The Ladder and Lesbian Periodicals Index); indices to portions of the collection (e.g., Black lesbians and lesbian separatism). All indices in print format.
 
 

Smith College Archives
Location: Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
Address: Alumnae Gym of William Allen Neilson Library
Phone: 413-585-2970 Fax: 413-585-2886
Email: archives@library.smith.edu
Internet address:   http://www.smith.edu/libraries/libs/archives
Hours: M-F: 9 am - 5 pm; some Sundays during academic year (summer hours: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm). Reading room and exhibits, M-F: 8:30 am - 5 pm (summer hours: 9:30 am - 4:30 pm).
Wheelchair Access: yes
History
In 1921 Smith College officially appointed its first archivist although the college had been collecting records as early as 1908. The holdings grew into a "college history collection," consisting in large part of the materials that students created while they attended Smith, and, in much lesser amounts, official records of the college. In the 1980s the archives began a records program to bring in college office records, while continuing to collect student material and faculty papers.
Holdings summary
LBGT-related material, in broad categories, 1860s to the present:
- student letters (written home to family and friends) and journals/diaries describe crushes/smashes, female friendships, LBGT activity on campus (scattered over 100 sets of letters and journals);
- student publications include articles about crushes/smashes, female friendships, LBGT activity on campus (scattered);
- student organization records (e.g. Lesbian Bisexual Alliance), ca.3 ft.;
- faculty papers document female friendships, Boston marriages, and lesbian relationships (scattered through ca.5-10 collections of papers);
- administrative records and college publications document administration policies, practices, and public relations toward LBGT issues (scattered); and
- alumnae publications: includes articles in Smith Alumnae Quarterly and LBGT alumnae group newsletters.
Formats include manuscripts, organizational records, printed material, vertical files, audiovisual material, photographs, and microfilm.
Collecting interests
Official records of the college; records of student, faculty, and other college-related organizations; records of alumnae; faculty and major administrators' papers; papers of alumnae (from their student days only); other records which record or describe college activities and events. Full Acquisitions Policy available from the archivist.
Use requirements
Open to all interested users who fill out the registration form and agree to follow the rules.

Comments about access/use:
Some portions of some collections are closed due to donation agreements, college policy, or state or federal law; this may include LBGT material.
Services
Research space, copying, exhibitions, reference assistance on site, telephone reference, Internet reference (email/web), loan agreements for exhibits.
Other services/notes:
Borrowing is non-circulating, and is generally available to administrative staff only. Copying services are limited.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
Shelflist; selected finding aids to faculty papers, student letters and diaries lists; selected indices; and card catalog.
News about collections
The Smith College Libraries' newsletter reports on specific additions. The annual report is not a public document.
 
 

Sophia Smith Collection
Location: Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
Phone: (413) 585-2970 Fax: (413) 585-2886
Contacts: Sherill Redmon - donations and events; Amy Hague - reference; Susan Barker - photograph orders.
Email: ssc-wmhist@smith.edu
Internet address:  http://libraries.smith.edu/ssc
Hours: Mon-Fri: 10 am - 5 pm; some Sundays. Reading room and exhibits, Mon-Fri: 8:30 am -5 pm.
Wheelchair Access: yes
History
Founded in 1942 as a collection of works by women writers, the scope was expanded to document the lives and activities of women. The collection was renamed in honor of the founder of Smith College, in 1946.
Holdings summary
As a whole, the Sophia Smith Collection documents the U.S., especially New England, 1863-1994.
Note: the following collections (204 ft.) include avowed lesbians and women who are known to have lived their lives in the companionship of other women, in some cases one lifelong companion.
Louise Stevens Bryant (1885-1956) 7 ft.: a social welfare and public health specialist; includes excerpts of letters Lura Beam received from Bryant, a copy of Beam's biography of Bryant, and related correspondence.
Noel Phyllis Birkby (ca. 1930s-90s) 72 ft.: architect, artist, and lesbian feminist activist.
Eleanor Coit (1913-74) 13 ft.: workers' education specialist and writer.
Florence Hollis and Rosemary Reynolds (1863-1987) 25 ft.: social workers; Hollis and Reynolds were life companions.
Rhoda McCulloch (1880s-1978): Y.W.C.A. worker and editor; collection includes papers of her longtime companion, Henrietta Roelofs.
Ruth Mellor (1927-70) 1 ft.: social worker; collection contains personal correspondence referring to her relationships with women, ca. 1928-29.
Vida Scudder (1884-1979) 1 ft.: author, editor, and social settlement worker.
Grace Spofford (1917-1991) 11 ft.: music educator; includes papers of Elizabeth Coulson.
Ellen Gates Starr (1806-1991) 11 ft.: co-founder of Hull House; includes letters from Jane Addams to Starr.
Alice Morgan Wright (1880s-1978) 6 ft.: sculptor and suffragist and advocate of animal welfare, women's rights, and peace. Collection includes papers of Wright's companion, Edith Goode.
Mary van Kleeck (1883-1984) 56 ft.: social researcher and industrial sociologist. Her companion was Mary Fledderus. Mostly professional papers.
The Sophia Smith Collection also holds the following organizational records and vertical files.
The Lesbian Calendar (ca.1985-1994) 6 ft.: office files of the Northampton-based newsletter, subject files, periodicals, clippings re: lesbian/gay-related interests, posters, flyers, and files of LOGS (Lesbians of Greater Springfield) newsletter (ca.1985-86). Unprocessed.
Ms. Magazine (ca. 1970-1987; not all GLBT-related) 243 ft.: editorial files include letters, article submissions, fiction, and special issues re: lesbian and gay issues. Unprocessed/restricted.
Vertical files (51+ ft; not all GLBT-related)
Homosexuality collection: (ca. 1984-present) 1 ft.: clippings, articles, pamphlets, memorabilia, and selected issues of periodicals
Women's liberation collection (ca.1950s-80s; not all GLBT-related) ca. 50 ft.: printed material, biographical material, memorabilia, and selected records of lesbian and feminist organizations and activities.
See also periodical collection, including Amazon Quarterly, The Ladder, The Furies, Sinister Wisdom, and others; also secondary sources in reference collection.
Collecting interests
Reproductive rights and birth control, women's rights, the contemporary women's movement, lesbian life and culture, U.S. women working abroad, working women and women in the labor movement.
Use requirements
Photo ID.

Comments about access/use:
Non-circulating.
Services
Research space, copying, audiovisual facilities, exhibitions, reference assistance on site, telephone reference, Internet reference (email/web), and loan agreements for exhibits.

Other services/notes:
Research appointments, class presentations.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
Finding aids are available for all collections described above; in some cases box lists only are available. Holdings gradually being made available in the Five College online catalog; OCLC; older collections in NUCMC. Published catalogs also available.
News about collections
Important additions listed in Sophia Smith Collection Annual Report and newsletter, Smith College Libraries' newsletter, and on the Sophia Smith Collection website.
 
 

Women's Movement Archives
Location: Cambridge Women's Center
46 Pleasant St.
Cambridge, MA 02139
Phone: (617) 354-8807
Contact: Libby Bouvier; Betty Furdon
Hours: By appointment.
Wheelchair Access: First floor is wheelchair accessible. Materials housed on upper floors can be brought downstairs.
History
Founded in 1981 to preserve the records of grass-roots Boston area feminist organizations and groups, the Women's Movement Archives is part of the Women's Education Center, Inc. (Women's Center).
Information about holdings
Organizational records: 25+ collections
Printed material: 3000+ titles
Clippings/vertical files: 15 ft.
Objects/ephemera: 500+ items
Film/Video/Sound: 25+ items
Photographs: 4 ft, also slides
Other holdings/notes: 400+ reel-to-reel tapes

Time periods/geographical regions documented:
1968-present; primarily greater Boston area.

Significant People/organizations/subjects documented:
The archival collection includes records of Bread and Roses; Female Liberation; The Abortion Action Coalition; Sister Courage; Somerville (Mass.) Women's Center; The Boston Women's Music Collective; The Cambridge Women's Center and affiliated projects (the Women's School, Lesbian Liberation, Women Against Violence Against Women); and papers of many women who have been active locally (as well as nationally) in feminist and lesbian-feminist movements. Significant number of women in these groups are self-identified lesbians and there is material throughout all of the collections documenting lesbians and bisexual women.
The (non-circulating) library holds books on such topics as feminist theory, women's history, poetry, women of color, fiction, autobiographies, and biographies. There is also a collection of 400 volumes on lesbian and gay history and culture. Periodical collection includes such titles as: Sojourner, Sister Courage, Signs, Conditions, Sinister Wisdom, and Off Our Backs, as well as newsletters from community women's groups, rape crisis centers, political action groups, women's centers, and battered women's shelters. The vertical file collection consists of flyers, brochures, articles, position papers, and newspaper clippings on subjects ranging from abortion struggles to women in revolution.
Collecting interests
Materials that document women's lives/activities/organizations. Any time period, though focus is 1960-present. Geographical concentration is Boston area.
Use requirements
By appointment.
Services
Research space, copying, audiovisual facilities, reference assistance on site, telephone reference, and loan agreements for exhibits.

Other services/notes:
No audio equipment; have VCR. Copying facilities are limited.
Indices, finding aids, collection descriptions
Finding aids to most of the collections available for use in the archives and copies can be reproduced for researchers. Entries for all archival collections currently being entered into NUCMC.
News about collections
Women's Center quarterly newsletter and annual reports include summaries of archives activities (including new acquisitions, number of researchers, etc.)

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