LGBTQ Librarians and Archivists
Libraries and archives are vital repositories of information and resources on the history and needs of a community. The LGBTQ community is unique in its history, and it relies on these institutions to preserve and present that history in an accessible, educational, and inspirational way.
Many of the individuals who have created or manage these institutions have a rich background in the LGBTQ community. Often they have been activists themselves. Some are strictly academic in their focus. Others are writers of notable books and articles which chronicle the development of the LGBTQ community both locally and internationally.
The needs of the LGBTQ community for the resources of libraries and archives evolve with the development of the community itself. In the early years they tend to be locally focused and organized. However, as the rights of the LGBTQ community become entrenched, national cultural and educational institutions and organizations develop separate task forces, staff groups, catalogues, exhibitions, collections, and repositories focused specifically on LGBTQ material.
Of course, not all LGBTQ individuals in this profession focus solely on the needs of the LGBTQ community. Many have wide expertise applied to large organizations.
We have identified a number of LGBTQ individuals whose efforts, either historically or today, focus specifically on the development of libraries and archives:
- Dawn Airey, Great Britain - media expert and Board Member, The British Library
- Madeline Davis, United States - Founder, GLBT Archives of Western New York
- Joseph Hawkins, United States - Director of the ONE Archives, the largest LGBTQ collection in the world
- Jeannette Howard Foster, United States - librarian and professor in lesbian literature
- Harlan Greene, United States - Head of Special Collections, Addlestone Library
- James Hormel, United States - established the J.C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library
- Claudie Lesselier, France - Lesbian Cultural Research Archives
- Rafael Arevalo Martinez, Guatemala - Director, Guatemala National Library
- Timothy Naftali, United States - Director of the Tamiment Library at New York University; former Director, Richard Nixon Presidential Library
- Joan Nestle, United States - Co-Founder, Lesbian Herstory Archives
- Pope Sixtus IV, Rome - founder of the Vatican Library and Vatican Archives
- Jennifer Pritzker, United States - founded Pritzker Military Library
- Graeme Reid, South Africa - Founding Director, Gay & Lesbian Archives of South Africa
- Wilhelm von Rosen, Denmark - Senior Researcher, Danish National Archives, and LGBTQ historian
- Robert Thompson, Great Britain - Chair, Lesbian & Gay Newsmedia Archives
- Robert Windrum, Canada - President, Canadian Gay & Lesbian Archives
- Sylvia Woodbridge Beach, United States - founded Shakespeare & Co, a lending library
