Gay archives, said to be nation's largest, to be given to USC
The ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, which is said to be the nation’s largest collection of historic material and books related to homosexual and transgender life, is being donated to USC’s library system, officials announced Thursday. The collection has been housed rent-free in a USC-owned building near the Los Angeles campus on West Adams Boulevard for the last decade but had been considered an independent entity until now.
Joseph Hawkins, president of ONE’s directors, said his organization decided to give the collection to USC to ensure it a permanent home and take advantage of the university’s preservation resources. “This protects it in a way we couldn’t protect it ourselves,” he said. His group will continue to exist to sponsor exhibits, help raise funds and find new material for the archives, he said.
The ONE collection includes more than 23,000 books, 11,000 films and videos and 9,000 magazines and journals that trace the gay liberation movement, the AIDS crisis and the debate over homosexual marriage, among other subjects.
Catherine Quinlan, dean of the USC Libraries, said she was delighted with the donation. “It’s a world-class research collection,” she said, noting that it will attract scholars in such fields as sexuality, anthropology and history.
-- Larry Gordon
EDITOR'S PICKS:
What a huge waste of money. I don't want my tax dollars to go for warehousing and indexing such a worthless and politically motivated collection.
Posted by: rob | October 08, 2010 at 06:14 AM
What a waste of money. Vote out the Democrats!
Posted by: rob | October 08, 2010 at 06:15 AM
Cool
Posted by: Brandon | October 08, 2010 at 09:22 AM
Great news!
Posted by: Christine | October 08, 2010 at 09:59 AM
Um, USC is a private institution, rob.
Posted by: RD | October 08, 2010 at 12:38 PM
USC is a private school. Your tax money does not support the school. Maybe if UCLA or UC Berkeley got to keep it then you have a gripe.
Posted by: rm | October 08, 2010 at 12:44 PM
USC is a private school. Your tax money does not support the universtiy.
Posted by: rm | October 08, 2010 at 12:45 PM
That is great. I thought i read somewhere that Vaughn Walker is gay. He was wrong to vote against prop 8.
My son and his partner in Maine are waiting to get married, I think the churches are not for it.
Posted by: myla seidel | October 08, 2010 at 12:53 PM
It's a shame that some people are consumed by hate, but it's fun to watch them lose at hating. Great news for ONE, USC, history and LA. Even though we obviously have our share of morons, we also have way more geniuses than in this city than in almost any other. And the geniuses, as always, are winning.
Posted by: ohplease | October 08, 2010 at 02:19 PM
why store house such uneducational garbage..it has no educational value...like giving the devil free room and board for future reference
Posted by: dogrob1 | October 09, 2010 at 10:35 AM
This collection of material, although important to the Gay/Lesbian community, belongs in a "gay museum". It does not belong at the University of Southern California.
Posted by: michael g | October 09, 2010 at 10:58 AM
Gee.
Posted by: blackone | October 09, 2010 at 12:03 PM
Do any students at USC get Pell Grants or Guaranteed Student Loans? That's federal money going to the school. I'm sure there are other pathways besides the Pell.
Posted by: Account Deleted | October 09, 2010 at 03:04 PM