Looking to explore LGBTQ history, literature, and activism? We have lot of resources in Special Collections and University Archives that will pique your interest.

University Archives Collections

Gay Student Alliance – The Gay Student Alliance (GSA) was established at the University of Maryland in the 1970s as the successor of the Student Homophile Association (SHA). This collection contains newspaper clippings and editorials from the Diamondback chronicling the campus response to the gay community during the 1970s.

Campus Rights Committee – The Campus Rights Committee was founded to protect “student rights in administration-student and police-campus conflicts.” It became involved in many different issues on campus such as sex discrimination, gay rights, and access to Board of Regents committee meetings. This collection contains newspaper clipppings and publications, as well as meeting notes and other memoranda, documenting the operation of the committee.

University Publications collection – The University Publications Collection consists of a wide variety of printed materials produced by and about the various administrative units, academic departments, student groups, and athletic teams on the College Park campus. This includes:

• Lesbian and Gay Staff and Faculty Association UPUB L15
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Equity, Office of UPUB L14
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies UPUB L16

The UMD student newspaper, The Diamondback, is also available on microfilm in the Maryland Room and can be used to explore LGBT activism and issues reported on campus.

Mass Media and Culture Collections

Gays and Lesbians in Public Radio Records– Gays and Lesbians in Public Radio (GLIPR) was an organization formed in the mid-1980s in order to ensure adequate and appropriate representations of lesbians and gay men-their history, culture and concerns in public radio programs, newsrooms and in the public radio professional community.

Literary Collections

Djuna Barnes Papers – The University of Maryland Libraries are the primary repository for the archive of Djuna Barnes (1892-1982), who was an avant-garde American writer and artist. Her papers consist of family and personal papers, correspondence, publications, manuscript drafts, newspaper clippings, serials, photographs, and original art work documenting Barnes’s career.

Thom Gunn Papers– Thom Gunn (1929-2004) was a British poet, whose residence was primarily the United States beginning in the 1950s. He published over thirty books of poetry, a collection of essays, and four edited collections. His work is widely represented in literary anthologies. Gunn combined an interest in traditional poetics with less traditional subjects, such as Hell’s Angels, LSD, and homosexuality.

Papers of Gertrude Stein and Her Circle – Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) was an American-born poet, novelist, and playwright who lived for a time in Baltimore, Maryland, but spent most of her life in France and England. The collection consists of correspondence, biographical materials, work papers, and photographs and is mostly in French. Significant figures represented include Georges Hugnet, Georges Maratier, Jacques Stettiner, John Boulton, Bernard Fry, and Pablo Picasso.

Special Collections and University Archives also houses published works by LGBT authors, including Anais Nin, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, and more.

Maryland and Historical Collections

Off Our Backs Archive – Off Our Backs was a non-profit feminist news journal by, for, and about women, published from 1970 until 2008. It was the longest continuously published surviving feminist newspaper in the United States. The paper was run by a collective where all descisions were made by consensus. Although based out of Washington, D.C., the newsjournal covered local, national, and international topics pertaining to women’s, feminist, and lesbian issues and culture.

National Organization for Women, Maryland Chapter archives – The National Organization for Women, Maryland Chapter, formed in the early 1970s as an organization devoted to action for women in areas such as equal rights and responsibilities in all aspects of citizenship, public service, employment, education, and family life, and it includes freedom from discrimination because of race, ethnic origin, age, marital status, sexual preference/orientation, or parenthood.

National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) archives – The National Women’s Studies Association was founded in 1977 as an organization for educators, community organizations, and others in the private and public sectors committed to the formation and implementation of strategies for positive change in women’s lives. The Association’s archives document women’s studies programs at colleges and universities across the United States and consist of publications, course evaluations, course materials, correspondence, and reports.

There are also several Maryland newspapers available on microfilm in the Maryland Room, including the Baltimore News American. Special Collections and University Archives also houses the Baltimore News American Photograph Collection, which is searchable by subject and name.

Labor History Collections

Pride at Work Records – Pride at work is the LGBT constituency group of the AFL-CIO. Learn more about Pride of Work records here.

The University of Maryland Libraries also has a helpful guide to resources on LGBT Studies, available outside of Special Collections and University Archives.

Interested in any of the resources above? Not sure how to find information on a specific topic? Contact us and we’ll help you get started!