A Trans History of the United States: Welcome - Getting Started with Trans History and Trans Research
A guide to library research
Welcome
This guide is intended to support your research for this course. We are Sarah Witte (shs4@columbia.edu), Librarian for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Columbia University and Liam Adler, Librarian for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Barnard College. We are here to support your work in this course throughout the semester. This research guide includes websites, databases, links to archival collections, oral histories, podcasts, and more, Our hope is that it serves as a resource to get you started but we would love to meet with each of you. You can email us or reach out in any way. We look forward to working with you this semester!
-Liam and Sarah
Archives are great!
- Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive, San Fransisco
Finding Archives
- ArchiveGrid . This link opens in a new windowGreat search engine for finding archives and manuscript collections; narrow by subject, repository, geographic location
- WorldCat. This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Contains over 48 million records, covering all materials, including archival collections, cataloged by OCLC member libraries around the world.
Oral Histories
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New York City Trans Oral History ProjectA community archive devoted to the collection, preservation and sharing of trans histories, organized in collaboration with the New York Public Library. Documents transgender resistance and resilience in New York City.
- The Tretter Transgender Oral History Project (TTOHP)Committed to collecting, preserving, and making available oral histories of gender transgression, broadly understood through a trans framework. Hosted at the University of Minnesota
- Trans Oral History ProjectThe Transgender Oral History Project was the first community-driven effort to collect and share a diverse range of stories from within the transgender and gender-expansive communities in the US.
- Trans Activism Oral History ProjectThe Trans Activism Oral History project’s purpose was to record elders’ history of activism on behalf of trans people and communities in order to establish and preserve trans-specific and trans-positive primary source historical narratives for future generations.
- Smith College - Trans Oral History Archive ProjectOral history interviews with Smith College students and alumnae who identify as trans and/or non-binary, conducted by Sam Davis (Class of 2017) for his documentary project entitled "In Our Own Words: On Being Trans at Smith."
- University of Victoria - Transgender ArchivesMost substantial Transgender archive in North America. From their site "We believe that the history of pioneering Trans+ and other gender-diverse activists and the work they have done on behalf of their communities must be preserved. The Transgender Archives is actively acquiring documents, rare publications, and memorabilia of persons and organizations that have worked for the betterment of Trans+ people"
Librarian
Librarian
Websites and Research Guides
- Research Guide Columbia Initiative on the History of SexualitiesDeveloped by Nikita Shepard, Includes links to Columbia archival and manuscript collections and databases.
- Library of Congress - Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Reseach GuideThis page provides search strategies and a selection of recommended resources related to Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming research and histories.
- Historical Cross-Dressing Laws MapThe Cross-Dressing Laws Map highlights municipal ordinances and state laws that were used to police trans people and other gender nonconformists in the United States since the 1840s.
Digital Archives
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Digitial Transgender ArchiveThe purpose of the Digital Transgender Archive (DTA) is to increase the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.
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GBLT Historical SocietyGLBT Historical Society are among the largest and most extensive holdings in the world of materials pertaining to LGBTQ people
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Metadata Core Title ONE National Gay and Lesbian ArchivesONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives is the largest and the oldest active repository of LGBTQ materials in the world. Founded in 1952, ONE Archives currently houses over two million archival items A small subset of this material has been digitized and is available online. For additional information about the Archives, please see their Website (https://one.usc.edu/).
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LGBTQ Religious Archives NetworkPreserving the history/ encouraging scholarly study of LGBTQ religious movements around the world
Archives
- LGBT Community Center National History ArchiveThe LGBT Community Center National History Archive is a community-based archive that collects, preserves, and makes available to the public the documentation of LGBTQ+ lives and organizations centered in and around New York.
Collections of Note: Jackie Curtis papers, Glorya Whole video collection; Rollerena Fairy Godmother collection - New York Public Library - LGBTQ Periodical CollectionThe Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Periodical Collection was initially composed of periodicals collected by the International Gay Information Center (IGIC) and donated to the New York Public Library in 1988
- NYPL - Schomburg Center for Research in Black CultureThe Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division collects, preserves, and makes available for research purposes rare, unique, and primary materials that document the history and culture of people of African descent throughout the world. Of particular note: House/ballroom files and the Stormé DeLarverié papers
- NYU Archival CollectionsOf particular note: The Pauline Park Papers contains material from 1986-2015 documenting the advocacy, activism, and writing of Pauline Park, a transgender activist, speaker, writer, and educator. A large portion of the collection contains material from the New York Association for Gender Rights Advocacy (NYAGRA) and Queens Pride House (QPH) two organizations that Park helped co-found,
- Sexual Minorities ArchiveThe SMA is one of the oldest and largest archival collections of LGBTQIA+ books, historical documents, media, art, textiles, and artifacts in the world. We operate out of a converted Victorian known to us as “The Pink Lady” in Holyoke — right in the heart of Western Massachusetts.
- Lesbian Herstory ArchivesThe Lesbian Herstory Archives exists to gather, preserve and provide access to records of Lesbian lives and activities. Doing this also serves to uncover and document our herstory previously denied to us by patriarchal historians in the interests of the culture that they served. The existence of the Archives will thus enable current and future generations to analyze and reevaluate the Lesbian experience.We have always had, and continue to have, an expansive and inclusive understanding of Lesbian
Columbia and Barnard Archival Collections
- Sarah Allen Reade PapersThe material in this collection sheds light on Reed's own work as well as on what it means to be trans in the South.
- Gender in the ArchivesThis collection contains oral histories collected from trans and nonbinary Barnard students and alums in an effort to fill archival gaps of trans representation within Barnard's archives. The collection also includes a zine made to accompany an exhibition associated with this project, as well as supplemental materials.
- Ethel Spector Person papersPerson was best known for her pioneering research in the areas of transsexualism and transvestism. With Lionel Ovesey, Person did ground-breaking work on the psychosexual roots of transsexuality and transvestism, distinguishing core gender identity from gender-role identity, and gender identity from sexual preference. Unlike other researchers at that time, Person stepped outside the clinical setting to attend drag balls and visit sex shops, and consulted a wide variety of materials, including pornography.
-From CUL Finding Aid
Websites
- Out HistoryOutHistory is a public history website that aims to generate, present, and promote high-quality evidence-based LGBTQ historical research for LGBTQ and general audiences. We also work to foster the development and growth of broad and diverse communities of people interested in learning about and producing LGBTQ histories