Research Guides: LGBTQIA+ Resources: Primary Sources/History

Special Collections

Mississippi Sissy
ISBN: 9780312341015

The Special Collections Department is located on the 4th floor of McWherter Library and collects materials representing Southern history.

Troublemaker
ISBN: 0312252323
Sapphic slashers : sex, violence, and American modernity
ISBN: 0822326094
Below the belt : sexuality, religion and the American South
ISBN: 0304335509
Sometimes it causes me to tremble
ISBN: 0745938671
The trials of Alice Mitchell : sensationalism, sexology and the lesbian subject in turn-of-the-century America

Primary Sources Online

A primary source is a document or an artifact created during the period of time under study. Some examples are newsletters, photographs, diaries, works of art, legal documents, and interviews. Follow the links below to explore a variety of LGBTQIA+ primary source materials freely available on the internet.

ACTUP Oral History Project This link opens in a new window
Full text with some images of over 100 interviews with activist members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACTUP).
Gay Rights Movement (BBC Archival Collection) This link opens in a new window
Audio of oral histories, photographs, and texts documenting the UK Gay Rights Movement.
GLBT Historical Society's Online Resources This link opens in a new window
Search the GLBT Historical Society's digital collections, exhibitions, research guides, and primary source sets.
Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945: An Online Exhibit This link opens in a new window
By the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., this online exhibit explains the history of Nazi persecution of homosexual people & provides access to photographs and digitized historical documents relating to German law and the Nazi regime.
Nexis Uni Federal and State Cases This link opens in a new window
Landmark legal cases pertaining to homosexuality and civil rights. (Scroll down to Civil Rights, Homosexuality.) Each case includes a history, overview & summary, outcome, opinion, and dissenting opinion.
NY Public Library's LGBT Collections This link opens in a new window
Rainbow History Project This link opens in a new window
Rainbow History Project’s mission is to collect, preserve and promote the history and culture of the diverse LGBTQ communities in metropolitan Washington, D.C.

Documents of the Gay Freedom Movement in Jamaica
"The Gay Freedom Movement in Jamaica (GFM) was formed in 1974 as the first movement in the English Speaking Caribbean to seek rights for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) people. It focused on consciousness-raising within the LGBT community and professional organizations; issued a newsletter - the Jamaica Gaily News (JGN); and ran a Gay Youth Program, Prison Outreach Program and a free STD clinic. General Secretary, Larry Chang, who was also publisher and editor of JGN, was the first Jamaican to come out publicly, being interviewed on radio and the then JBC-TV and through his letters to the press" (dLOC Home: Gay Freedom Movement in Jamaica).
The Empty Closet
"The Empty Closet is one of the oldest continuously published LGBT papers in the United States. It was begun at the University of Rochester by Bob Osborn and Larry Fine, the founders of the UR student group, Rochester Gay Liberation Front, and later transferred to the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley (GAGV). In 2010, the Empty Closet celebrated its 40th year of continuous publication. As it always has, the newspaper covers local, state, national and international news, as well as issues pertaining to the LGBT community" (The Empty Closet: Past Issues).
OutHistory
OutHistory is a public history website that aims to generate, present, and promote high-quality evidence-based LGBTQ historical research for LGBTQ and general audiences.

Organizations

Below is a selection of national LGBT advocacy and professional organizations. Click here to see a directory of national and international organizations.

Government Publications

The UofM Libraries is the Federal Regional Depository Library for the state of Tennessee. Government publications include maps, datasets, reports, congressional hearings and testimony, codes, statutes, and more. To search for government publications, use the Advanced Search interface of the library catalog and limit Location to McWherter Government Publications Department.