Additional Resources for LGBT+ History in the Valley

This section of the exhibit was compiled by Samuel Edwards, an MLIS student at Simmons University, in 2022. It was informed by listening to the interviews and drawing on his own subject knowledge from working with a number of archival repositories in the area. This work was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services with additional funding provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

This is not an exhaustive list of LGBT+ collections in the Valley, and is limited to the Hampshire, Hampden, and Franklin county areas. We encourage you to do your own exploration!

Some of these links lead to a finding aid, a tool which can let you know what is in a collection, but it is not the same as the document/interview it describes. In order to view these collections, you will need to contact the archivists at these spaces. Not everything is available online, even when part of a collection is digitized. 

Search Tips for Exploring on Your Own

• Use the language that was common at the time. Words like "homosexual" or "transsexual" may be words we would not commonly use today, but may be helpful for finding sources from the 60s and 70s. 
• Some databases allow you to use * as a wildcard. For example, searching "w*m*n" will bring back woman, womyn, womxn, wimmin, etc. 
• Different libraries have different ways of searching. Try out a few different ways to say what you're searching for. You may find you get diferent results! 
• See if the library/archive you're searching has their own search tips, usually on a "Help" or "FAQ" page.
• Not everything is described online, especially when it comes to local collections. Try reaching out to the archivists or librarians at these spaces for more information.

Places to get started with further research

Sexual Minorities Archives in Holyoke, MA

The Sexual Minorities Archives is a LGBTQ+ history archive located in Holyoke, founded and curated by Ben Power. The entire collection may contain relevant materials, but some especially relevant materials to these oral history interviews are listed below.

Physical collections with digitized materials

• Digitized transgender materials on the Digital Transgender Archive
  • A variety of holdings in the Sexual Minorities Archives that have been digitized, including Ben Power’s correspondence with prominent gay transgender activist Lou Sullivan
    

Physical collections

• East Coast FTM Group papers
  • Trans male support group founded by Ben Power and mentioned in Mitch Boucher’s interview
    
    
• Northampton Area Lesbian and Gay Business Guild papers
  
  
• Northampton Subject Files
  • Reach out to the Sexual Minorities Archives for more information 
    
    
• Northampton Trans Pride Rally collection
  
  
• Organizational Collections
  • Records of mostly Northampton area businesses
    
    
• PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), TSON (Transgender Special Outreach Network), and TNET (Transgender Network) archive
  
  
• Personal collections
  
  
• Periodicals collection
  • Includes full run of Northampton's The Lesbian Calendar, founded by interviewee Pamela Kimmell
    

• Trans Activist Network papers
  • Mentioned in Mitch Boucher’s interview
    
    
• Venture Out collection
  • Outdoor adventure club in Western MA for LGBTQ+ people co-founded by Mark Carmien
    
    
• Womonfyre Books collection
  • A woman's bookstore that ran in Northampton, mentioned in Rio Spooner and JM Sorrell’s interviews
    
    
• Occasionally the Sexual Minorities Archives hosts history talks with original research on Caleb Cooley Dickinson, Amber Starbuck/Mabel Stevens, and other local LGBTQ+ historical figures. Reach out to the Sexual Minorities Archives for more information!

Smith College Special Collections in Northampton, MA

Smith College Special Collections is an archive located in Northampton, MA, and the official archive of Smith College. It contains the Sophia Smith collection of women's history, the Mortimer Rare Book Collection, and the College Archives.

Physical collections with digitized material

• Documenting Lesbian Lives Oral History Project oral histories
  • Includes many local individuals; some interviews available digitally
    
    
• Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Alliance records
  • Student organization at Smith that ran from 1974-2004. Some materials available digitally
    
    
• Lesbian Calendar records 
  • The Lesbian Calendar founded by interviewee Pamela Kimmell and relevant organizational records; October 1987-May 1988 available digitally
    
    
• Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project records
  • some interviews available digitally

Collections

• Homosexuality/LGBT collection
  • Includes general information about LGBT organizing in the 70s, and includes some Valley-specific materials
    
    
• Newton Arvin papers
  • Former Smith College English professor, who was outed as gay in the 1960s when he was arrested for “possession of obscene material”

• Green Street Lesbian Rooming House records
  • Records of a lesbian co-operative house in Northampton

University of Massachusetts-Amherst Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives in Amherst, MA

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives is an archive located in Amherst, MA, and the official archive of University of Massachusetts-Amherst. They collect the history of social change, as well as local history.

Physical collections with digitized material

• Community Action Youth marching with 'Generation Q' banner under rainbow balloons: Pride Parade; Main Street, Northampton, Mass., ca. May 7, 2011 from the Nancy Palmieri Collection
  
  
• Crowd at the Northampton Pride Parade, with sign 'God loves us the way we are!', ca. 1983 from the Nancy Palmieri Collection
  
  
• Marchers during the Pride Parade; Main Street, Northampton, Mass., ca. May 7, 2011 from the Nancy Palmieri Collection
  
  
• Raging Grannies marching during the Pride Parade; Main Street, Northampton, Mass., ca. May 7, 2011 from the Nancy Palmieri Collection
  
  
• Mayor Clare Higgins waving to the crowd from an automobile during the Pride Parade; Main Street, Northampton, Mass., ca. May 7, 2011 from the Nancy Palmieri Collection
  
  
• Eileen McCarthy Rakouskas collection
  • On the first day of legalized same-sex marriage [in Massachusetts], Rakouskas conducted interviews with couples waiting in line to apply for marriage licenses, city clerks, and others. Her collection also includes an assortment of other materials documenting the first day of full marriage equality 

• Kevin McVeigh papers
  • Activist and advocate for environmentalism and HIV/AIDS advocacy who helped found Tapestry Health and The AIDS Community Group of Franklin County
  • Valley Gay Men's Calendar, 1995 digitized

Physical collections

• MassEquality records
  • Records of MassEquality, an organization from the late 1990s to early 2000s that advocated for same-sex marriage
    
    
• Our Hideaway collection
  • Records of lesbian bar, Our Hideaway, in Chicopee MA from 1949-1999 including interviews of regulars
    
    
• PFLAG Pioneer Valley records
  • Organization for parents of LGBT+ kids in the Valley
    
    
• Stonewall Center records
  • Records of University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s LGBT center
    
    
• Valley Women’s History Collaborative
  • Contains the materials of the Women’s Softball League, mentioned in Randy Albelda and Mary Vazquez’s interviews
    

Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections in South Hadley, MA

Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections is an archive located in South Hadley, MA, and the official archive of Mount Holyoke College. They collect the history of Mount Holyoke College and its related community.

Physical collections with digitized material

• LGBTQ Alum Oral History Project
  • some materials available digitally
    

Physical collections

• LGBTQA Groups 1975-2017
  • Records of LGBTQ+ student groups at Mount Holyoke

Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections in Amherst, MA

Hampshire College Archives and Special Collections is an archive located in Amherst, MA, and the official archive of Hampshire College. The archive chronicles the history of Hampshire College from its founding to today.

Physical collections

• Queer Community Alliance records
  • Records and history of Hampshire College’s Queer Community Alliance Center
    
    
• Women's Center records
  • Contains materials related to LGBT+ and feminist activism on Hampshire campus

Online resources

• Digital Transgender Archive
  • Digitized trans-related material - includes some digital materials from the Sexual Minorities Archives
    
    
• From Wicked to Wedded
  • Blog by Kaymarion Raymond about LGBTQ+ history of Northampton