ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries is the oldest existing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) organization in the United States and one of the largest repositories of LGBT materials in the world. Located in Los Angeles, California, ONE Archives has been a part of the

University of Southern California Libraries The libraries of the University of Southern California are among the oldest private academic research libraries in California. For more than a century USC has been building collections in support of the university's teaching and research interests ...

since 2010. ONE Archives' collections contain over two million items including periodicals; books; film, video and audio recordings; photographs; artworks; ephemera, such as clothing, costumes, and buttons; organizational records; and personal papers. ONE Archives also operates a small gallery and museum space devoted to LGBT art and history in

West Hollywood, California West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...

. Use of the collections is free during regular business hours. ONE Archives originated from

ONE, Inc. One, Inc., or One Incorporated, was one of the first gay rights organizations in the United States, founded in 1952. Organization The idea for an organization dedicated to homosexuals emerged from a Mattachine Society discussion meeting held on O ...

, which began publishing the earliest national homosexual publication in 1952. In 1956, ONE Inc. created the ONE Institute, an academic institute for the study of homosexuality, utilizing the term "

Homophile Terms used to describe homosexuality have gone through many changes since the emergence of the first terms in the mid-19th century. In English, some terms in widespread use have been sodomite, Achillean, Sapphic, Uranian, homophile, lesbian, g ...

Studies". In 1994, ONE, Inc. and the International Gay and Lesbian Archives run by

Jim Kepner James Lynn Kepner, Jr. (192315 November 1997) was an American journalist, author, historian, archivist and leader in the gay rights movement. His work was intertwined with One, Inc. and ''One Magazine'', and eventually contributed to the formation ...

merged. Since 1994 the organization has operated solely as an LGBT archive.

Mission

ONE Archives' mission statement reads as follows: "It is the mission of ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries to collect, preserve, and make accessible LGBTQ historical materials while promoting new scholarship on and public awareness of queer histories."

History

was founded in 1952 to publish the nation's first wide-circulated, national homosexual periodical, ''ONE Magazine''. In 1953, ONE Inc. became the first gay organization to open a public office in Downtown Los Angeles. The original founders include Martin Block, Tony Sanchez (aka Tony Reyes), and Dale Jennings. The corporation's original core members included Martin Block, Tony Reyes, Dale Jennings, Guy Rousseau, Merton Bird, Don Slater, William Lambert (aka W. Dorr Legg), Eve Elloree (aka Joan Corbin), and Ann Carll Reid (aka Irma "Corky" Wolf). In 1955, ONE Inc. held the ONE Midwinter Institute, the first in a series of conferences to bring together experts and community members to talk about gay and lesbian topics. In 1956, ONE Inc. created the ONE Institute, an academic institute for the study of homosexuality under the name of "

Studies". In 1957, marking the first time the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

explicitly ruled on homosexuality, ONE Inc. fought to distribute its magazine by mail, and prevailed. The ruling in the case, ''

One, Inc. v. Olesen ''One, Inc. v. Olesen'', 355 U.S. 371 (1958), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court for LGBT rights in the United States. It was the first U.S. Supreme Court ruling to deal with homosexuality and the first to address free speech rights ...

'', not only allowed ONE to distribute its magazine, but also paved the way for other controversial publications to be sent through the U.S. mail. Also during the 1950s ONE Inc. became an ad hoc community center and began a library.

was involved in adding material to this library. As the burgeoning

gay liberation The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoffman, 2007, pp.xi-xiii. ...

movement took off and became more closely intertwined with the

movements for civil rights Civil rights movements are a worldwide series of political movements for equality before the law, that peaked in the 1960s. In many situations they have been characterized by nonviolent protests, or have taken the form of campaigns of civil re ...

of the 1960s and 1970s, ONE Inc.,

and a growing group of activists were poised to collect original materials from that critical time period. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, ONE obtained crucial documents chronicling the establishment of the "gay community" and its established and increasingly diverse groups and organizations. Since the 1980s, the archival collections have grown substantially as gay issues and gay culture became more integrated into the mainstream culture of the United States. In October 2012 ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives celebrated the 60th anniversary of its founding and the printing of ''ONE Magazine''.

Organizational timeline

The institutional history of ONE reveals a set of complex, overlapping and groundbreaking activities that provided a wide variety of pioneering services to LGBT Americans: * October 1952: The idea of a magazine for homosexuals is first discussed in a

Mattachine Society The Mattachine Society (), founded in 1950, was an early national gay rights organization in the United States, perhaps preceded only by Chicago's Society for Human Rights. Communist and labor activist Harry Hay formed the group with a collection ...

meeting. * November 1952:

is founded. * January 1953: The first issue of ''ONE Magazine'' is published. * August/September 1953: The Los Angeles postal authorities seize the August edition of ''ONE Magazine''. The issue, which bore the title "Homosexual Marriage?" on the cover, is released three weeks later without explanation. * November 1953: ONE Inc. opens an office in downtown Los Angeles at 232 South Hill Street. * October 1954: The Los Angeles postal authorities seize the October issues of ''ONE Magazine'' on charges of obscenity. * 1956: The ONE Institute for

Studies opens. * January 13, 1958: After four years of litigation, the Supreme Court declares ''ONE Magazine'' is not in violation of obscenity laws. * 1962: ONE Inc. moves to 2256 Venice Boulevard. * 1967: ''ONE Magazine'' ceases publication. * 1975:

's personal archive is named the Western Gay Archives. * 1979: The Western Gay Archives is renamed the National Gay Archives:

Natalie Barney Natalie Clifford Barney (October 31, 1876 – February 2, 1972) was an American writer who hosted a literary salon at her home in Paris that brought together French and international writers. She influenced other authors through her salon and al ...

Edward Carpenter Edward Carpenter (29 August 1844 – 28 June 1929) was an English utopian socialist, poet, philosopher, anthologist, an early activist for gay rightsWarren Allen Smith: ''Who's Who in Hell, A Handbook and International Directory for Human ...

Library and moves to 1654 North Hudson Avenue in Hollywood. * August 1981: ONE Institute becomes the first institution of higher learning in the United States to offer masters and doctoral degrees in Homophile Studies. * 1983: ONE Inc. moves into the Milbank Estate at 3340 Country Club Drive purchased by philanthropist Reed Erickson. Soon after, for reasons uncertain, Erickson seeks to have ONE removed from the estate. * 1984: The National Gay Archives is renamed the International Gay & Lesbian Archives (IGLA). * 1988: IGLA moves to a space owned by the City of West Hollywood at 626 North Robertson Boulevard (the current location of the ONE Archives Gallery & Museum). * 1994: W. Dorr Legg dies. ONE Inc. merges with the IGLA and becomes primarily an LGBTQ archive; the organization refers to itself as ONE Institute and ONE Institute/IGLA. * 1997: Jim Kepner dies. * 2000: ONE Institute/IGLA moves to its current location at 909 West Adams Boulevard provided by the University of Southern California. * 2004: The organization is renamed ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives. * October 2010: The collections at ONE Archives become a part of the USC Libraries.

Collections

The collections at ONE Archives are primarily national in scope, with special focus on LGBT histories in the Los Angeles region. The archives also include a number of international materials, such as archival records and rare publications.

Archival collections

ONE houses over 600 archival collections of personal papers from activists, artists and ordinary citizens, as well as records from LGBTQ political, social, educational and cultural organizations. The collections include a wide array of materials such as manuscripts, photographs, letters, graphics, and other historically significant materials. Important archival collections of note include:

Books and periodicals

ONE's main library collection comprises over 33,000 volumes of books and monographs; as well as over 13,000 titles of periodicals, such as magazines, newspapers, and newsletters. From issues of the earliest American LGBT publications to the most recent LGBT titles, the collection includes many rare and unusual titles, some of which may be the only copies in existence. The library also includes foreign publications in more than 40 different languages.

Audiovisual

ONE's collection of audiovisual materials includes over 4,000 films, 21,000 videos (including 10 years of recorded lectures from ONE, Inc.), and 3,000 audio recordings. Many of ONE's films and videos are stored and preserved in conjunction with the

Outfest Outfest is an LGBTQ-oriented nonprofit that produces two film festivals, operates a movie streaming platform, and runs educational services for filmmakers in Los Angeles. Outfest is one of the key partners, alongside the Frameline Film Festival ...

Legacy Project at the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

Art and photography

ONE Archives' art collection include over 4,000 paintings, drawings, works on paper, photographs, and sculptural objects, the majority of which date from the 1940s to the present.

Posters, textiles, and objects

ONE Archives also collects and houses over 3,500 posters; textiles, such as T-shirts, banners and flags; and memorabilia such as buttons, matchbooks, dolls and other three-dimensional objects.

ONE Archives Gallery & Museum, West Hollywood

Since 2008, ONE Archives has operated an exhibition space in

dedicated to presenting temporary exhibitions on LGBT art and history. The gallery is located in a city owned building that also houses the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives. In 2011, ONE Archives participated in the region-wide Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A., 1945-1980 initiative with the exhibition ''Cruising the Archive: Queer Art & Culture in Los Angeles, 1945-1980'' which was presented at the ONE Gallery in West Hollywood, as well as at ONE Archives' main location on West Adams Boulevard and in the Treasure Room at the

Doheny Library The Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library is a library located in the center of campus at the University of Southern California (USC). History After the shooting of his son, the Irish American oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny donated $1.1 milli ...

at the

. The exhibition included works by Steven F. Arnold,

Don Bachardy Donald Jess Bachardy (born May 18, 1934) is an American portrait artist. He resides in Santa Monica, California. Bachardy was the partner of Christopher Isherwood for over 30 years. Early life Born in Los Angeles, California, Bachardy studi ...

Claire Falkenstein Claire Falkenstein (; July 22, 1908 – October 23, 1997) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, jewelry designer, and teacher, most renowned for her often large-scale abstract metal and glass public sculptures. Falkenstein was one of Am ...

, Anthony Friedkin,

Rudi Gernreich Rudolf "Rudi" Gernreich (August 8, 1922 April 21, 1985) was an Austrian people, Austrian-born American fashion designer whose avant-garde clothing designs are generally regarded as the most innovative and dynamic fashion of the 1960s. He purposef ...

, Sister

Corita Kent Corita Kent (November 20, 1918 – September 18, 1986), born Frances Elizabeth Kent and also known as Sister Mary Corita Kent, was an American artist, designer and educator, and former religious sister. Key themes in her work included Christiani ...

, and

Kate Millett Katherine Murray Millett (September 14, 1934 – September 6, 2017) was an American feminist writer, educator, artist, and activist. She attended Oxford University and was the first American woman to be awarded a degree with first-class honor ...

, among many other less known or anonymous artists. The only exhibition dedicated to queer content within the PST initiative, this exhibition marked the most comprehensive exhibition of materials from the collections at ONE Archives to date and was accompanied by a scholarly catalogue. The publication included contributions by Ann Cvetkovich,

Vaginal Davis Vaginal Davis (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, filmmaker and writer. Born intersex and raised in South Central, Los Angeles, Davis gained notoriety in New York during the ...

, Jennifer Doyle,

Jack Halberstam Jack Halberstam (; born December 15, 1961), also known as Judith Halberstam, is an American academic. Since 2017, he has been a professor in the department of English and comparative literature and the Institute for Research on Women, Gender, an ...

, Catherine Lord, Richard Meyer, Ulrike Müller, and

Dean Spade Dean Spade (born 1977) is an American lawyer, writer, trans activist, and associate professor of law at Seattle University School of Law. In 2002, he founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a non-profit law collective in New York City that provides ...

. The ONE Gallery has presented solo exhibitions of artwork by Steven F. Arnold and Joey Terrill, exhibitions of historical materials from the collections at ONE, and highlights from the collections of the Tom of Finland Foundation and the

Center for the Study of Political Graphics The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) is a United States non-profit, educational and research archive that collects, preserves, documents, and circulates domestic and international political posters relating to historical and conte ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:One National Gay and Lesbian Archives Archives in the United States LGBT museums and archives Museums in Los Angeles History museums in California LGBT culture in Los Angeles LGBT history in California LGBT organizations in the United States University of Southern California 1952 establishments in California