Researchers will soon be able to access the Ralph Hyman Papers (MC 1798), one of the most significant collections on the subjects of HIV and LGBTQIA+ rights in Arkansas.
Dr. Ralph Hyman first came to Arkansas in 1978. Settling in Little Rock, he established a private medical practice with clientele including people struggling with their sexuality, people infected with HIV and transgender patients. Having personally experienced the traumas associated with being a gay man in the 1970s, he became a leader in the state gay and lesbian rights movement. With other activists, he founded the Arkansas Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Arkansas AIDS Foundation.
For his work with HIV patients, he received an Arkansas Community Service Award in 1988 from then-Governor Bill Clinton; during his acceptance speech, Hyman announced the fact that he is gay. Subsequently, in 1990, he unsuccessfully ran for the state legislature on a platform calling for the repeal of the state sodomy law. Afterwards, he stepped back from public gay activism and with friends and local actors founded The Weekend Theater. This community theater sought to produce “socially significant plays” presented in a setting that was “decidedly New York in character.” During his tenure as artistic director, the theater produced more than 200 plays and musicals. The theater remains active to this day.
Contents of the collection include correspondence and other materials related to the life of Hyman. Of special note are self-reflections dating from when he was a young man coming out, as well as materials relating to his experience in New York’s gay community in the 1970s. In addition, materials document his participation in Arkansas’s nascent AIDS and LGBTQIA+ rights movements in the 1980s, culminating in his historic campaign in 1990 as the first openly gay man to run for a seat in the state general assembly.
Materials dating from the early 1990s through 2012 document his role as a director and actor in productions by The Weekend Theater, as well as his tenure as its artistic director. The Weekend Theater materials include dozens of video recordings of performances, which are available as digital files; contact the Special Collections Division’s Research Services at specoll@uark.edu for information on how to access these files. Physical materials can be viewed in person in the Special Collections Division, located on the first floor of Mullins Library. The division is open to U of A students, faculty and staff by appointment only from 1-4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Hyman Papers are currently being processed, and the collection is projected to open to researchers later this month.