Archivists in the University of Arkansas Special Collections Division have created an online research guide with materials documenting the LGBTQIA+ experience in Arkansas and beyond for Pride Month in June. The guide provides information about published materials, online archives, manuscript collections and U of A theses and dissertations.
“Archives should be inclusive spaces for people to preserve and learn about their histories and communities,” said Kara Flynn, research and educational services archivist, “But archives have not always collected materials from diverse viewpoints and experiences in the past. In recent decades, archives and libraries have made strides in both collecting and highlighting materials that are more representative of our communities. Though we still have work to do, we hope to encourage research and understanding of LGBTQ+ histories and experiences in Arkansas and beyond. A personal favorite among the collections highlighted is MC 2022, Feminist and LGBT Publications, which were originally collected and maintained by a community organization, the Fayetteville Women’s Library.”
The published materials featured in the guide include newspapers focused on LGBTQIA+ topics, periodicals, such as a journal of gay poetry, and books by and about the LGBTQIA+ community.
The guide also lists available manuscript collections, which are typically groups of unpublished materials from one person, family or organization. Items found in manuscript collections can range from written correspondence to scrapbooks to audio and visual materials. The guide features six manuscript collections related to LGBTQIA+ issues that are held in the Libraries’ Special Collections Division.
A section of the guide is dedicated to LGBTQIA+ digital archives and open access online projects from around the world, such as the LGBT Religious Archives Network and Queer Maps.
In the left navigation of the guide is a list of theses and dissertations on LGBTQIA+ issues from the U of A’s institutional repository, ScholarWorks@UARK.
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.