Gay and Lesbian Studies

Gay and Lesbian Studies
A Guide to the Collections
of The New York Public Library

Gay and lesbian studies is the examination, analysis and interpretation of the phenomenon characterized by romantic and affectional preference by individuals for others of the same sex. It is by nature cross-disciplinary, covering a wide range of intellectual bases: literature, history, religion, psychology, sociology, philosophy, anthropology, medicine, law, fine arts, and others.

Despite the presence of large numbers of homosexuals in New York City and other urban centers in the United States and throughout the world, their history has often been neglected or marginalized, a testimony to the inhibiting factors of legal restrictions on certain forms of sexual conduct, the lack of organization among gay men and lesbians, and the unwillingness of the larger society to recognize the value and merit of different forms of erotic and affectional expression.

These difficulties notwithstanding, certain individuals in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Western societies, such as Karl Ulrichs and Magnus Hirschfeld in Germany and Edward Carpenter and John Addington Symonds in Britain, began to conceive of themselves as belonging to a discrete group possessing a distinct identity; that this insight was revolutionary is underscored by the fact that no name existed for this body of people who shared similar sexual longings and desires. The term "uranian" was considered, but it failed to find favor and was replaced by words such as "homosexual" and "homophile," arbitrary constructions which, though workable, have been deemed too clinical in some quarters. By the late twentieth century "gay" and "lesbian" had become the recognized terms in scholarly and popular use.

Although these pioneers of the gay rights movement are lauded by civil libertarians and activists for their contribution to the political and social liberation of homosexuals, they are also significant for their concern in recognizing the importance of collecting and preserving materials relating to homosexuals and their vehicles of self-expression and identification. Yet this nascent attempt at identifying and collecting materials relating to the homosexual experience was itself inhibited and circumscribed by the need of many lesbians and gay men to lead hidden lives, fearful that self-disclosure would result in a loss of employment or legal difficulties. Of course, this very secrecy has made research strategies into the area of gay studies problematic, with scholars either attempting to intuit meanings not overtly expressed in historical records or employing materials (such as court or police reports) to identify behavior not discussed in more conventional sources.

Despite these problems The Research Libraries of The New York Public Library have managed, since their beginnings in 1911, to collect materials relating to this large, but submerged, population. Although the subject entries in the Dictionary Catalog of the Research Libraries, 1911-1971, employ terms that appear today to be abstruse or arcane, the very presence of these works, some quite rare, attests to the Library's interest in acquiring in this field. CATNYP, the computer catalog which lists the Library's acquisitions since 1972, reflects the recent expansion of scholarly and popular interest in gay and lesbian studies.

Resources in this subject area may be found in nearly every division of the Research Libraries. While the bulk of the material is available in the General Research Division, other units of the Library possess significant collections; researchers are directed to The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The Photography Collection, the Rare Books Division, the Manuscripts and Archives Division, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

The published materials in the Research Libraries are complemented by manuscript collections reflecting the donation to the Library of various archives, the most significant being that of the International Gay Information Center, the inventory for which is available online. These archives include the records of organizations such as the Gay Activists Alliance and the Mattachine Society; the personal papers of Arthur Bell, Jonathan Katz, and other gay men and lesbians; gay- and lesbian-related periodicals, both domestic and foreign; ephemera such as posters, flyers, announcements, gay comic and coloring books, t-shirts, buttons and games; and audio-visual materials.

If you need further assistance, visit our reference desk, or e-mail us at grdref@nypl.org