Oral histories available online:
Houston Area Rainbow Collective History (ARCH)
Houston Asian American Archives oral histories
Search keywords such as queer, or others of your choosing
Search the collection guides by clicking the links below, or by searching all the Woodson Research Center's archival collection guides at http://archives.library.rice.edu.
In 1979, future Houston mayor Annise Parker gave Rice professor, Dr. Chandler Davidson, a note with a phone number on it. He then called and heard a man say: "the gay students on campus want to form an officially recognized student group." Davidson agreed and sponsored the group, which took the name The Rice Gay/Lesbian Support Group (RG/LSG). The organization maintained this title until 1986 when it was renamed Gays and Lesbians of Rice (GALOR). To be more inclusive, GALOR became Pride in 1994. The members wanted to include not only gays and lesbians, but also bisexuals, transgendered people, and allies. During the 2003/2004 academic year, some Pride members created a new group called GATHER (GLBTQAs Advancing Towards a Harmonious Environment at Rice). The impetus for creating GATHER came from the Coach Ken Hatfield controversy in which the football coach made public statements about how he might treat homosexual players. Where Pride served a social function on campus, GATHER had a more social activist thrust. GATHER even had a meeting space in the Wellness Center. In September 2007, Pride and GATHER joined to become Queers and Allies (Q&A). Currently, the group sponsors GLBTQ-themed film showings, sponsors speakers, and organizes an annual drag show at Willy's Pub. In 2017, the newly created Queer Resource Center and Queers and Allies joined to become Rice PRIDE.
Houston ARCH (Houston Area Rainbow Collective History) Collection
This is collection of oral history interviews conducted by the Center for the Study of Women, Gender, & Sexuality (SWGS) at Rice University (2007-2015). The items in this collection are the result of a community research project, the work of Rice University students earning credit for the course SWGS 201, “Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies.” The collection includes interview recordings with Houstonians who have made contributions to the LGBT community. Each group of students spent a month researching their chosen individuals. When background reports were completed, they conducted interviews with these subjects and subsequently prepared written transcripts of the interviews. learn more about the project http://cswgs.rice.edu
The oH Project collection: Oral Histories of HIV/AIDS in Houston, Harris County, and Southeast Texas
Oral history interviews in audio and transcript format, including interview consent forms filed with the interviews. The primary subject matter is the experience of at least 100 long term survivors, physicians, activists, religious and political leaders and others impacted by HIV / AIDS epidemic in Houston, Harris County and Southeast Texas.
Lynne Huffer papers on Benefits Equality at Rice University
This collection consists of non-academic papers of Dr. Lynne Huffer that reflect her university community activities while she was on the faculty at Rice from 1998 to 2005. Among these activities are work on a campaign to extend university benefits coverage to domestic partners; protesting against a publicly quoted homophobic statement made by head football coach Ken Hatfield; surveying the Rice campus climate, particularly regarding women; serving on the President’s Council on the Campus Climate for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender individuals; and working on the 2003-2004 ad hoc committee for on-site child care at Rice. relates to benefits for domestic partners, and more / policy at Rice regarding LGBTQ issues.
Lesbian-related Publications and Papers
Publications from novels and cookbooks, newsletters and magazines, as well as papers from events celebrating and recording lesbian history
These collections are housed in the Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library's home for rare and unique materials.
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