LGBTQIA+ collections in the Manuscripts and Archives division: Audiovisual materials

Fierce Pussy collection, 1991–1994 
.2 linear foot. Posters and stickers pertaining to lesbian and gay rights and visibility, and to AIDS.

Women's Action Coalition (WAC) records, 1989–2003 
20 linear feet. A direct action organization founded in 1992 by members of the New York art world in support of women's rights. The records contain administrative records, committee files, subject files, photographs, printed material, video and sound recordings, as well as posters, placards, banners, and props used during protest demonstrations.

ACT UP Oral History Project videotapes, 2002–2008 
290 videotapes. The ACT UP Oral History Project collection of videotaped interviews with surviving members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) New York.

AIDS activist videotape collection 
454 videotapes. This videotape collection offers extensive coverage of AIDS activism, including footage of ACT UP demonstrations, AIDS conferences, and oral histories of founders and members of the Gay Men's Health Crisis.

John Edward Heys collection, 1969–1990s 
3 linear feet. Correspondence, photographs, videotapes and printed ephemera relating in part to the early gay newspaper Gay Power. See also the large collection of John Heys papers in the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Testing the Limits records, 1987–1995 
7 linear feet (plus video recordings). Organizational records and video footage shot by this videographers’ collective dedicated to the documentation of all aspects of the struggle for health care and civil rights for people with AIDS. Videos currently available for viewing consist of camera originals documenting AIDS activism, chiefly demonstrations by ACT UP New York.

The LGTQIA+ collections are rich with original videos, sound recordings, and photograph materials that document personal oral histories and community action. Additionally, there are a large amount of ephemeral items that were created by organizations for their membership as well as protests.

Note that some of these collections have not been digitized and are not available remotely, and many are only accessible onsite.

Contact Sheet # 1 - Ernestine Eckstein.  Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. "Contact sheet #1 - Ernestine Eckstein" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1966.

Rudy Grillo sound recordings, 1970–1989 
1 linear foot. Fifty-six audiotapes and related material. Many of the tapes are from the WBAI program "Gay Rap" on which Grillo frequently appeared, particularly on the topics of gay and lesbian activism and of gay and lesbian music and composers.

Copy Berg papers, 1890s–1998 
62 linear feet, 75 sound recordings, and 14 videotapes. Correspondence, art work, photographs, and other materials of this artist and gay rights activist who publicly challenged the U.S. Navy's decision to discharge him due to his homosexuality.

Women's Action Coalition (WAC) records, 1989–2003 
20 linear feet. A direct action organization founded in 1992 by members of the New York art world in support of women's rights. The records contain administrative records, committee files, subject files, photographs, printed material, video and sound recordings, as well as posters, placards, banners, and props used during protest demonstrations.

Bettye Lane gay rights movement photographs, 1970–2007 
3 linear feet. 438 photographic prints and photocopies documenting the gay and lesbian civil rights movement, 1971–2007.

Diana Davies photographs, 1969–1978 
2.3 linear feet. Photographs documenting the gay liberation movement in the years immediately following the Stonewall riots.

Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen gay history papers and photographs, 1855–2009 
79 linear feet. Personal and professional papers of these gay civil rights pioneers include Gittings' extensive correspondence with Frank Kameny and other activists in the homophile and gay rights movement, records of her editorial work on The Ladder, interviews conducted for Lahusen's book, The Gay Crusaders, and her photographs documenting forty-five years of gay rights activism.

Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS records, 1988–1996 
15 linear feet. Correspondence, minutes, financial records, grant applications, project proposals, exhibition catalogs, and photographs of a not-for-profit organization that raised funds to support organizations providing health care to people with AIDS, to medical research, and to public education initiatives.

Photographs and film regarding ACT UP New York and The Costas, 1987-1991, 2008 
.10 linear feet (1 folder, 1 videodisc, 2 film reels [8mm]) The collection consists of photographs and film documenting ACT UP New York's involvement in the October 1987 March on Washington and actions participated in by an affinity group, The Costas, named after a late member of ACT UP, Costa Pappas.

Francis Toohey papers, circa 1977–1989 
.5 linear feet. Chiefly photographs shot or collected for use in the magazine Hit Parade. Most of the photographs depict artists and performers, including female impersonators.