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Collection Information

UW-Madison’s University Archives began collecting digital and physical materials related to the local LGBTQ+ communities in the fall of 2015. Since then, the archive has acquired, processed, and made available over 200 collections. The Madison LGBTQ+ Archive is always looking to collect new materials and enhance our existing collections. Our Collection Development Policy outlines what materials we do and do not collect, current gaps in our collections that we are looking to fill, and information regarding the donation process. Once materials are donated to the archive, they are processed by our staff (and student staff) and a finding aid to the collection is made available online. In most cases, information about collections is available online, but a patron will have to visit the UW Archives reading room in order to access the materials themselves. 

The most updated inventory of our holdings can be found by searching the Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids database. You can also find our collections in the UW Libraries’ catalog. Sign up for an Archives and Special Collections account to request materials via the library catalog, schedule a visit, request duplications, track the status of your requests, and access your research history.

Please feel free to contact us by email or call 608-262-5629 with any questions you have regarding the collections.

Notable Collections 

These collections represent the rich and diverse history of LGBTQ+ life in Madison and Dane county, WI. Contact us if you wish to learn more about these materials or want to access them by visiting the archive.

Nothing to Hide collection [catalog record, finding aid]

The Nothing to Hide Collection is composed of video cassette tapes, DVD copies, and digitized copies of over 800 recorded episodes of the Madison-based WYOU community access television program “Nothing to Hide,” produced by David Runyon. The program primarily focused on LGBTQ+ people and events, political events and discussions, and Dane County area local interest stories. The program ran from 1981 to 2001, an extremely long run for a program of its nature.

Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSAFE) records [catalog record, finding aid]

The Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSAFE) records contain various documents and artifacts about the function and activities of the eponymous organization in Madison, Wisconsin between 1996 and 2008. GSAFE hosted events in Madison schools, compiled materials for teachers, and engaged in political activism surrounding the advancement of LGBTQ+ individuals in public schools and the state of Wisconsin.

OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center records [catalog record, finding aid] 

This collection contains operational files, publications, event records, and other ephemera related to the OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center located in Madison, Wisconsin. The OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center provides programs, gathering spaces, services, and events that support LGBTQ+ life in Madison. The records primarily concern operations of the organization, meeting minutes, grant and fundraising materials, records from the Speaker’s Bureau engagement series, and materials from annual events. This collection also contains publications by other LGBTQ+ organizations and authors.

Pat Calchina papers [catalog record, finding aid]

Pat Calchina is an educator and activist in the Madison lesbian community. This collection includes paper materials such as newspaper clippings of events in the Madison LGBTQ+ communities, syllabi and course readers, and lecture notes from Calchina’s Lesbian Herstory courses. Other materials include scripts she read on the local radio station – WORT’s LGBTQ+ radio program Queery from the early 2000s, photographs of the lesbian-feminist event space Apple Island from 1991, and photographs of the Gay and Lesbian Visibility Alliance’s participation in the Chicago and Milwaukee 1992 Gay and Lesbian Pride Parades.

New Harvest Foundation records [catalog record, finding aid]

The New Harvest Foundation was established in 1984 and provides charitable grants and contributions to organizations working to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) rights, services, culture and community development. The records include grant records, meeting minutes, and information on New Harvest sponsored events.

Ricardo Gonzalez collection [catalog record, finding aid]

This collection documents items from the Cardinal Bar which Gonzalez operated in Madison, WI from 1974-2017 and his time as a Madison City Alderman. In its earlier days, the Cardinal Bar was a primary gathering spot for the Madison LGBTQ+ communities.

Unprocessed Collections

Please note that the collections listed below are currently unprocessed. Unprocessed collections have not yet been fully evaluated by our staff and may not be immediately available to patrons. Contact our staff via email or phone (608-262-5629) before accessing these collections.

R. Richard Wagner papers [catalog record] 

This collection contains a variety of materials and subject areas related to local author, politician, and LGBTQ+ community activist, R. Richard “Dick” Wagner. Much of the collection includes research materials used for the two-volume set authored by Wagner, We’ve been here all along: Wisconsin’s early gay history (vol. 1, 2019), and Coming out, moving forward: Wisconsin’s recent gay history (vol. 2, 2020). Additionally, materials related to Wagner’s political service and involvement, local organizations, community activism, and much more are included.   

Notable Research Projects 

Podcasts, Videos, and Websites

“Out in Wisconsin:” The LGBTQ+ Archives and Oral History Project: Hannah Ritvo introduces listeners to the LGBTQ+ archives, and tells us why they are so important. In two captivating interviews with local figures heavily involved with the archive, Katie Nash and Scott Seyforth, listeners will learn how preserving history impacts us all today.

Wisconsin First: Wisconsin First is a digital archive dedicated to preserving the history of America’s first statewide gay rights law, AB 70, passed in Wisconsin in 1982. This site is a collaborative effort led by Our Lives Media in partnership with historians, archivists, and community members committed to documenting this pivotal moment in American history.

As part of UW-Madison’s Campus Voices project, these short videos were made using excerpts from the podcast episode alongside photos from the Madison LGBTQ+ Archive.

Books

We’ve been here all along: Wisconsin’s early gay history by R. Richard Wagner. The first of two groundbreaking volumes on gay history in Wisconsin. We’ve Been Here All Along provides an illuminating and nuanced picture of Wisconsin’s gay history from the reporting on the Oscar Wilde trials of 1895 to the landmark Stonewall Riots of 1969. Throughout these decades, gay Wisconsinites developed identities, created support networks, and found ways to thrive in their communities despite various forms of suppression–from the anti-vice crusades of the early twentieth century to the post-war labeling of homosexuality as an illness to the Lavender Scare of the 1950s. 

Coming out, moving forward : Wisconsin’s recent gay history by R. Richard Wagner. The second volume in R. Richard Wagner’s groundbreaking work on gay history in Wisconsin, outlines the challenges that LGBT Wisconsinites faced in their efforts to right past oppressions and secure equality in the post-Stonewall period between 1969 and 2000.

We Will Always Be Here: A Guide to Exploring and Understanding the History of LGBTQ+ Activism in Wisconsin by Jenny Kalvaitis and Kristen Whitson. This inspiring and educational book presents examples of LGBTQ+ activism throughout Wisconsin’s history for young people to explore and discuss. Drawing from a rich collection of primary sources—including diary entries, love letters, zines, advertisements, oral histories, and more—the book provides a jumping-off point for readers who are interested in learning more about LGBTQ+ history and activism, as well as for readers who want to build on the work of earlier activists.

Articles

“In People’s Faces for Lesbian and Gay Rights”: Stories of Activism in Madison, Wisconsin, 1970 to 1990: This article, published in The Oral History review’s LGBT special issue, traces the role of local Madison organizers in the wider struggle for equality. Using Oral History Program interviews from the local LGBTQ+ community, this article chronicles the activism and political organizing that led to the early election of out officials, the nation’s first statewide gay rights law, and campus protests over the ban on homosexuals serving in the military. 

  • Seyforth, S. C., & Barnes, N. (2016). “In People’s Faces for Lesbian and Gay Rights”: Stories of Activism in Madison, Wisconsin, 1970 to 1990. Oral History Review, 43(1), 81–97. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/10.1093/ohr/ohv076 [Subscription to Oral History Review or NetID required for access]

Documentaries

PBS Wisconsin Pride documentary: This two-part documentary explores the long, but hidden, LGBTQ+ history in Wisconsin. Before the movement for civil rights and wider acceptance, gay Wisconsinites liberated themselves to live as their authentic selves making unique contributions to our state’s history. In the 1970s and ‘80s, LGBTQ+ leaders’ fight for equality earned Wisconsin the nickname “The Gay Rights State.”

Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History 

The Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History (CCH) seeks to expand and enrich UW-Madison’s historical narrative by centering the voices, experiences, and struggles of marginalized groups. Staff from the CCH regularly consult collections of the University Archives and the Madison LGBTQ+ Archive to generate content for their blog, podcast, exhibitions, and much more. Specifically, the exhibit Sifting & Reckoning: UW-Madison’s History of Exclusion and Resistance featured many collection materials and stories related to university history and LGBTQ+ communities.