page_title: Queer community archives
section_title: Collection practises
hierarchical_section_title: Queer community archives / Methods / Collection practises
caption_attribution_description: English: Personal belongings of Harvey Milk (1930-1978) on display during the preview of The GLBT History Museum in San Francisco's Castro District. The museum is a project of the GLBT Historical Society, an archives and research center to which the estate of Scott Smith donated Milk's belongings that were preserved after his death. Visible in the photo are Milk's battered, gold-painted kitchen table; a "Harvey Milk/Supervisor" campaign t-shirt; a pair of his Levi's jeans; his appointment book for 1977; his personal-safety whistle; his harmonica; and a pair of pink novelty sunglasses owned by Milk. Also on display is a mug owned by Scott Smith.
context_page_description: Queer community archives are a subset of the larger body of community archives, which are archives and personal collections maintained by community groups who desire to document their cultural heritage based on shared experiences, interests, and/or identities. As such, queer community archives are collections that exist to maintain the historical record of the LBGT community and broader queer community. The term queer community archives, also called gay and lesbian archives, refers to a diverse array of community projects, organizations, and public institutions that maintain these histories.
context_section_description: Most queer community archives represent diverse interests and represent many facets of a diverse community, while a small number of collections are more focused, such as community archives which rose from lesbian feminism and archives dedicated to collecting materials specific to a subculture, such as the Leather Archives and Museum in Chicago.
  Queer community archives are characterized by their unorthodox material, as they have accepted and continue to accept any material queer people decide is important to their history. Cultural theorist Ann Cvetkovich describes how traditional archives have difficulty documenting intimacy, love, sexuality, and activism; experiences fundamental to queer people. Queer community archives gather traditional materials such as personal papers, organizational records, and other print materials but also collect non-traditional materials such as books, periodicals like newsletters and zines, textiles such as banners and imprinted t-shirts, sound recordings, film and video, artifacts such as buttons and sex toys, as well as graphic and fine art. Browsing The ArQuives digital collection reveals a vast diversity of materials in their possession, including condoms, puzzles, and dog tags. Oral history is a significant method in recovering queer history and is very common in queer community archives in the format of cassette tapes, audio files, and transcripts, especially those that document the histories of queer people of colour. Since almost all material in these archives is from donation, they are examples of participatory archives in which collectives intentionally and actively shape their shared history. Because of the participatory nature of queer community archives, the contents of each is influenced by and reflects each community's particular interests.
  Collections may be brought together physically or virtually. An example of a virtual queer community archive is the Digital Transgender Archives. The process of bringing together geographically scattered material into a digital collection is called "virtual reunification" and creates empowering views of communities that are dispersed, decentralized, and heavily marginalized even within their own social movements.
caption: Personal belongings of Harvey Milk (1930-1978) on display during the preview of The GLBT History Museum in San Francisco's Castro District.
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