Jun 19, 2009  |  By: Amy Cavanaugh  | COMMENTS     

The dearth of gay-related historical items in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History when it re-opened last fall after a two-year renovation project wasn’t because there was a lack of appropriate material. The museum’s Archives Center has hundreds of LGBT items in its collection, many of which are on display now in an exhibit honoring the Stonewall anniversary.

The two-case exhibit, located on the first floor outside the Archives Center, contains 50 items from four collections: Archives Center Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Collection, 1953-2009; John-Manuel Andriote ‘Victory Deferred’ Collection, 1901-2008; the Shamrock Bar: Photographs and Interviews, 1997-2003; and Division of Science, Medicine and Society HIV/AIDS Reference Collection, 1979-2006.

Archives technician Franklin Robinson, who’s gay, crafted the display and hopes it “paints a picture of a community that has persevered, that has emerged from the shadows of history to claim its rightful place in the history of the United States.”

“I also hope it shows that the LGBT community is everywhere, from Bluefield, West Virginia to Los Angeles, California — that the LGBT community is not just a community of the urban areas but is also a community in rural areas,” he says. “I also hope it paints a picture of the diversity of the LGBT community, that we indeed are a community, and not simply individuals defined and connected by our sexual preferences.”

The 50 items on display, including books, photographs and ephemera, do a great job illustrating a wide arc of LGBT culture and history. The LGBT Collection has the most displayed items, including magazines, newspapers, a Gay Games program and an advertisement for “Milk.” 

The 11 issues of ONE Magazine, a California-based literary periodical, on display are from the 1950s and 1960s and address “questions that the gay community is still asking at this time,” Robinson says.

“For example, one issue is titled ‘Homosexual Security Risk,’ and explores whether being gay means you can be a security risk,” he says. “But while this has been resolved on some levels, there’s still ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and this issue is still alive.”

“Then there’s one from June 1963 that really surprised me, ‘Let’s Push Homophile Marriage,’” Robinson says. “It was an issue back then.”

Robinson also selected items he hopes will resonate in the community, like a Gay Men’s Chorus advertisement and Gay Games program.

“The exhibit shows how we’ve reached into many avenues in society,” he says.

The John-Manuel Andriote Victory Deferred Collection contains interview tapes, transcripts and other materials related to the author’s research for his 1999 book “Victory Deferred: How AIDS Changed Gay Life in America,” a social history of the AIDS crisis.

The Shamrock Bar: Photographs and Interviews is a collection of photographer Carol Burch-Brown’s photographs, tape-recorded interviews and transcripts of interviews documenting a working-class gay bar in Bluefield, W.Va.

The Division of Science, Medicine, and Society HIV/AIDS Reference Collection consists of pamphlets, books and ephemera relating to HIV and AIDS.

Despite the exhibit’s title, there’s nothing about Stonewall, a New York City gay bar that was the site of a riot that became a watershed moment for the movement, in the archives.

“I would love to have anything from the Stonewall Inn/riots that may still be around from 1969,” he says. “I am hoping that someone has a really great diary of that month or year, some letters describing the riots, or photographs.”

Robinson says his goal for the display is to “try to initiate productive conversation within families or people coming to the museum.”

“It’s located in the mainstream of the wing, next to Julia Child’s kitchen, and it can pull people in without letting them know what they’re going to see,” he says. “It’s been heartening that a wide range of people have been coming. I don’t know their political convictions, but they’re taking the time to learn.”

Robinson is always interested in acquiring more objects and encourages anyone planning to get rid of gay items to contact him at the Archives Center.