Our History

 
Bob Summersgill, past president of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, a leading researcher on sodomy law issues, and a member of the Rainbow History Project, has donated a unique collection of published materials from the 1950s and 1960s.

The Summersgill Collection contains 218 periodicals and leaflets covering the period from 1954 to 1976 including seminal publications in the early history of the gay civil rights movement.  Among the periodicals in the collection are

• The Mattachine Review
• One: The Homosexual Viewpoint
• The Ladder and
• Vector.

These publications provide a detailed record of the issues confronting the homosexual community during this period, as well as insights into the changing strategies and tactics of homosexual organizations and activists during those years.  The issues of the 1960s also provide a record of how the older homosexual rights community viewed the more activist and confrontational strategies and tactics that emerged in Washington, DC through the Mattachine Society of Washington.

A complete listing of the collection is online in .pdf form.  Students and researchers wishing to use the collection should contact Rainbow History.