Library and Information Science Commons^™

Black Feminist Citational Praxis And Disciplinary Belonging, Bianca C. Williams

Publications and Research

What does a Black feminist citational practice look and feel like? This contribution to the #CiteBlackWomen colloquy focuses on two arguments: First, that Black feminist citational praxis is one of the major interventions Black women scholars contribute to the academy; and second, that anthropology’s neglect and erasure of Black feminist anthropologists relates to disciplinary (un)belonging. I explore how citation and “disciplinary belonging” influence hiring practices, doctoral training, intellectual genealogies, and what is valued as anthropological knowledge.

Graphic Activism: Lesbian Archival Library Display, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This chapter outlines the implementation of Graphic Activism, an exhibition of archival material from the Lesbian Herstory Archives, the oldest and largest lesbian archive in the world, located inside the display cases of the Graduate Center library of the City University of New York. The two-semester-long display stems from an institutional need to showcase material inside of the main library display cases, and the interest of including visual representations of Women's Studies material from the collection as well as those which represent the collection. The chapter discusses collaborative relationships outside of the academic institution, pointing to select challenges when …

Woman Energy: How Our Lesbian Past Informs Our Lesbian Future, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

Sinister Wisdom Issue 3, published the year 1977 holds an essay by poet Adrienne Rich, titled, “It is the lesbian in us...”; The cover of the same issue has art by photographer Tee Corinne. Sinister Wisdom is a multicultural lesbian literary and art journal. This non-fiction creative essay written by Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz reflects on the first year of Sinister Wisdom's publication as a celebration of 40 years through this special edition anniversary print for which only 1000 have been printed. The essay remarks on the shift in lesbian identity and community and the potential impact of the Sinister Wisdom journal …

Performing Ourselves At The Center, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This interview sits alongside an extended version edited for Amanda Curreri’s solo exhibition, The Calmest of Us Would be lunatics, which took place from January 21–May 8, 2016, at Rochester Art Center, in Rochester, Minnesota. Curreri dug through the archival collection of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization in the country, and their journal, The ladder, at the Tretter Collection in LGBT Studies at the University of Minnesota. The exhibition is titled after a line in Emily Dickinson’s 1877 letter to Elizabeth Holland which reads, “Had we the first intimation of the Definition of Life, the calmest of …

Being A Lesbian Librarian, Collection Development In Lesbian Librarianship, And Archives As Lesbian Spaces, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

Edited talk From Pratt SILS Gender LIS Panel curated by Dinah Handel on March 27th, 2015
Co-presenters include: Sian Evans; #artandfeminism Wikipedia Editathon & Jen LaBarbera; Filling in the Margins: The use of Queer Theory, Feminist Standpoint Theory, and Critical Race Theory to build inclusive archival collections
This talk remarks on the role of the librarian to provide lesbian-specific content.

Tape-By-Tape: Digital Practices And Cataloguing Rituals At The Lesbian Herstory Archives, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This essay will outline the digital collections of the Lesbian Herstory Archives with an emphasis on process and workflow. The paragraphs below will describe the efforts put forth by the all- volunteer collective, and their dedication toward making materials accessible through the use of digital technology to preserve, catalog, and exhibit lesbian herstory. Interviews with Archive Coordinators, called “Archivettes”, Rachel Corbman on the Online Public Access Catalog, Saskia Scheffer on Photos, and Maxine Wolfe on Audio, will provide examples of LHA digital practices in the creation and maintenance of the Photo Collection, OPAC, and Audio Tape Digitization projects. Additional mention …

Opening Remarks To Outing Lorraine At The Schomburg Center, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

This article is an edit of the opening remarks for the event held on May 22nd, 2014 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as part of the In The Life Series supplying Black LGBT programming coordinated by Steven Fullwood. Outing Lorraine included panelists: Alexis DeVeaux, Joi Gresham, and Steven Fullwood and was moderated by Shawn(ta) Smith-Cruz. Opening remarks provide a biographical description of Lorraine Hansberry's life, prepare the audience for a conversation on the implications for "outing" a black iconic figure, details the purpose for use of primary and secondary sources when, and provides a bibliography for …

Black Gay Genius Interview With Lisa C. Moore, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

An interview with the publisher of Redbone Press, the small press, black lesbian owned and operated, that republished the archival material of Joseph Beam, excavating the work of the gay black male icon and writer of Brother to Brother and In the Life.

Update From The International Resource Network, Kalle Westerling

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

The International Resource Network (IRN), the global network of researchers, activists, artists, and teachers sharing knowledge about diverse sexualities, hosted by the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies, as so far had a time of reorganization and applying for future funding. Meanwhile, the local organizations and projects associated with the network continued to grow and expand.

Activist Women's Voices Oral History Collection, 1995-2000 Finding Aid, Graduate Center Library, Cuny

Finding Aids

The Activist Women's Voices Oral History Project, funded by AT&T, the Ford Foundation, the Ms. Foundation for Education and Communication, and the New York Council for Humanities, is committed to documenting the voices of unheralded activist women in community-based organizations in New York City. The archive was established in 1995 under the direction of Professors Joyce Gelb and Patricia Laurence with the aim of creating linkages between activist women in the New York City community and student and faculty researchers at the City University of New York.

Sources On Lesbian Subjectivities For The Production Of Lesbian Of Color Identity Formation Through Literature, Art, Film, Or Documentation: An Annotatated Bibliography, Shawn(Ta) Smith-Cruz

Publications and Research

Historically, coming out as a lesbian and then forming an identity of a "lesbian of color" includes seeking out like voices and stories. Librarians who hold an understanding of the lesbian of color coming out process as well as the fluidity of language in Queer Studies will be better equipped to service lesbian of color patrons. This paper holds three tools for reference librarians: A literature review outlining the history of lesbian of color identity formation, secondly, a bibliography with interdisciplinary humanities reference annotations that source lesbians of color in literature, film, performance art, and identity, and thirdly, a model …

Letter From The Executive Director: Queer Studies Goes Digital, Paisley Currah

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Google books, journals available only online, Wikipedia. With so much knowledge going digital, is print culture on its way our? While print probably won't disappear as a scholarly medium in the foreseeable future, it is important that CLAGS remain at the cutting edge not just in terms of the kinds of research we support, but in terms of how we disseminate that research. We are currently involved in several long-term projects to share digital resources with our membership and the community at large, expanding on our longstanding commitment to making print and analog materials available that are often not accessible …

Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants: Reflections From A Young Scholar, Taylor Black

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Back in November 2005, I was working on a paper for Ros Petchetsky's "Body Politics" class at Hunter College and I found myself running into all sorts of problems in accessing information about queer political movements and the discourses surrounding them. In a frenzied moment, I emailed Paisley Currah, and he was kind enough to offer his time as well as CLAGS's materials for my research.

New Editors For Glq: A Journal Of Lesbian And Gay Studies, Ann Cvetkovich, Annamarie Jagose

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

The publication of GLQ 12.1 in December 2005 marks the moment when we officially take over from Carolyn Dinshaw and David Halperin as the new co-editors of the journal. Although it's a transition that has been some years in the making (Annamarie first came on board as Associate Editor for Volume 9 and has been a co-editor for Volumes 10 and 11, and Ann was associate editor for Volume 11), Volume 12 represents the beginning of a genuine partnership between the two of us.

Queer Studies In Asia, Paisley Currah

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

How does research about diverse sexualities and genders circulate through Asia? How do linguistic barriers affect the flow of local and regionally produced knowledges? Who calls the shots, defines the agenda, decides who gets published? How can we create more venues for South-South dialogues?

Zines Straight From The Stacks: Self-Published Tracts From Library Workers, Alycia Sellie

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Old Maids And Faeries: The Image Problem, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

Librarian stereotypes are akin to those of gays and lesbians. Librarians battling negative professional images are in common cause with gays and lesbians battling similarly slanderous representations. This article proposes relationships between these varieties of maligned people and professionals.

"The Homosexual" As Problem Patron, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

Libraries host a range of human activity, some of which is overtly sexual. What's a librarian to do about public displays of affection? cruising? public sex? First, we read up on the issue. Unfortunately, problem patron library literature is spotted with vivid illustrations of irrational bias against gay men, male-to-female transgender women, and men-cruising-men. It also discounts the private nature of most consensual sex in public places. This article discusses sex and gender biases in library literature, arguing that gender equitable, privacy-respecting practices will better serve librarians administering public space.

An Activist's Guide To Lesbian History: A Companion To The Video Not Just Passing Through, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

This guide, designed to accompany the video Not Just Passing Through, contains guidelines for conducting oral history, forms for donating material to mainstream and community based archives, and lessons for engaging lesbian history with activism.

Building “A Home Of Our Own:” The Construction Of The Lesbian Herstory Archives, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

This article traces the founding of the Lesbian Herstory Archives in the context of radical archiving and lesbian institution building. It includes an outline of problems presented by "extra-legal" or outlaw material in archival settings. Discussion of the New York Public Library's Becoming Visible exhibit reflects the 1990s growth of mainstream institutional interest in gay, lesbian, and transgender archives, and the complications this interest presents.

The Lesbian And Gay Past: An Interpretive Battleground, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

The lesbian and gay past is an interpretive battleground that mainstream archives have refused to enter, assuming few risks in collecting, naming, or identifying archival collections. At the same time, libraries offer up worlds to those who work to unearth the secrets there.

The New York Public Library's 1994 "Becoming Visible" exhibit trumpeted The Arrival of lesbian and gay history to New York's cultural mainstream. The NYPL exhibit denies the library's role in secreting lesbian and gay history, and diminished the contributions of community-based archives to the exhibit.

Gays And Lesbians In Library History, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

Summarizes gay and lesbian activism in librarianship and the role of libraries in supporting gay and lesbian movements.

Aids Information In Periodical Indexes: A Problem Of Exclusion, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

The lack of attention afforded the gay, lesbian, and alternative press in mainstream periodical indexes has a serious, detrimental impact on the nature of AIDS information available to students of the epidemic. Indexers and database search services must end their policy of excluding the gay/lesbian and other community-based periodicals in order to provide adequate coverage of AIDS information.

The Lesbian Herstory Archives, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

An introduction to the history and radical practice of New York City's Lesbian Herstory Archives with discussion of the period-specific situation of the archive housed in, but outgrowing, private quarters.

Representation, Liberation, And The Queer Press, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

Lesbian and gay people lay special claim to the power of the printed word. It is through the printed word, consumed privately and anonymously, that we often first call ourselves queer. Coming out stories are thick with accounts of self-discovery through reading and exploration in libraries.

To Tell The Truth: The Lesbian Herstory Archives: Chronicling A People And Fighting Invisibility Since 1974, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

A portrait of the Lesbian Herstory Archives by a volunteer, describing the archive in its original home in Joan Nestle's Upper West Side New York City apartment that she shared with Mabel Hampton. Originally published in Out/Week Magazine.