ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, dedicated to preserving the legacy of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans, has been awarded a $272,086 grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
“According to the NEH’s available records, this is the largest grant it has ever awarded to an LGBT organization,” said ONE Board President, Joseph R. Hawkins, Ph.D. “We are thrilled to receive this unprecedented support from the NEH. It not only helps us continue to preserve LGBT history, it also acknowledges the importance and meaning of our work at ONE.”
Funded by the NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources Grant, the “ONE Founders and Pioneers Cataloging Project” award funds cataloging of early personal papers, records, photographs and other archival material documenting significant pioneers and organizations of the LGBT movement.
The generous support from the NEH also funds technological upgrades, archival supplies and salaries for additional professional archivists for two years. When the grant is completed, over 600 linear feet of archival materials and approximately 500 digitized images will be available for public research – including the records of ONE Institute, the first organization to offer classes and degrees in gay and lesbian studies, as well as the papers of the Mattachine Society and many other pioneering LGBT organizations.
For nearly 60 years, ONE has worked with historians and activists like the pioneer Jim Kepner to collect materials. ONE’s collection spans over a century, and attracts researchers internationally and throughout the United States.
“ONE has always been recognized as the largest gay archive in the world,” says Greg Williams, ONE’s Vice President. “This material was collected, saved and gifted to us by previous generations of gay activists, and it is this generation’s job to preserve this material and make it accessible.”
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About ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
Incorporated in 1952, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives is the oldest ongoing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organization in the western hemisphere.
ONE honors the past, celebrates the present, and enriches the future of all LGBT people by fostering acceptance of sexual and gender diversity through support of worldwide education and research about LGBT heritage and experience. ONE is dedicated to collecting, preserving, documenting, studying, and communicating LGBT history, challenges, and aspirations and with more than two million artifacts is believed to house the largest collection of LGBT memorabilia in the world.
Visit ONE online at www.onearchives.org.
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