ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives is the oldest existing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) organization in the United States and the largest repository of LGBT materials in the world. Since 2010 ONE Archives has been a part of the University of Southern California Libraries. ONE Archives collections contain over two million items. ONE Archives also operates a small gallery and museum space devoted to LGBT art and history in West Hollywood, California. Use of the collection is free during regular business hours.

ONE Archives originated from ONE, Inc., which began publishing the earliest national homosexual publication in 1952. In 1956, ONE Inc. created the ONE Institute, an academic institute for the study of homosexuality, utilizing the term “Homophile Studies.” In 1994, ONE, Inc. and the International Gay and Lesbian Archives run by Jim Kepner merged. Since 1994 the organization has operated solely as a LGBT archive.

Mission

ONE Archives' mission statement reads as follows: “ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives Inc. promotes the collection, preservation, documentation and understanding of LGBTQA history and culture by providing support for ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries and by presenting events, exhibitions and other activities."

History

ONE, Inc. was founded in 1952 by Dorr Legg and Don Slater, in part to produce the nation’s first national homosexual periodical, ONE magazine. In 1953, ONE Inc. became the first gay organization to open a public office.^{[citation needed]}

In 1956, ONE Inc. created the ONE Institute, an academic institute for the study of homosexuality under the name of “Homophile Studies.”

In 1957, marking the first time the United States Supreme Court explicitly ruled on homosexuality, ONE Inc. fought to distribute its magazine by mail, and prevailed. The ruling in the case, One, Inc. v. Olesen, not only allowed ONE to distribute its magazine, but also paved the way for other controversial publications to be sent through the U.S. mail.

Also during the 1950s ONE Inc. became an ad hoc community center and began a library.^{[citation needed]} Jim Kepner was involved in adding material to this library.^{[citation needed]}

As the burgeoning Gay Liberation movement took off and became more closely intertwined with the civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s, ONE Inc., Jim Kepner and a growing group of activists were poised to collect original materials from that critical time period. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, ONE obtained crucial documents chronicling the establishment of the “gay community” and its established and increasingly diverse groups and organizations.

Since the 1980s, the archival collections have grown substantially as gay issues and gay culture became more integrated into the mainstream culture of the United States.

In October 2012 ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives celebrated its 60th birthday.

Organizational Timeline

The institutional history of ONE reveals a set of complex, overlapping and groundbreaking activities that provided a wide variety of pioneering services to LGBT Americans:

• ONE, Inc., 1952-1994. Publisher, community center, and library.
• ONE Magazine, 1952-1967. The first widely distributed publication for homosexuals in the United States.
• ONE Institute, 1956-1994. Scholarly institute with classes, speakers and library.
• Western Gay Archives, National Gay Archives, International Gay & Lesbian Archives, 1969-1994. LGBT archive founded by and originating from Jim Kepner's personal collection.
• ONE Institute/International Gay and Lesbian Archives, 1994-2004.
• ONE Institute/IGLA moves into its current location near the University of Southern California campus, 2000.
• Renamed ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, 2004.
• ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives becomes a part of the University of Southern California Libraries, 2010.

See also

• ONE, Inc.
• Mattachine Society
• LGBT history
• Dorr Legg
• Harry Hay
• Jim Kepner
• Morris Kight
• University of Southern California Libraries

External links

• ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives — official website
• Southern California LGBT History Timeline
• The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society