Los Angeles Public Library and Langston Hughes Poster Complaint Collection
Scope and Content
Petition, memoranda, press releases, interdepartmental correspondence, articles, organizational statements, reports, and other material documenting controversy over "issues of equity, censorship, and discrimination" with regard to gay and lesbian patrons and employees by the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), circa 1989-1994. According to a complaint filed in 1994 by library employees, in 1991 the City Librarian of the LAPL "censored and ordered destroyed Lesbian and Gay History Month materials (a poster and a bibliography) which this public institution had already officially approved and distributed... to local branch libraries and... to the public." The action was in response to a patron's complaint over the use of a quote by Langston Hughes on the poster in question. The collection comprises material collected for the 1994 complaint.
Dates
- Creation: 1989-1994
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1991 - 1994
Creator
- Gay and Lesbian United Employees (Los Angeles Public Library) (Creator, Organization)
Access
Contact ONE archivist regarding access restrictions.
Publication Rights
Contact ONE archivist regarding publication and use restrictions.
Historical Note
According to a complaint filed in 1994 with the City of Los Angeles by library employees, in 1991 the City Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) "censored and ordered destroyed Lesbian and Gay History Month materials (a poster and a bibliography) which this public institution had already officially approved and distributed ... to local branch libraries and... to the public." The action came in response to a patron's complaint over the use of a quote by Langston Hughes on the poster in question. The issue became a flash point for already simmering tensions between LAPL administrators and gay and lesbian library employees over services provided to the gay and lesbian community.
Extent
0.1 Linear Feet ([1 folder])
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Petition, memoranda, press releases, interdepartmental correspondence, articles, organizational statements, reports, and other material documenting controversy over "issues of equity, censorship, and discrimination" with regard to gay and lesbian patrons and employees by the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), circa 1989-1994. According to a complaint filed in 1994 by library employees, in 1991 the City Librarian of the LAPL "censored and ordered destroyed Lesbian and Gay History Month materials."
Processing Information
In order to provide access to this collection, minimal processing on this collection was expedited in 2011. Date spans were given wherever possible, but do not reflect the most accurate inclusive dates.
- Title
- Los Angeles Public Library and Langston Hughes Poster Complaint Collection, 1989-1994
- Status
- Publish Basic
- Author
- Marc LaRocque
- Date
- (c) 2011
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is inEnglish.
Repository Details
Part of the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries, University of Southern California Repository
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles California 90007 United States
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu