United States Mission collection

Collection

Identifier: Coll2012-125

Staff Only
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Scope and Content

Correspondence, financial documents, flyers, notes, meeting minutes, articles, legal documents, press releases, pamphlets, essays, and other material documenting activities of the United States Mission of Los Angeles' gay and lesbian community, 1970-2002. The U.S. Mission was a non-sectarian religious organization founded in 1962 by Rev. Robert Humphries to provide social services to homeless residents of downtown Los Angeles; and, beginning in the late-1960s, advocating for gay and lesbian rights and social services. The collection documents (among other things) protests organized by the US Mission in 1970 following the death of a gay man beaten by Los Angeles Police Department vice squad officers; the Mission's provision of social services to underprivileged members of the gay and lesbian community; and its efforts to increase the visibility of the gay and lesbian community within the larger society.

Dates

Creation: 1962-2002
Creation: Majority of material found within 1975 - 1987

Creator

United States Mission (Creator, Organization)

Access

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Historical Note

The United States Mission was a non-sectarian religious organization founded in 1962 by Rev. Robert Humphries to provide social services to homeless residents of downtown Los Angeles. Branches of the Mission were also established in cities in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest. Beginning in the late-1960s the US Mission advocated for gay rights and social services in Southern California (and elsewhere).