Gary L. Steele papers
Scope and Contents
This collection comprises minutes, correspondence, notes, manuscripts, gay and lesbian studies coursework, gay organizations' publicity material, photographs, financial records, and other material, 1946-1987, from writer and gay historian Gary L. Steele. The bulk of the materials is coursework for a college course "Homosexuality and Culture" which he developed and taught at UCLA in 1980; materials from his work with a Los Angeles chapter of the Gay Academic Union; and editorial content and photographs from Frontiers magazine, for which he served as editor in the early 1980s. The collection also includes administrative records for a business he operated collecting and selling Hollywood motion picture photograph stills and memorabilia.
Dates
- Creation: 1946 - 1987
Creator
- Steele, Gary L. (Person)
Conditions Governing 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.
Biography
Gary Steele was born on October 12, 1943 in Wichita, Kansas to his mother, Wauneta Bolton. At an early age he and his mother moved to Los Angeles, California. In 1963, Steele graduated with a bachelor's degree in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he also attained his master's degree (1965), worked as faculty advisor to gay student groups, taught gay studies classes, and was national president of the Gay Academic Student Union.
In the late 1970s, Steele became supervisor of Information Services at the Gay and Lesbian Community Service Center. In 1979, the International Gay and Lesbian Archives was incorporated and Steele joined their board of directors, later serving as board president for two years. During this time Steele also began writing book reviews for the Los Angeles Times. In 1981, upon the establishment of Frontiers magazine, Steele became a contributing writer. In his first year at Frontiers, Steele became the publication's editor and remained in that position until 1984 when he resigned to pursue new employment. He continued to contribute to Frontiers political column until his health began to fail. Steele died of heart failure on September 19, 1987 at the age of 43 in Los Angeles, California.
Extent
3.8 Linear Feet (5 boxes.)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Minutes, correspondence, notes, manuscripts, gay and lesbian studies coursework, organizations' publicity material, photographs, financial records, and other material, 1946-1987, from writer and gay historian Gary L. Steele. The bulk of the materials is coursework for a college course "Homosexuality and Culture," which he developed and taught at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1980; materials from his work with a Los Angeles chapter of the Gay Academic Union; and editorial content from Frontiers magazine, for which he served as editor in the early 1980s.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into the following series:
Series 1. Gary Steele papers
Series 2. Frontiers administrative records and photographs
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Method and date of acquisition unknown.
Separated Materials
The following have been separated to the ONE Archives periodicals:
The Blue Book (Los Angeles), Fall/Winter Edition 1979
Booked for Brunch? [A Different Light Bookstore newsletter], 1984-1988
Celebration Theatre newsletter, 1985
Commonground: A Publication of Commonground Women's Community Center, Vol. 1, Iss. 1 (March 1983)
Freeway LA, Newsletter of Dignity/LA, December 1982
Gay Academic Union newsletters, 1981-1985
Gay and Lesbian Press Association newsletters, 1983-1987
International Gay and Lesbian Archives Bulletin, May 1986
Into the Courts: The Newsletter of the National Gay Rights Advocates, Summer 1985
Off the Streets [Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services newsletter], Summer 1987
Open Forum [ACLU of Southern California newsletter], Vol. 59, No. 10 (1982)
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays newsletters, 1979-1983
Reach [Youth Department of the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center], 1984
The Triangle Project Newsletters, 1986-1987
The following have been separated to ONE Archives' library:
Carpenter, Edward, Intermediate Types Among Primitive Folk, Mitchell Kennerly (New York, 1914)
City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sexual Preference Study, November 1976
Norman Human Rights Commission, Community Attitudes on Homosexuality and About Homosexuals: A Report on the Environment in Norman, Oklahoma, March 1978
Portland Town Council, A Legislative Guide to Gay Rights, July 1977
One half box (0.5 linear ft.) of material related to the International Gay and Lesbian Archives has been separated from the collection and placed with the International Gay and Lesbian Archives Records, Coll2012-002.
Processing Information
Formerly boxes #102-A102, 102-A103, 102-A104, 102-A105, and 102-A110. Collection processed by Loni Shibuyama, August 2014. The finding aid was updated in April 2016 to include an additional 0.4 linear feet of material.
Subject
- Gay Academic Union (Organization)
- Frontiers Publishing (Organization)
- Title
- Finding Aid to the Gary L. Steele Papers, 1946-1987
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Cooper Moll and Loni Shibuyama
- Date
- © 2014
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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