LGBT Studies

Scholarly resources supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Trangender Studies at Temple University

Gay Comics

Check out the TULibraries' database titled Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels. It is the first-ever scholarly, primary-source collection dedicated to the study of adult comic books and graphic novels. Explore an example of a gay themed comic below.

Wimmen's Comix, no. 1 by Michelle Brand, Lee Marrs, Lora Fountain, Patricia Moodian, Sharon Rudall, Shelby, Aline Kominsky, Trina, Karen Marie Haskell, and Janet Wolfe Stanley
Publication Date: 1972

Primary-Source Databases

What is a primary source? The definition varies by discipline. For History, click here.

See also the History (Comprehensive) research guide, specifically:

Defining Gender, 1450-1910 This link opens in a new window
This online collection contains scanned images of rare printed and important manuscript texts on many aspects of gender, sexuality and culture in Great Britain. Include ephemeral material types such as ballads, cartoons and pamphlets, diaries, advice literature, conduct books, medical journals and other periodicals. Features essays by modern scholars, biographical sketches, a chronology, etc.

The Gerritsen Collection: Women's History Online, 1543-1945
more...less...
This database constitutes a tremendous collection for the study of women's history around the world, including in Europe and the U.S. It contains both books and periodicals spanning roughly the first 400 years of the Modern Era. In the late 1800s, Dutch physician Aletta Jacobs and her husband C.V. Gerritsen began collecting books and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and women's rights. By the time their successors finished their work in 1945, The Gerritsen Collection was the greatest single source for the study of women's history in the world, with materials spanning four centuries and fifteen languages.
In the First Person (FIRP)
Indexes and links to "first-person" accounts in selected Alexander Street Press databases including Oral History Online and Women and Social Movements in the United States. Under "All Subjects" see H for "Homosexuality", G for "Gay", and L for "Lesbian".
more...less...
Since FIRP indexes not just oral histories but also letters, diaries, and autobiographies, it will eventually contain many more records than are available in the Oral History Online database. Currently, for example, FIRP contains 16,000 records versus ORHI's 15,400. FIRP can be used to find primary source material available both in other Alexander Street Press databases (such as ORHI) and on the free web, and is itself a free resource.

North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
When completed, this database will be the largest collection of women's diaries and correspondence ever assembled. Spanning more than 300 years, it will bring the personal experiences of 1,500 women to researchers, students, and general readers. When complete the collection will include approximately 150,000 pages of published letters and diaries from individuals writing from Colonial times to 1950, plus 4,000 pages of previously unpublished materials. Drawn from more than 1,000 sources, including journal articles, pamphlets, newsletters, monographs, and conference proceedings, much of the material is in copyright. Represented are all age groups and life stages, all ethnicities, many geographical regions, the famous and the not so famous. More than 1,500 biographies will enhance the use of the database. The collection includes one of the most comprehensive bibliographies of women's diaries and letters yet published. It lists over 2,000 published and unpublished items from a variety of sources, including online resources and microform.
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 (Scholar's Edition) This link opens in a new window
A database of 60+ document projects with 1,600+ primary documents & 20,000+ pages of additional secondary material including book reviews. Nice mixture of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources such as encyclopedias and bibliographies.

Primary Sources On Microfilm

Lesbian Herstory Archives Subject Files
LHA is the seventh part of the Gay Rights Movement (http://www.rdsinc.com/psm/gayrights/). It consists of 150 reels of primary-source microfilm along with a 73-page printed collection guide. Click "i" for more information.
more...less...
Media types represented include "clippings, flyers, brochures, conference materials, reports, correspondence, and other printed ephemera". The earliest documents date to the 1950s and the era of the Daughters of Bilitis. Additional information about the nature of the collection can be found by exploring the LHA website.