Originally titled the "Gay and Lesbian Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection", this archival collection resulted from collecting efforts by the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies that began in 2001. During the Center's 2001-2002 Gay and Lesbian Archives Project, Center staff solicited archival materials including photographs, publications, posters and other printed materials. A number of individuals from Bellingham and Whatcom County donated materials about the history of the local LGBTQ+ communities. The Center hosted a workshop to discuss the history and experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals in Whatcom County, encouraged donation of materials and conducted oral history interviews with several community members. Since the original Archives project, CPNWS has continued to collect and provide stewardship for historical resources about LGBTQ+ history and add donated materials to this and other distinct collections.
This collection documents different aspects of the history of the LGBTQ+ community of Bellingham and Whatcom County, Washington. The collection spans the period circa 1972-2012, with the bulk of material from 1972-2002.
Manuscript materials include fliers, posters, journals and a small number of photographs
documenting events and activities in the Bellingham and the surrounding area, clippings and
articles, as well as information about local LGBTQ+ resources. These materials include
incomplete runs of local women's publication the "Women's Network Newsletter", and a local
lesbian publication called "The L Word". Manuscripts also include a journal, posters and
fliers pertaining to a traveling women's coffeehouse in the early 1990s, and several
programs from the Pacific Northwest Women's Music & Cultural Jamboree (held at Western
Washington University in the early 1990s). Information about gay and lesbian community
resources in Bellingham include histories of the Womencare Shelter (founded in 1979 as a
safe house for victims of domestic violence) and the Elizabeth Blackwell Women's Clinic.
Manuscripts also include a 1972 photograph of a local gay bar in downtown Bellingham,
ephemera documenting LGBTQ+ events held at Western Washington University, and programs from
the Imperial Sovereign Court of the Evergreen Empire's drag ball show in Bellingham. The
collection contains one folder of records reflecting the concerns and actions of women at
the Puget Sound Women's Peace Camp circa 1983-1984. Posters and fliers document anti-nuclear
protests at the Boeing Cruise Missile Plant in Kent, Washington, and include the 1985
publication
Audio recordings include copies of Chris Pastorino's lesbian radio show, produced by Western Washington University's KUGS station from the early 1980s through 1993. The collection also contains several oral history interviews conducted in conjunction with the Gay and Lesbian Archives project in 2001-2002.
The LGBTQ+ Manuscript Collection is organized in accordance with the following series arrangement:
Some access restrictions apply to oral history interviews - contact repository for details.
LGBTQ+ Manuscript Collection, Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123.
The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies solicited archival materials for this collection in the course of the Gay and Lesbian Archives Project in 2001-2002. Several individuals donated materials relating to local LGBTQ+ history at the time of the project, with some additional gifts of archival material from community members made in subsequent years.
This collection was originally titled and described as the "Gay and Lesbian Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection".
To learn more about problematic content in our collections, collection description and
teaching tools (including how to provide feedback or request dialog on this topic), see our
Includes a Directory of Inclusive Faith Communities in Greater Seattle area (2003-2004), copies of thE Cable and Record newsletters from Evangelicals Concerned (2003-2008), and copy of a statement from the rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Bellingham re: human sexuality.
Electronic copies of posters displayed in a 2024 exhibit at the Museum of History and Industry, together with a written history. Original posters donated to the University of Washington Archives and Special Collections. 28 digital files (27 tiff/jpeg and 1 docx file reformatted as pdf).