Thomas Kraemer Papers, 1908-2018

Series 1 consists of biographical materials about Thomas Kraemer. The series includes artwork from Kraemer’s childhood, information on his parents, and his personal resume. Correspondence documents include copies of Kraemer’s inquiry and response to technological newsletters, as well as copies of newsletters such as OSU's "Crosstalk: Newsetter for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering" and "ACMMemberNet" - specifically related to The Computer Bowl. Writing documents include newspaper article clippings that mention Kraemer or were authored by him.

Series 2 includes printed copies of Thomas Kraemer’s personal blog posts, his posts for the OSU blog, and materials that he used as reference or inspiration for the blog posts he created. Kraemer’s personal blog includes 1,554 individual posts starting in 2006 and ending in 2011. These posts discuss gay student groups, media representations of the gay community, politics, and safe sex practices. The OSU blog has 410 individual posts starting in 2012 and ending in 2017 with many of the same topics but tailored to be specific the OSU and Corvallis communities.

Series 3 consists of the materials used to inspire or support the topics in the blog posts, historical research on gay student groups that were included in Kraemer’s speech for Queer History Month in 2006, and collected information used for writings on Jack Baker by Jack Nichols. Some topics included in this series are on AIDS/HIV, condom usage, content from Gay Today, politics surrounding LGBT issues in Oregon, and copies of Kraemer’s Queer History Pride Speech. This series includes 18 Digital Folders, 4 GB (1,307 files) of electronic records materials.

Series 4 is a collection of comics and magazines that cater to gay men. Some of the comics are hardcover, are erotic in theme, and a few postcards created by comic book artists are included. MeatMen comics numbers 1-26 are part of this series with each edition being an anthology of gay male comics. Gay Comics series number 1-25 are another complete set included in this set. The rest of the comics are a variety of titles such as Comic Scene, Comix, Eros, and Rip Off to name a few.

The magazines in this series are geared to gay men that discuss social, health, and entertainment topics. Several editions of Poz Magazine and XY Magazine are included in the series. Three undated magazines created by Gary Griffen on topics of fellatio, testicles and penis enlargement. Other magazines are Mad, Time, First Hand and Guys.

Kraemer had a large collection of books donated as part of his collection; only a small fraction were kept for the Special Collections and Archives Research Center Rare Book Collection. Included in his papers is a list of the books in his collection.

Series 5 is a collection of 34 films (DVD format) that are LGBTQ+ themed. The range of movies are dated from 1968 to 2009. Many of the films are documentary in style covering political topics, love stories, social groups, and historical eras. The original donation of materials included 56 films (or film sets); a list of the original film list is included in the collection.

Kraemer worked for Hewlett-Packard (HP) for over three decades. During the 1990s, he collected various materials pertaining to the company’s LGBTQ+ activities, policies, trainings, group meetings, and inter-office correspondence. This series predominantly consists of email correspondence, but also includes information pertaining to HP’s Gay, Lesbian, & Bisexual Employee Network (GLEN), and copies of HP’s publication Measure Magazine.

The 1993 correspondence contains several online threads where HP employees engage in debate regarding topics of LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion at HP and in society more broadly. Topics addressed in these threads include domestic partner benefits, HP’s stance on anti-gay legal initiatives, healthcare, gay marriage and discrimination. The materials pertaining to domestic partner benefits include a statement by HP sharing the company’s stance on affirmative action. The documents pertaining to GLEN consist of email correspondence, meeting minutes, diversity training and workshop materials, photographs, GLEN promotional and educational materials, and materials sharing community resources. There are three issues of Measure Magazine; the issues include articles pertaining the presence and work of employee networks at HP, such as GLEN, violence and harassment in the workplace, and diversity. Also included in the series is an email internally shared by an HP employee in which he reflects on his experience participating in a gender diversity training; the initial email is accompanied by a massive email chain in which other employees share their thoughts. Additionally, there is email correspondence describing a group in Colorado known as GROUND ZERO as well as a document titled “Gay & Lesbian Issues and Culture on National Public Television.”

The records in this series have been digitized and are available upon request.