Finding Primary Souces - GQS 220 | What is Queer? - Collins Memorial Library at University of Puget Sound

What is Queer? Practices and Politics of Self-Fashioning

Finding Artifacts of Fashion

This assignment invites you to showcase an artifact or garment–or perhaps an image or mood board of an artifact for garment– which you will develop throughout the makerspace sessions. This artifact will in some way engage with the broad theme "What to wear to the revolution?" The artifact can be relatively simple; it can be an adapted/modified/mended addition to a current garment; it can also be speculative or imaginary (ie, presented as a mock-up or mood board rather than a finished garment).

The resources below will help you explore items and artifacts -- in other words, primary sources! See the assignment description for full details

What's a primary source?

Primary sources are original, uninterpreted information. Scholars analyze primary sources in order to answer research questions. Examples of primary sources vary by discipline.

Examples in the humanities:

a novel
a painting
a theatre performance

Examples in the social sciences:

a political, social, or economic theory
a dataset
the results of an experiment published in a peer-reviewed journal

Example in the sciences:

the results of an experiment published in a peer-reviewed journal

Digital Image Sources

GLBT History Society Digital Collections
A series of digital collections curated and by the GLBT History Society. Includes photographs, ephemera, publications, newspapers, and more.
Lesbian Herstory Archives Digital Resources
The LHA gathers, preserves and provides access to records of Lesbian lives and activities.
Digital Transgender Archive
An online hub for digital and archival collections throughout the world. Includes magazine, posters, flyers, and other material.
Diana Davies Photographs - NY Public Library
The collection consists of black and white photographic prints, color slides and negatives taken by Diana Davies during the late 1960's through the 1970's. The subjects include representatives of several New York gay and lesbian organizations including the Gay Liberation Front and Lavender Menace, and demonstrations, marches and meetings.
Museum at FIT | Queer History of Fashion Online Exhibit
Gays and lesbians have long been “hidden from history”—including the history of fashion. “Reclaiming the gay and lesbian past” involves more than simply recognizing that some individual fashion designers happened to be gay. It is also necessary to explore the complex historical links between sexuality, society, and culture. Research shows that fashion has been a significant site of gay cultural production for more than 300 years. In addition, gay culture has been central to the creation of modern fashion.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
Digital version of some of the holdings of the ONE Archive at USC. Includes audio, photographs, and more.
LGBTQIA+ Studies: A Resource Guide | Library of Congress
Collection of links and resources for further reading/searching from the Library of Congress.

ARTstor
A digital library of images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences, with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images.

Primary Source Databases

Archives of Sexuality & Gender
Primary source material that explores the many facets of LGBTQ history. Users will find page images of a mixture of activist groups’ organizational papers, flyers and pamphlets, NGO and Governmental reports, periodicals, newsletters, personal papers, legal documents and more.
LGBT Thought and Culture
An online resource hosting books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social and cultural movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day. The collection illuminates the lives of lesbians, gays, transgender, and bisexual individuals and the community.