Finding Aid to the Richard Davis Papers, 1961-2012
Coll2014-016
Kyle Morgan
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Richard Davis Papers
creator:
Davis, Richard (Rick)
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014-016
Physical Description:
4 Linear Feet
3 archive boxes + 1 archive binder
Date (inclusive): 1961-2012
Abstract: Bibliographic records, clippings, correspondence, court records, fliers, government ordinances, guidelines, mass mailings,
medical records, notes, pamphlets, press releases, programs, and training records of Richard Davis, 1961-2012. The papers
document Rick Davis' gay political activism in Minnesota in the 1970s, including with the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights.
The papers also document his work in Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s with the Right to Privacy Foundation.
Acquisition
Donated by Richard Davis, July 26, 2012.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Richard Davis Papers, Coll2014-016, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
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.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Scope and Contents
Bibliographic records, clippings, correspondence, court records, fliers, government ordinances, guidelines, mass mailings,
medical records, notes, pamphlets, press releases, programs, and training records of Richard Davis, 1961-2012. The papers
document Rick Davis' gay political activism in Minnesota in the 1970s and Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s, including
with the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights and the Right to Privacy Foundation. In addition, the papers document his involvement
in the Study to Help the AIDS Research Effort (SHARE) and include photographs of his participation in the Gay Games.
Separated Materials
Gay Games periodicals and ephemera have been integrated into ONE Archives' collections. See the folder "Gay Games, photocopies
of separated objects" to review the separated materials.
Separated to the ONE Archives ephemera collection
Gay Games VI 2002, Sport & Cultural Festival Sydney. (shot glass)
Separated to the ONE Archives periodical collection
The Campaign Fund Report, v.2, no.1, 2.
Capitol Hill, the newsletter of the Gay Rights National Lobby, v.2, no.2, 3, 5; v.3, no.1, 2; v.4, no.1, 4; v.5, no.1.
Chicago Gay Life, v.1, no.18, February 18, 1976.
Christopher Street News (Minneapolis), no.1.
Compete: The Gay Sports Magazine, v.3, no.1-8 (2009); v.4, no.1-10 (2010); v.5, no.1-5 (2011).
Etz Hayyim Newsletter, May 1978.
The Epistle, v.1, no.5, 10; v.2, no.1-5; 1975-1976.
Essays on Homosexuality, no.1, 4.
G.A.Y., v.1, no.1, August 25, 1973.
Gay Activist (New York), October 1973.
Gay Caucus. The United Church of Christ newsletter, v.3, 1-4; v.4, 1-2; 1975-1977.
Gay Community News (Kansas City), v.2, no.1, January 1977.
Gay House newsletter, April, August 1976.
Gay International News, no.2, March 1972.
Gay Literature, no.1, 2, 1975.
Gay Madison, no.6, July 1979.
Gay Rights Newsletter, a journal of news and opinion by Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights. Special Edition: GOP Convention.
Gay Sunshine, no.19, October 1973.
Gay Vue, v.1, no.5, October 2, 1971.
GPU News, v.6, no.1, 2, 3, October-December 1976.
Hero, no. 11 (Oct 2000), no.14-15 (2001).
Into the Courts, the quarterly newsletter of Gay Rights Advocates, June and Fall 1981, Summer 1982.
It's Time, National Gay Task Force newsletter, v.1, no.2-5, special bonus issue; v.2, no.1-4, 6-10, special bonus issue; v.3,
2-5; v.6, no.1-3, 5-7; v.7, 1-8; v.8, 1-3; 1974-1981.
The Loring Park Report, v.1, no.1, February 1979.
Marketplace, v.1, no.1-4, 1980.
Minneapolis Church Chatter, v.2, no.4, April 1980.
Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights, newsletter, December 1975, January-February 1976
MCGR Lesbian/Gay Newsbriefs, September 16, 30, October 14, November 11, 25, December 9, 1977; undated; January 6, 20, February
3, 17, March 10, 24, April 7, 21, May 12, June 2, 23, July 28, August 25, September, November 3, 1978; January 12, March 9,
April 6, May 4 (2 different copies), July 6, August 10, September 7, October 5, November 2, December 14, 1979; February 8,
March 9, April 18, June 6, August 15, October 3, 28, 1980.
Minnesota Gay Christian, v.1, no.2, December 1976.
News from the Whitman-Walker Clinic, November 10, 1983.
The Northland Companion, v.1, no.1, November 1978.
The Nose Gay, newsletter of the Carleton Gay Friends, v.1, no.1, September 12, 1975.
Pomegranate, Minnesota Committee for Gay and Lesbian Rights, v.5, no.2, June 19, 1981.
Sentinel, v.4, no.25, December 1, 1977.
Share, 1984-2010 (35 issues).
So's Your Old Lady, no.1-4, 1973.
Sports Out Loud: the Best Gay Sports Magazine in the World, v.1, no.3 (Nov/Dec 2007); v.2, no.2-5 (2008).
Together, newsletter of the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights, v.1, no.1-3, August-September, 1974; August-December 1976,
undated.
Tomorrow (Mankato Gay Group), no.6-16, 18-19, 1975-1976.
ULGC Newsletter, University Lesbian/Gay Community at the University of Minnesota, v.1, no.1, Spring 1978; v.2, no.3, Spring
1980.
The Voice, no.21, 23, 24, election extra.
The Washington Blade, v.14, no.10 (March 11, 1983).
Separated to the ONE Archives library
Does Support for Gay Rights Spell Political Suicide? A close look at some long-held myths. Sponsored by the Gay Rights National
Lobby and the National Gay Task Force, 1980. (booklet)
Fairchild, Betty. Parents of Gays. Washington, D.C.: Lambda Rising, 1975. (booklet)
A Gay Bibliography, third revision. Task Force on Gay Liberation, Social Responsibilities Round Table, American Library Association,
January 1974.
The Gay Blade. Grand Junction, Tennessee: Mailbox Christians.
Human Rights Issues: Fair Employment for Gay People. Consenting Adults Legislation. Sponsored by the League of Minnesota Human
Rights Commissions and the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights: 1975. (booklet)
Separated to the ONE Archives program and directory collections
Bergeron, Michael A. The Chicago Gay Directory, 1974-1975, fourth edition. Chicago: Advocates of Gay Action Publishign Co-op,
1974.
Gay and Lesbian Pride Celebration. Minneapolis: The Gay Pride Comittee, June 16-25, 1978.
Gay Pride 77. Minneapolis: The Gay Pride Committee, 1977.
Gay Pride Week '79: Ten Years After. Minneapolis: The Gay Pride Committee, 1979.
Separated to the ONE Archives calendar collection
The Gay Engagement Calendar 1979, Universe Books, New York.
The Gay Engagement Calendar 1980, The Main Street Press, Inc, Clinton, New Jersey.
The Gay Engagement Calendar 1981, The Main Street Press, Inc, Pittstown, New Jersey.
The Gay Engagement Calendar 1982, The Main Street Press, Inc, Pittstown, New Jersey.
The Gay Engagement Calendar 1983, The Main Street Press, Inc, Pittstown, New Jersey.
The Gay Engagement Calendar 1985, The Main Street Press, Inc, Pittstown, New Jersey.
Separated to the ONE Archives audiovisual collection
Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, 1984-2005, 25 years. Carnegie Institution of Science, May 12, 2009. (DVD)
Biography
Richard Davis was born on June 8, 1948, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He received a bachelor's degree in speech communications from
Hamline University in 1970 and a J.D. degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1975. Davis came out of the closet
in the early 1970s and became involved in the local gay movement on a volunteer basis. He convened and chaired the group that
mounted the first pride march in Minnesota; helped lobby the Minnesota legislature for anti-discrimination legislation; was
an early founder and co-chair of the Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights (later called the Minnesota Committee for Gay and
Lesbian Rights); and was a special advisor for the St. Paul gay rights referendum in 1978. In the fall of 1982, Davis moved
to Washington, D.C., as the Director of Education and Research for the Right to Privacy Foundation, the 501(c)(3) counterpart
to the Gay Rights National Lobby and the Human Rights Campaign Fund. The job ended in 1983, and after a series of temporary
jobs, Davis was hired in 1987 by the Bill Digest section of the Congressional Research Service American Law Division, where
he worked there until his retirement in 2010. Davis competed in swimming in the first five Gay Games, 1982-1998, and was an
early research subject with the Study to Help the AIDS Research Effort (SHARE) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health, one of the four clinical sites of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gay Games
Davis, Richard (Rick)
Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights
Gay Rights National Lobby
Endean, Steve
Richard Davis papers
1961-2012
Davis (Richard) photographs, sample
Box 1, Folder 1
Bibliographic records
1972-1981
Box 1, Folder 2-7
Clippings, newspapers
1961-1981
Box 1, Folder 8
Clippings, text written by Davis
1974-1975
Box 1, Folder 10
Gay Games I, San Francisco, documents
1982
Box 1, Folder 11-12
Gay Games II, San Francisco, documents
1986
Box 4, Folder 1
Gay Games II, photographs
1986
Box 1, Folder 13-14
Gay Games III, Vancouver, documents
1990
Box 4, Folder 2
Gay Games III, Vancouver, photographs
1990
Box 1, Folder 15-16
Gay Games IV, New York, documents
1994
Box 4, Folder 3
Gay Games IV, New York, photographs
1994
Box 1, Folder 17-20
Gay Games V, documents
1998
Box 4, Folder 4
Gay Games V, photographs
1998
Box 1, Folder 21
Gay Games, photocopies of separated objects
1982-1998
Box 1, Folder 22
Gay rights legislative committee records
1973
Box 2, Folder 1-7
Gay Rights National Lobby records
1969-1983
Scope and Contents
Includes GRNL administrative records, goals, objectives, historical information, press releases, and publications, as well
as biographical material on Steve Endean.
Box 2, Folder 8
Gay rights speaking instructions
1976, undated
Box 2, Folder 9
Hanson volunteer committee records
1976
Box 2, Folder 10
Human Rights Campaign fund, press releases and publications
1982-1983
Box 2, Folder 11
Lobbying and gay rights reference materials
1973-1975
Box 2, Folder 12-15
Lobbying records
1969-1978
Box 2, Folder 16
Lobbyist training workshop
1977
Box 2, Folder 17-22
Minnesota Committee for Gay Rights records
1974-1980
Scope and Contents
Includes board records, mailings, handbills, and foundational records.
Box 2, Folder 23
National gay rights legislation records
1975-1981
Box 2, Folder 24-25
National Gay Task Force, published materials
1975-1981
Box 2, Folder 26-28
Right to Privacy Foundation records
1972-1985
Box 2, Folder 29
Neuropsychology study
1990
Box 2, Folder 30
Notes, project records, and biographical material
1974-2012
Box 3, Folder 2
St. Paul referendum materials
1974-1978
Box 3, Folder 3-8
Study to Help the AIDS Research Effort (SHARE) records
1984-2012
Box 3, Folder 9-10
Subject files, gay and lesbian
1962-1980
Box 3, Folder 11
Subject files, government ordinances and court records
1974-1983
Box 3, Folder 12
Subject files, Jack Baker and Mike McConnell
1973
Box 3, Folder 13
Subject files, political
1976
Box 3, Folder 14
Subject files, religious
1969-1976
