Los Angeles Public Library and Langston Hughes Poster Complaint Collection, 1989-1994 Coll2011.064

Finding aid prepared by Marc LaRocque
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California, 90007
(213) 741-0094
askone@ONEarchives.org
(c) 2011


Title: Los Angeles Public Library and Langston Hughes Poster Complaint Collection
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2011.064
Contributing Institution: ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 0.1 linear foot. [1 folder]
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1991-1994
Date (inclusive): 1989-1994
Abstract: Petition, memoranda, press releases, interdepartmental correspondence, articles, organizational statements, reports, and other material documenting controversy over "issues of equity, censorship, and discrimination" with regard to gay and lesbian patrons and employees by the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), circa 1989-1994. According to a complaint filed in 1994 by library employees, in 1991 the City Librarian of the LAPL "censored and ordered destroyed Lesbian and Gay History Month materials."
creator: Gay and Lesbian United Employees (Los Angeles Public Library).

Processing Information

In order to provide access to this collection, minimal processing on this collection was expedited in 2011. Date spans were given wherever possible, but do not reflect the most accurate inclusive dates.

Preferred Citation

Box #, folder #, Los Angeles Public Library and Langston Hughes Poster Complaint Collection, Coll2011-064, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California

Publication Rights

Contact ONE archivist regarding publication and use restrictions.

Access

Contact ONE archivist regarding access restrictions.

Historical Note

According to a complaint filed in 1994 with the City of Los Angeles by library employees, in 1991 the City Librarian of the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) "censored and ordered destroyed Lesbian and Gay History Month materials (a poster and a bibliography) which this public institution had already officially approved and distributed ... to local branch libraries and... to the public." The action came in response to a patron's complaint over the use of a quote by Langston Hughes on the poster in question. The issue became a flash point for already simmering tensions between LAPL administrators and gay and lesbian library employees over services provided to the gay and lesbian community.

Scope and Content

Petition, memoranda, press releases, interdepartmental correspondence, articles, organizational statements, reports, and other material documenting controversy over "issues of equity, censorship, and discrimination" with regard to gay and lesbian patrons and employees by the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL), circa 1989-1994. According to a complaint filed in 1994 by library employees, in 1991 the City Librarian of the LAPL "censored and ordered destroyed Lesbian and Gay History Month materials (a poster and a bibliography) which this public institution had already officially approved and distributed... to local branch libraries and... to the public." The action was in response to a patron's complaint over the use of a quote by Langston Hughes on the poster in question. The collection comprises material collected for the 1994 complaint.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Censorship
Gay activists--California--Los Angeles
Gay and lesbian writers
Lesbian activists