Robert Oaks Papers, 1908-2001 (bulk 1976-1990)
Finding aid prepared by Tim Wilson
James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA, 94102
(415) 557-4400
info@sfpl.org
June 2008
Title: Robert Oaks Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1908-2001
Date (bulk): 1976-1990
Collection Identifier: GLC 56
Creator:
Oaks, Robert F., 1942-
Physical Description:
2.0 boxes
(1 cubic ft.)
Contributing Institution:
James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 557-4567
info@sfpl.org
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in
English, with one article in French.
Abstract: Robert F. Oaks is a historian with a primary interest in Colonial America and the American Revolution. In the late 1970s he
developed an interest in gay history, too. The collection contains letters from gay historians, research notes for articles
on homosexuality in 17th and 18th century America, photocopies of relevant articles by other historians, and some general
material related to gay causes in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite.
Languages represented: Collections materials are in English, with one article in French.
Access
The collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright and literary rights for Oaks's published and unpublished works are retained by Robert Oaks.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Roberts Oaks Papers (GLC 56), Gay and Lesbian Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Provenance
Donated by Robert Oaks, August 2004.
Biographical note
Robert Francis Oaks is a fifth generation Californian, born in Escondido in 1942. After receiving a B.A. from Stanford and
a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, he taught for a few years, primarily in Texas. With a specialty in Colonial
America and the American Revolution, in the late 1970s he developed an interest in gay history.
He published several articles in professional historical journals and was a weekly cast member of a gay radio show in Dallas.
He had frequent correspondence with prominent gay historians around the country and interviewed prominent gay activists.
A depressed job market prevented Oaks from achieving a tenured faculty position, so in 1978, he moved to San Francisco and
soon changed careers to data processing and banking. At the beginning of 1992, he retired and now devotes much of his time
to historical research and writing, though his interests now are primarily the histories of San Francisco and Hawai'i. Since
retirement he has published articles on 19th century San Francisco in historical journals and a book on the history of the
Big Island of Hawai'i.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains letters from gay historians, research notes for articles on homosexuality in 17th and 18th century
America, photocopies of relevant articles of other historians, and some general material related to gay causes in the late
1970s and early 1980s. Correspondents include Jonathan Katz, Lou Crompton, and Sal Licata.
Arrangement note
The collection is arranged into three series: Series 1. Correspondence; Series 2. Subject Files and Ephemera; and Series 3.
Publications.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Crompton, Louis, 1925-2009
Katz, Jonathan, 1938-
Licata, Salvatore J.
Oaks, Robert F., 1942- -- Archives
Gay men--Legal status, laws, etc.--United States
Homosexuality--History
Homosexuality--Law and legislation--United States
Sex and Law--United States--History
Sex crimes--United States--History
Sodomy--United States--History
Series 1
Correspondence,
1977-1990
Physical Description:
18.0 folders
Scope and Contents
The series includes letters from gay historians, such as Jonathan Katz, Lou Crompton, and Sal Licata. Subjects primarily focus
on legal aspects of gay history and on locating source materials.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Box 1, Folder 1
Bentsen, Lloyd (U.S. Senator),
August 1, 1977
Box 1, Folder 2
Boston Lesbian and Gay History Project,
January 26, 1980
Box 1, Folder 3
Brown, Harold, [U.S.] Secretary of Defense,
1977
Huggins, Lewis H., [U.S.] Department of the Army
Burg, B. R.-–See: Box 2 / Folder 9 Publications series
Box 1, Folder 4
Committee on Homosexuality in History,
1979
Box 1, Folder 5
Crompton, Louis,
1978-1979
DeCecco, John P.-–See: Box 1 / Folder 10
Journal of Homosexuality
Box 1, Folder 6
D'Emilio, John,
1978-1979
General note
Re: the Mattachine Society.
Box 1, Folder 8
Gilbert, Arthur N.,
March 9, 1979
Huggins, Lewis H.-–See: Box 1 / Folder 3 Brown, Harold
Interrante, Joe-–See: Box 1 / Folder 2 Boston Lesbian and Gay History Project
Box 1, Folder 10
Journal of Homosexuality,
1979-1980
Journal of Sex Research-–See: Box 1 / Folder 8 Gilbert, Arthur N.
Just Before Dawn (radio show)-–See: Box 1 / Folder 17 Whitley, J. B.
Box 1, Folder 11
Katz, Jonathan,
1977-1980, 1983
Kelly, Beth-–See: Box 1 / Folder 2 Boston Lesbian and Gay History Project
Box 1, Folder 12
Licata, Sal (Salvatore J.),
1977-1990
Monahan, James-–See: Box 1 / Folder 5 Crompton, Louis
Box 1, Folder 13
Monter, William,
March 10, 1979
Box 1, Folder 14
Ron (Pergamon Press),
1986-1987
Box 1, Folder 15
Rossiter, Frank,
November 14, 1978
General note
Re: Gay Academic Union.
Sprague, Gregory A.-–See: Box 1 / Folder 4 Committee on Homosexuality in History
Box 1, Folder 16
Thompson, Doug,
December 16, 1979
See also:
Box 1 / Folder 11 Katz, Jonathan
U.S. Department of the Army--See: Box 1 / Folder 3 Brown, Harold
Box 1, Folder 17
Whitley, J. B.,
September 4, 1977
General note
Re: Robert Oaks.
Just Before Dawn (radio show)
Box 1, Folder 18
Williams, Walter,
June 1979
Series 2
Subject Files,
1950-1995
Bulk, 1977-1992
Physical Description:
24.0 folders
Scope and Contents
The series contains materials on the legal and social attitude towards homosexuals through history. Of note is the research
on colonial laws in the United States as they pertain to sexuality and sexual acts.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Box 1, Folder 19
Bryant, Anita,
1977-1978
General note
Protect America's Children.
Colonial Laws
General Note
Research files with photocopies of laws published in the late 1600s, 1700s, and early 1800s on sexual conduct such as buggery
and sodomy. The folders also often include notes on when specific aspects of the laws were changed.
Box 1, Folder 21
Connecticut and New Haven,
Box 1, Folder 29
Rhode Island and New Hampshire
Box 1, Folder 32
Dallas Gay Political Caucus,
1978
Box 1, Folder 33
Gay Academic Union, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter,
1978-1980
Box 1, Folder 34
Kepner, James (Jim),
1975-1976
Box 1, Folder 36
Los Angeles,
1977-1978
General note
Includes Homosexual Information Center materials, and
Directory of Homosexual Organizations and Publications, annotated, 1977.
Mattachine Society--See: Box 1/ Folder 6 D'Emilio, John
Box 1, Folder 37
McCarthyism, excerpts from
Congressional Record,
1950
Box 1, Folder 38
Miscellaneous history,
1975-1995
Box 1, Folder 39
Miscellaneous news and flyers,
1977-1990
General note
Includes material on John Briggs and the Briggs Initiative / Proposition 6; and
Gay Rights: a Libertarian Approach by Ralph Raico.
Box 2, Folder 1
National Gay Archives,
undated
Box 2, Folder 2
ONE (Dorr Legg),
1962-1977
General note
Includes:
One (August 1962, November 1962, September 1963, June 1964, September 1965);
The Butterfly: One in Los Angeles (April 1977, August 1977);
Oneletter (vol. 22, no. 5, May 1977); "A Study of 388 North American Homosexual Males: preliminary findings" (Institute for the Study
of Human Resources Publications, vol. 7, no.1).
Protect America's Children-–See: Box 1 Folder 19 Bryant, Anita
Box 2, Folder 3
17th and 18th Century Sexuality—Miscellaneous,
undated
Series 3
Reprints and Photocopies of Printed Articles,
1908-2001
Bulk, 1976-1978
Physical Description:
28.0 folders
Scope and Contents
The series contains reprints and photocopies of articles on social attitudes toward homosexuality from the 17th century to
the present in the United States and Europe. There are three articles by Robert Oaks. The earliest material is Edward Westermarck's
1908 chapter on "Homosexual Love." Other authors include Jeremy Bentham, B. R. Burg, and Louis Crompton.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically.
Box 2, Folder 4
Allison, Peter B. "The Secret Sharer: the Significance of Homosexuality in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Britain,"
August 19, 1978
General note
Prepared for presentation to Annual Meeting, Pacific Coast Branch, American Historical Association, San Francisco, California.
"Jeremy Bentham's Essay on 'Paederasty': an introduction" by Louis Crompton. (
Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 3, no. 4, pp.383-387),
Summer 1978
"Offences Against One's Self: Paederasty. Part 1" by Jeremy Bentham, edited by Louis Crompton. (
Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 3, no. 4, pp.389-405),
Summer 1978
"Jeremy Bentham's Essay on 'Paederasty.' Part 2" by Jeremy Bentham, edited by Louis Crompton. (
Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 4, no.14, pp.91-110),
Fall 1978
Box 2, Folder 6
Bingham, Caroline. "Seventeenth-Century Attitudes Toward Deviant Sex" by Caroline Bingham. (
Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 1, no.3, pp.447-472),
Spring 1971
Box 2, Folder 7
Bullough, Vern L. "Challenges to Societal Attitudes Toward Homosexuality in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries"
(
Social Science Quarterly, vol.58, no.1, pp.29-44),
June 1977
Box 2, Folder 8
Bullough, Vern L. "Sex Education in Medieval Christianity" (
The Journal of Sex Research, vol.13, no.3, pp.185-196),
August 1977
Letters from B. R. Burg to Robert Oaks,
March 1, 1977; September 1, 1978
"Pirate Communities in the Seventeenth Century: A Case Study of Homosexual Society" [by B. R. Burg],
[1977?]
"Ho Hum, Another Work of the Devil: Buggery and Sodomy in Early Stuart England" [Presentation paper by B. R. Burg],
[1978]
"Chapter I. Sodomy and Public Perception: Seventeenth-Century England" [by B. R. Burg],
1978
Box 2, Folder 10
Burnham, John. "Early References to Homosexual Communities in American Medical Writings" (
Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, (August 1973), pp.34-49),
1973
Box 2, Folder 11
Committee on Lesbian and Gay History Newsletter,
1980-2001
General note
Includes issues: no.1 (Fall 1980); Summer 1983; new series vol.1, no.1 (1987); new series vol.1, no. 2 (December 1987); vol.15,
no. 2 (Winter 2001).
Box 2, Folder 12
Crompton, Louis,
See also:
Box 2 / Folder 5 Bentham, Jeremy
"The Death Penalty in Colonial America" [1625-1873, one-page chronology /photocopy of typescript], undated
"Homosexuals and The Death Penalty in Colonial America" (
Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 1, no.3, pp.277-293),
1976
"Lesbianism and the Law" [342-1950, one-page chronology / photocopy of typescript],
undated
Box 2, Folder 13
Flaherty, David H. "Law and the Enforcement of Morals in Early America" (
Perspectives in American History, vol.5 (1971): "Law in American History," pp.203-253, edited by Donald Fleming and Bernard Bailyn),
1971
Box 2, Folder 14
Forgey, Donald G. "The Institution of Berdache Among the North American Plains Indians" (
The Journal of Sex Research, vol. 11, no. 1, pp.1-15)
February 1975
Box 2, Folder 15
Garner, Brian and Richard W. Smith. "Are There Really Any Gay Male Athletes? An Empirical Survey" (
The Journal of Sex Research, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 22-34),
February 1977
Box 2, Folder 16
Gilbert, Arthur N. "Buggery and the British Navy, 1700-1861" (
Journal of Social History, vol. 10, no.1, pp.72-99),
Fall 1976
Box 2, Folder 17
Gilbert, Arthur N. "Sexual Deviance and Disaster During the Napoleonic Wars" (
Albion, vol. 9, no. 1, pp.98-113)
Spring 1977
Box 2, Folder 18
Hansen, Bert. "The Historical Construction of Homosexuality" (
The Radical History Review, no. 20), pp.66-73,
Spring/Summer 1979
Hindus, Michael S.-–See: Box 2 / Folder 28 Smith, David Scott
Box 2, Folder 19
Hooker, Evelyn. "The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual" (
Journal of Projective Techniques, vol.21, pp.18-31),
1957
Box 2, Folder 20
Hooker, Evelyn. "A Preliminary Analysis of Group Behavior in Homosexuals" (
Journal of Psychology, vol.42, pp.217-225),
1956
Box 2, Folder 21
Journal of Homosexuality, vol.6, nos.1/2. Special issue: "Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality,"
Fall/Winter 1980/1981
General note
Includes "Defining Sodomy in Seventeenth-Century Massachusetts" by Robert F. Oaks, pp.79-83.
Box 2, Folder 22
MacDonald, Robert H. "The Frightful Consequences of Onanism: Notes on the History of a Delusion" (
Journal of the History of Ideas, vol. 28, pp.423-431)
1967
Box 2, Folder 23
McIntosh, Mary. "The Homosexual Role" (
Social Problems, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 182-192).
1968
Box 2, Folder 24
May, Geoffrey. "In Pre-Revolutionary America" (
Social Control of Sex Expression (New York: William Morrow and Co., 1931), Chapter 12, pp. 229-255),
1931
Box 2, Folder 25
Monter, E. William. "La sodomie à l'époque moderne en Suisse romande" (
Annales, Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations, vol.29, pp.1023-1033),
1974
Languages represented: In French.
Oaks, Robert F. "Perceptions of Homosexuality by Justices of the Peace in Colonial Virginia"--See Box 2 / Folder 27
Sexual Law Reporter, vol. 4, no. 2
Box 2, Folder 26
Oaks, Robert F. "'Things Fearful to Name' : Sodomy and Buggery in Seventeenth-Century New England" (
Journal of Social History, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 268-281),
undated
Box 2, Folder 27
Sexual Law Reporter, vol. 4, no. 2,
April/June 1978
General note
Includes "Perceptions of Homosexuality by Justices of the Peace in Colonial Virginia" by Robert F. Oakes [sic]. 3 copies.
Box 2, Folder 28
Smith, David Scott & Michael S. Hindus. "Premarital Pregnancy in America 1640-1971: An Overview and Interpretation" (
Journal of Interdisciplinary History, vol. 4, pp. 537-570),
Spring 1975
Smith, Richard W.-–See Box 2 / Folder 15 Garner, Brian
Box 2, Folder 29
Stark, Gary D. "Pornography and the Police in Imperial Germany, 1870-1914,"
undated
Box 2, Folder 30
Trumbach, Randolph. "London's Sodomites: Homosexual Behavior and Western Culture in the 18th Century" (
Journal of Social History, vol. 11, pp.1-33.)
1977
Box 2, Folder 31
Westermarck, Edward. "Homosexual Love" from
The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (London: Macmillian and Co., 1908), vol. 2, Chapter 43, pp.456-489.
1908
