Finding Aid to the William A. Koelsch Papers, 1942-2014
Coll2014-009
Kyle Morgan
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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: William A. Koelsch papers
creator:
Koelsch, William A.
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014-009
Physical Description:
1.6 Linear Feet
1 archive box + 1 archive carton
Date (inclusive): 1942-2014
Abstract: Articles, manuscripts, correspondence, transcripts, clippings, programs, fliers, press releases, guides, biographical information,
and photographs documenting the writings, projects, activities, and personal interests and history of William Koelsch, 1942-2014.
Koelsch was a Boston gay rights activist best known for his column series in
Gay Community News,
Esplanade,
Integrity Forum, and
Bay Windows, written under the pseudonym A. Nolder Gay.
Container: 1-2
Separated Materials
Separated to the ONE periodical collection
Fellowship News, Lesbian and Gay Fellowship of the Trinity Church (November 1996, January 1997, September 1997, Winter 1997, Spring 1998,
Summer 1998)
Gay Information: A Quarterly Journal (Autumn 1981)
Genders, no.2 (Summer 1988)
Integrity, news of the Boston chapter, (June, September, November/December 1978; January, May/June, September, November, Advent 1979;
January/February, February/March, April, June, July, Early Autumn, November, December 1980; January-December 1981; January-October,
December 1982; January-September 1983)
Integrity Forum, v.4, no.5 (June-July 1978)
Jim Kepner's Song & Dance, no.2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8a, and 10 (1994-1997)
Separated to the ONE programs collection
Ars Nova, Boston's chorus for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual communities, "Holiday Concert" (December 8, 1991)
Coro Allegro, Boston's chorus for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual communities, Schubert, Poulenc, Brahms and Bach concert (November
22, 1992); "Spring Concert" (May 14, 1994); "Chant" (February 12, 1995); and Rossi, Fine, Barber, and Pinkham concert (May
19, 1996).
The Names Project National Tour, Boston, Massachusetts, June 16-19, 1988.
Non-LGBT magazine cover story collection
Trinity Life, the newsletter of Trinity Church in the City of Boston (May 1997)
Separated to the International Gay and Lesbian Archives collection
International Gay and Lesbian Archives materials including
Archives Bulletins (Fall 1983, Summer 1984, January 1986, May and November 1987, and Spring-Summer 1991),
Archives Events (no.20 March 1981, no.41c June 1982, no.46 December 1982, and no.64 February 1988), archives reports, progress reports, meeting
reports, fliers, mass mailings, and letters from the curator.
Biography
William A. Koelsch was born in 1933. He received a bachelor's degree at Bucknell University in 1955 and a master's degree
at Clark University in 1959. Koelsch graduated from the University of Chicago with a Ph.D. in American history in 1966. He
was hired as an assistant professor of history and geography at Clark University in 1967 and soon became a tenured professor.
During a sabbatical in 1973, he rented an apartment in Boston and became involved in the burgeoning gay movement. Under the
pseudonym A. Nolder Gay, Koelsch wrote a column for the newly published newspaper
Gay Community News (GCN). The first column appeared in issue #13 on September 15th, 1973, and would continue, in different guises and for different
publications, for the next fifteen years.
By 1974, Koelsch began speaking before groups on gay topics, organizing "coming-out" raps, and attending services with the
gay-supportive religious groups Integrity, Dignity, and the Metropolitan Community Church. In 1975, Koelsch taught a course
on the gay liberation movement, one of the earliest such classes in New England. Koelsch volunteered for Thanksgiving dinners
for the elderly poor through a group called the Fengays, which operated out of a Fenway gay bar, then a Back Bay gay bar called
"Buddies." Koelsch became involved in the fledgling Massachusetts Gay Political Caucus which worked to support anti-discrimination
bills and gay-supportive candidates. He worked with activist Barbara Gittings on gay bibliography projects and for the American
Library Association's Lesbian and Gay Task Force annual book awards.
Koelsch wrote his A. Nolder Gay column for
GCN,
Esplanade,
Integrity Forum, and
Bay Windows. In 1978, he published the best of his
GCN and
Esplanade columns in the book
The View from the Closet: Essays on Gay Life and Liberation. In 1990, he compiled the best of the history columns from all his publications in
Some of My Best Friends: Essays in Gay History and Biography.
Shaken by the newly emerging AIDS epidemics, Koelsch, in the fall of 1982, began incorporating AIDS into his undergraduate
health and disease course, one of the earliest treatments of the subject in a college context. He joined the Province I (New
England) Episcopal AIDS Network, chaired the AIDS Task Force of his diocese, served on the Worcester Ecumenical Council's
AIDS Committee, and volunteered locally and nationally for the NAMES Project's AIDS Memorial Quilt displays. Koelsch spoke
to numerous groups about AIDS and AIDS ministry.
Since retiring, Koelsch has focused on his scholarly writing, publishing twenty-some professional articles and review essays
as well as the book
Geography and the Classical World: Unearthing Historical Geography's Forgotten Past. As of 2014, Koelsch and his partner "A Younger Gay" have been together for forty years.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Kyle Morgan, 2014.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] William A. Koelsch Papers, Coll2014-009, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Acquisition
Donated by William A. Koelsch, February 2014.
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
Writings, correspondence, transcripts, clippings, programs, fliers, press releases, guides, biographical information, and
photographs documenting the projects, activities, and personal interests and history of William Koelsch, 1942-2014. The collection
includes the fifteen years of column articles and two books published under the pseudonym A. Nolder Gay.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gay men's writings, American
Gays -- Correspondence
Gay activists -- Massachusetts -- Boston
Koelsch, William A.
Gay, A. Nolder (pseudonym)
Personal, project, and subject files Series 1.
1942-2014
Physical Description: 0.4 Linear Feet
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, transcripts, clippings, programs, fliers, guides, biographical information, and photographs documenting the
projects, activities, history, and personal interests of William Koelsch, 1942-2014. Projects, activities, and output related
to Koelsch's writing career are documented in the Publishing-related records series.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in alphabetical order.
Box 2, Folder 33
A. Nolder Gay collection donation and provenance materials
2013-2014
Box 2, Folder 36
Association of American Geographers talk, "Gays, Lesbians, and Gay/Lesbians Studies in Geography"
1992
Box 2, Folder 35
Association of American Geographers talk, "Reading Between the Spaces in George Chauncey"
1994-1995
Box 1, Folder 3
Biographical information
1974-2014
Scope and Contents
Includes a curriculum vitae (2014), horoscope (1974), the autobiographical article "Through the Looking Glass: 'A Nolder Gay'
Meets 'The Movement,'" and clippings.
Box 1, Folder 5
Boston Archives Project
1974
Box 1, Folder 6
Buddies' Thanksgiving dinners
1982-1985
Box 1, Folder 8
Educational material
circa 1992
Box 1, Folder 11
Gay Boston subject file
1980-1988
Box 1, Folder 17
Intregrity/Boston
1977-1986
Box 1, Folder 18
Integrity convention, Boston
1980
Box 1, Folder 19
Integrity convention, Boston, self-guided walking tour
1980
Box 1, Folder 20
International Gay and Lesbian Archives
1980-1994
Box 1, Folder 21
Interview transcript
Summer 1983
Box 1, Folder 23
Ludwig II postcards and information
undated
Box 1, Folder 24
National Gay Archives and Library Committee
1975-1977
Box 1, Folder 25
New England Gay Conference
1975
Box 1, Folder 26
New England NAMES Project
1988
Box 1, Folder 27
Obituaries and memorial service materials of friends and acquaintances
1977-2006
Box 2, Folder 34
Photographs
1942-1998
Scope and Contents
Seventeen photographic prints of Koelsch at different times of his life. Includes images of his longtime partner "A. Younger
Gay" and their cat Mischief.
Box 1, Folder 28
Price, Lucien, subject file
1943-1992
Box 1, Folder 29
Sermon: Boston Metropolitan Community Church
August 1974
Box 1, Folder 30
Sermon: Service of Light, Pakachoag Church
1994
Box 1, Folder 31
Talks to gay groups
1987, undated
Box 1, Folder 32
Trinity Church Lesbian and Gay Fellowship
1995-1998
Publishing-related records Series 2.
1954-2013
Physical Description: 0.6 Linear Feet
Scope and Contents
Column articles and manuscripts published by William Koelsch, primarily under the pseudonym A. Nolder Gay, as well as the
administrative records of his writing-related projects, 1954-2013. The bulk of the administrative records consists of correspondence,
including with Barbara Gittings for the Gay Book Award and
The Gay Experience book project. The administrative records also includes clippings, editorial material, published works, and fliers.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged into three sections: 1) Column articles, 2) Manuscripts, and 3) Administrative records.
Column articles
1973-1989
Box 1, Folder 39-41
Gay Community News
1973-1975
Box 1, Folder 42
Gay Community News and
Esplanade
1976
Box 1, Folder 46-47
Integrity Forum
1980-1982
Box 1, Folder 53
Bay Windows, never published
1988
Some of My Best Friends
1985-1992
Box 1, Folder 55
Correspondence and fliers
1985-1990
Box 1, Folder 58
Reviews and other materials
1991-1992
Box 1, Folder 60
"Two Days," original version
1980
The View from the Closet
1978-1987
Box 1, Folder 61
Books (1 signed, 1 unsigned)
1978
Administrative records
1954-2013
Box 1, Folder 1
Alyson Features Syndicate
1985-1986
Box 1, Folder 2
American Library Association, Gay Task Force, Gay Book Award
1979-1987
Box 1, Folder 4
Bay Windows, correspondence
1983-1991
Box 1, Folder 10
A Gay Biography, 6th edition
1974-1980
Box 1, Folder 12
Gay Caucus of authors, booksellers, and publishers
1979-1980
Box 1, Folder 13
Gay Community News, 30th anniversary celebration
2003
Box 1, Folder 14
Gay Community News and
Esplanade, correspondence
1975-1979
Box 1, Folder 15-16
The Gay Experience book project
1982-1986
Box 1, Folder 22
LGBT history textbook project
1954-2013
Box 1, Folder 33-38
Union Park Press, correspondence
1978-1994
Correspondence files Series 3.
1974-2014
Physical Description: 0.6 Linear Feet
Scope and Contents
Primarily letters, postcards, and greeting cards documenting the correspondence between Koelsch and others. Includes clippings,
fliers, press releases, and other materials.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in alphabetical order, with fan letters and miscellaneous correspondence listed at the end.
Box 1, Folder 65
Charles, Right Reverend Otis
1994-1997
Box 2, Folder 4
Freedman, Estelle
1989-1992
Box 2, Folder 6-8
Gittings, Barbara
1975-2006
Box 2, Folder 14
Lotman, Loretta
1975-1978
Box 2, Folder 15
Manners, Robert J.
1993-1998
Box 2, Folder 16
McNaught, Brian
1979-1997
Box 2, Folder 20
Philips, Walter
1984-1995
Box 2, Folder 26
Weinrich, James D.
1977-1997
Box 2, Folder 30-32
Miscellaneous correspondence, A-Z
1975-1998
