National Association of Business Councils records

Title: National Association of Business Councils records

Dates: 1979-1987

Collection Number: 1990-16

Creator/Collector:

Extent: 2 linear feet (2 cartons)

Repository: GLBT Historical Society

Abstract: This collection contains records of the National Association of Business Councils (NABC), a national organization of gay and lesbian business and professional people, from its incorporation in 1980 to 1987, a year after it was disbanded. It includes Board and Executive Committee meeting minutes and agendas, committee reports, financial records; membership materials, press releases, news clippings, subject files and a few photographs.

Language of Material: English

Collection is open for research. Funding for processing this collection was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

[Identification of item]. National Association of Business Councils records. Collection Number: 1990-16. GLBT Historical Society

The National Association of Business Councils (NABC) was a national organization of gay and lesbian business and professional people. The NABC was incorporated in 1980 as a nonprofit chamber of commerce representing the interests of its constituent local business councils. The Golden Gate Business Association was a founding member and its president, Arthur Lazere, played an active role in NABC’s formation. NABC addressed issues involving the business interests and civil rights of their membership and the larger LGBT community. Goals included promoting member businesses through mutual support and exchange of ideas; assisting gay communities to form their own business councils; advocating for business interests and the gay community’s civil rights at the national level; promulgating standards of excellence and ethical business practices; and utilizing combined purchasing power. NABC did not participate in partisan or candidate politics. Membership included thousands of LGBT business and professional people as well as their friends and supporters. NABC’s presidents included Gerald Schiff, Jean O’Leary, Arthur Lazere, Sarah Craig, Warren G. Kuhn and Anita Gherardi. In May 1986, delegates to the national convention in Wisconsin voted to officially end NABC on September 30 of that year. Reasons cited included duplication of efforts on a national level and the need for existing organizations to allocate resources to the AIDS crisis.

The collection contains records of the National Association of Business Councils (NABC), a national organization of gay and lesbian business and professional people, from its incorporation in 1980 to 1987, a year after it was disbanded. The collection contains organizational records, including by-laws, correspondence and memos to and from the group’s leadership, including presidents Schiff, Lazere, Craig, Kuhn and Gherardi; Board and Executive Committee meeting minutes and agendas; committee reports, including NABC Racism Committee Report and Proposal; financial records; membership materials; materials related to chapter development and corporate outreach; press releases; news clippings; subject files; and a few photographs. There is also substantial material from NABC conventions and member organizations. The member files include newsletters, brochures and chapter information. The correspondence files include related materials. Subjects covered include internal tensions between members and the national organization; racism and outreach to lesbians and gays from minority communities; the LGBT consumer market, including plans to do a demographic (marketing) study; winning an anti-discrimination policy from Miller Brewing Company; and opposition to the closing of bathhouses and civil rights violations arising from the AIDS epidemic. Original folder titles were maintained when possible. The GLBT Historical Society Periodical Collection has NABC newsletter. Interested researchers should also consult the Golden Gate Business Association records (1990-06) and the Arthur Lazere papers (1993-09).