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Guide to the Randy Alfred Subject Files and Sound Recordings
1991-24
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Table of contents
Title: Randy Alfred subject files and sound recordings
Dates: 1974-1990
Collection number: 1991-24
Creator:
Alfred, Randall H.
Collection Size:
22 boxes and 3 folders (approximately 22 linear feet)
Repository:
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
San Francisco, California 94105
Abstract:
Randy Alfred was a freelance journalist and radio talk show host in the San Francisco area during the 1970s-1980s. Collection
contains research files (clippings, fliers, brochures, correspondence, and notes) and audiotapes--primarily concerning lesbian
and gay issues and organizations in San Francisco during the 1970s and 1980s--assembled by Alfred in the course of his hosting
of the KSAN public affairs radio show
The Gay Life
.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection open for research.
Copyright to unpublished manuscript materials created by the donor has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender
Historical Society.
Randy Alfred subject files and sound recordings, 1991-24, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
Donated by Randall H. Alfred, October 1991.
Subject headings used in the Research Files series are generally those supplied by Alfred; different subject headings were
supplied during processing only when the originals seemed inadequate. Readily available printed material, such as election
guides for local and presidential elections and Gay Pride Parade programs were removed during processing.
Randall H. (Randy) Alfred is a freelance journalist and former radio talk show host in San Francisco, California. Alfred was
educated at Yale University (B.A., magna cum laude, 1967) and the University of California, Berkeley (graduate student in
Sociology, 1967-1969 and 1971-1974). He collected materials about gay and lesbian life in San Francisco as part of his research
for journal articles and his radio talk show
The Gay Life
.
Alfred's mass media career began in 1970. During the 1970s he was a freelance writer for numerous magazines and newspapers,
including
The Advocate
,
Coming Up
,
Vector
,
The Berkeley Barb
,
Playboy
,
New West
,
San Francisco Examiner
,
San Francisco Chronicle
, and
Oakland Tribune
.
In 1975, Alfred became a news editor for the
San Francisco Sentinel
and wrote the column "Waves from the Left." He remained with the
Sentinel
until 1977, when he became news editor for another local gay newspaper,
The San Francisco Bay Times
. Alfred left in 1978, and found work as a freelance researcher and reporter for KPIX-TV and KPFA-FM, two Bay Area broadcasting
stations. During a previous radio stint, Alfred had been a public-affairs reporter for KPFA-FM from 1973-1974. From 1979 until
1981, Alfred did freelance worrk until he became editor-in-chief of the
Sentinel
in 1982. He also wrote for a nationally syndicated column known as "Dateline S.F." A year later, in 1983, Alfred became a
story consultant for KRON-TV. From 1979-1984, Alfred was the producer and host for
The Gay Life
, a weekly 60-minute public affairs radio show on KSAN. He was also editor of Rip N'Read News Service in San Francisco from
1983-1986, and news writer for KRON-TV starting in 1986.
Scope and Content of Collection
Includes primarily research files and reel-to-reel audiotapes documenting gay and lesbian life, events, and issues in San
Francicso in the 1970s and 1980s, including the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Also includes photographs of Harvey Milk
and others, and 1978 gay pride parades in San Francisco and Berkeley. Research files comprise primarily clippings, fliers,
brochures, correspondence, and notes made by Alfred.
This collection is arranged in two series:
- Series 1. Research files
- Series 2. The Gay Life and other audiotapes
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection.
Alfred, Randall H.
The Gay Life (radio talk show)
Gay men
Gay men--Social life and customs
Lesbians
Lesbians--Social life and customs
AIDS (Disease)
Talk shows
Audiotapes
Clippings
Correspondence
Fliers (printed matter)
Printed ephemera
California--San Francisco (county)--San Francisco