Collection Guide
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Callahan (Patricia) Files on Orange County Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Activism.
MS.R.119
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Patricia Callahan files on Orange County lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activism
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.119
Physical Description:
3.5 Linear Feet
(10 boxes, 1 OS folder) and 1.4 unprocessed linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1965-2005, bulk 1985-1993
Date (bulk): 1985-1993
Abstract: This collection primarily documents AIDS, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activism in Orange County, California circa
1985-2005, including material on the Elections Committee of the County of Orange (ECCO), Laguna Outreach, and the No on 64
Campaign. Also included are VHS tapes, audiocassette tapes, and pins and buttons. The bulk of the collection consists of Patricia
Callahan's subject files.
Language of Material:
English
.
Processed components of the collection are open for research. Unprocessed additions may contain restricted materials. Please
contact the Department of Special Collections and Archives in advance to request access. Access to original video recordings
and audio tapes is restricted; researchers may request viewing or listening copies.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Patricia Callahan Files on Orange County Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Activism. MS-R119. Special Collections and
Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Gift of Barbara Muirhead and Dick Hitt of the Orange County LGBT Historical Timeline Project in 2003, 2004, and 2008. Gift
of Pat Callahan, 2019 March.
The files were donated to the Orange County LGBT Historical Timeline Project by Patricia Callahan and later given to Special
Collections and Archives by Barbara Muirhead and Dick Hitt. Some of the files belonged to Don Hagan and Drew Barras and were
given to Patricia Callahan before they passed away.
Processed by Joanna Lamb, 2009. Updated by Zoe MacLeod, 2022.
Duplicates and news clippings unrelated to Orange County were not retained.
Patricia Callahan was an AIDS activist and leader in the LGBT community in Orange County, California during the late 1980s
and early 1990s. She contributed to a number of organizations, committees, and conferences that supported gay and lesbian
rights and AIDS awareness and education including: the Election Committee of the County of Orange (ECCO), Laguna Outreach,
The Human Rights Campaign Fund, and The Federation. Through her work with ECCO, Callahan lobbied and campaigned on issues
directly affecting the LGBT community and people with HIV/AIDS. As of 2009, Callahan was living in Laguna Beach, California.
Don Hagan and Drew Barras, also leaders in the Orange County LGBT community, worked with Patricia Callahan on a number of
projects and campaigns. The two men, a physician and veterinarian, were committed to gay and lesbian rights and AIDS awareness
and education. On April 1, 1989 the doctors were honored by San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos for their activist work on behalf
of people with AIDS. Don Hagan died in 1992 from an AIDS related illness.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection primarily documents AIDS, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activism in Orange County, California circa
1985-2005 including material on the Elections Committee of the County of Orange (ECCO), Laguna Outreach, and the No on 64
Campaign. The bulk of the collection consists of Patricia Callahan's subject files, which include materials she collected
as co-chair of Election Committee of the County of Orange (ECCO), one of California largest political action committees. The
subject files also include correspondence, campaign, and lobbying materials from Callahan's involvement with the "No on 64"
campaign, which successfully fought to prevent the quarantine of AIDS/HIV patients; the California Assembly Bill 101 campaign
to add "sexual orientation" to the list of protected categories in the California Fair Employment and Housing Act; and the
City of Irvine's Human Rights Ordinance, which included the term "sexual orientation" in an anti-discrimination ordinance.
Additionally, the collection includes correspondence, research, news clippings and awards collected by Don Hagan and Drew
Barras related to AIDS activism. The collection also documents the 25th anniversary of The Center OC.
Materials include correspondence publications, news clippings, newsletters, brochures, articles, pamphlets, directories, a
catalog, 14 videocassettes (VHS), audiocassettes, printed ephemera, agendas, minutes, memorial materials, photographic prints,
and ephemera, such as buttons and pins.
This collection is arranged in 3 series.
- Series 1. Patricia Callahan's subject files, 1984-2002. 2.10 linear feet
- Series 2. ECCO scrapbook, 1985-2005, .2 linear feet
- Series 3. Don Hagan and Drew Barras' subject files, 1965-1991. .5 linear feet
The collection also contains one unprocessed addition:
Accession 2019-024, 1986-1990.
Related materials can be found in the following collections:
- Orange County Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Timeline research files. MS-R105. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
- Thomas J. Peterson Collection on the Elections Committee of the County of Orange. MS-R125. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Video recordings -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Ephemera -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Letters -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
Gay rights -- California -- Orange County -- History -- Sources
California, Proposition 64 (1986) -- Archives
AIDS activists -- California -- Orange County -- Archives
Gay rights -- Law and legislation -- California
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 21st century.
Photographic prints -- California -- Orange County -- 20th century.
AIDS (disease) -- Law and legislation -- California -- Sources
Election Committee of the County of Orange (Calif.) -- Archives