Eric E. Rofes Papers, 1979-2005 (bulk 1985-2003)

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Summary

Creators:
Rofes, Eric E., 1954-2006
Abstract:
Extent:
71 boxes
Language:
Preferred citation:

Eric E. Rofes Papers. San Francisco Public Library, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center

Background

Scope and content:

The collection is organized into 11 series: Series 1. Teaching Files, University of California, Berkeley, and Bowdoin College. Series 2: Charter School Research Files. Series 3: Selected Readings. Series 4: Speaking Engagements "Gigs." Series 5: Articles, Writings and Books. Series 6: Education and Media Files. Series 7: Gay Men's Health Files, includes Gay Men's Health Summits. Series 8: Organizational Records: Shanti Project and Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center. Series 9: Queer Media Files. Series 10: Correspondence. Series 11: "Gay Men’s Social Networks and Sexual Cultures in the United States, 1973-1982" project files.

Biographical / historical:

Eric Rofes (August 31, 1954–June 26, 2006) was a gay activist, educator, and author who wrote or edited 12 books. He grew up in Commack, New York. He graduated from Harvard University and went on to receive a master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1995 as well as a doctorate in social and cultural studies in 1998. He was appointed to the White House Conference on the Family in 1980. He became director of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in the 1980s. In 1989, he became executive director of the Shanti Project, a nonprofit AIDS service organization in San Francisco. He resigned in 1993. In 1998, Rofes wrote "Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post-AIDS Identities and Cultures," in which he argued that the AIDS crisis had passed and gay men needed to free themselves from the sense of emergency and victimhood. He was a professor of Education at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California, and served on the board of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and White Crane Institute. One of the last projects he worked on was the creation, with Chris Bartlett, of a series of "Gay Men's Health Leadership Academies" to combat what he saw as a "pathology-focused understanding of gay men" in safe-sex education.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Dan Derdula for the Eric E. Rofes estate, 2007, and 2019.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. The collection is offsite and advance notice is required for retrieval. Material must be requested at least 4 business days in advance of visit. The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours. Photographs are available during Photo Desk hours. Some restrictions apply for the interviews in Series 11; consult LGBTQIA archivist for more information.

Terms of access:

Copyright retained by the Eric E. Rofes estate, 2007.

Preferred citation:

Eric E. Rofes Papers. San Francisco Public Library, James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center

Location of this collection:
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102, US
Contact:
(415) 557-4567
sfhistory@sfpl.org
Website