Alfred (Randy) Subject Files and Sound Recordings, 1974-1990
Online content
Collection context
Summary
Background
- Scope and content:
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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. Arrangement This collection is arranged in two series: Series 1. Research files Series 2. The Gay Life and other audiotapes
- Biographical / historical:
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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.
- Acquisition information:
- Donated by Randall H. Alfred, October 1991.
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Gay men
Radio
Journalism
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- 1974-1990
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
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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 .
- Terms of access:
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Copyright to unpublished manuscript materials created by the donor has been transferred to the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.
- Preferred citation:
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Randy Alfred subject files and sound recordings. GLBT Historical Society
- Location of this collection:
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989 Market Street, Lower LevelSan Francisco, CA 94103, US
- Contact:
- (415) 777-5455