Bodecker (Torsten Weld) Papers, 1955-2008

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Scope and content:: Papers of Torsten Weld Bodecker (April 17, 1955-September 27, 1992), a gay man who moved to the Bay Area to attend art school in 1975, graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Women’s Studies in 1982, and went on to work as a university administrator and AIDS researcher. The collection includes analog and digitized artwork, correspondence, writings, journal entries, photographs, awards, and artifacts documenting Bodecker’s childhood, schooling, family relationships, and reflections of mental health, gay identity, AIDS, and mental health. Also included are materials related to the AIDS Quilt Panels (02833; 03349; 03859) commemorating Bodecker; DVDs featuring talks by Bodecker at MCI Framingham prison; and a poem about Torsten Weld Bodecker by N.M. Bodecker, Torsten’s father and a children’s book author.
Acquisition information:: Gift of Niels Weld Bodecker, August 2024.

Collection Guide Author:: Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff.
Date Prepared:: 1955-2008
Date Encoded:: This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:: Collection is open for research. Contact the Archivist for access to digitized materials.
Terms of access:: Copyright to materials created by Torsten Weld Bodecker has been transferred to the GLBT Historical Society. All requests for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist. Copyright to other materials in the collection may be held by their creators, or the creators' heirs or assigns. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Location of this collection:: GLBT Historical Society

989 Market Street, Lower Level

San Francisco, CA 94103, US