Christopher Street West Association collection, 1970-2009

Summary

Creators:

ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Abstract:

Agendas, minutes, clippings, correspondence, fliers, parade and permit applications, press releases, souvenir programs, photographs and slides of the Christopher Street West Association (CSW) parade and festival. The collection documents the pride parade and festivals held in Los Angeles and later West Hollywood, California, 1970-2009.

Extent:

9 Linear Feet 2 archives boxes, 4 archives cartons, 3 binder boxes, and 1 flat box.

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder #, or item name] Christopher Street West Association Collection, Coll2012-135, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Background

Scope and content:

Agendas, minutes, clippings, correspondence, fliers, parade and permit applications, press releases, souvenir programs, photographs and slides from the Christopher Street West Association (CSW). The collection documents the pride parade and festivals held in Los Angeles and later West Hollywood, California. The records document the transformation of a simple evening parade with few vehicles and marchers attended by a few thousand, to a three day festival and parade with music and floats attended by over a half million people.

Biographical / historical:

The Christopher Street West Association (CSW) was formed in 1970 to organize a parade in commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall riots. The concept of a celebratory parade and naming of the association were the result of a collaborative effort by community leaders Reverend Bob Humphries, Morris Kight, and Reverend Troy Perry.

The Los Angeles Police Commission required bonds totaling 1.5 million dollars and a payment of $1,500 for police overtime before they would issue a permit for the first parade. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was contacted and attorney Herbert Selwyn appealed the commission's demand before the Superior Court of California. The court ordered the issuing of the permit and charged the police department with the responsibility to protect the parade participants. CSW became the first organization to obtain a parade permit for its pride parade.

In 1973 the Los Angeles parade was suspended; in 1974 new leaders organized the annual parade with the addition of a pride festival. The parade and festival continued in Hollywood on Hollywood Boulevard through 1978. In 1979 the festival and parade were moved to an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County, west of Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard. In 1984 the residents of this unincorporated section of Los Angeles County voted to incorporate as the City of West Hollywood where the parade has been held since 1979.

"History of Christopher Street West / LA Pride." LA PRIDE LGBT Pride in West Hollywood. 2012 Web. 31 July 2012. http://www.lapride.org/about/history.html

Souvenir Pride Programs 1972 and 1975

Acquisition information:

The collection represents an artifical collection created by the archives prior to 2006. Materials were removed from the Pat Rocco photographs and and papers, the Larry C. Kephart Christopher Street West collection, and other collections.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged by format and then chronologically within each series:

Series 1. Documents Series 2. Photographs and slides Series 3. Programs

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

Christopher Street West Association Collection, Coll2012-134, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Eugene (Gene) Bricker Photographs, Coll2012-057, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Rob Cole Papers, Coll2009-019, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Jeanne Cordova Papers and Photographs, Coll2008-064, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Larry C. Kephart Christopher Street West Collection, Coll2014-111, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Bunny MacCulloch Christopher Street West photographs, Coll2014-114, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Jim Kepner Papers, Coll2011-002, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Morris Kight Papers and Photographs, Coll2010-008, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Pat Rocco Photographs and Papers, Coll2007-006, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Bill Wuzzy Spaulding Papers, Coll2013-097, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Adele Starr Collection on Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, Coll2009-012, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

William S. Tom Photographs, Coll2008-017, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Vaughn Taylor Photographs, Coll2011-007, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Jason Wittman Los Angeles Event Photographs, Coll2012-102, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Gay pride parades -- California -- Los Angeles
Festivals -- California -- Los Angeles
Photographs

Names:

Christopher Street West Association
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives

Restrictions:

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

Researchers wishing to publish material must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives as the physical owner of the material. Note that permission to publish does not constitute copyright clearance. ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives can grant copyright clearance only for those materials for which we hold copyright. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain copyright clearance for all other materials from the copyright holder(s).

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder #, or item name] Christopher Street West Association Collection, Coll2012-135, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

Location of this collection:

ONE Archives at the USC Libraries

909 West Adams Boulevard

Los Angeles, CA 90007, US

Contact:

(213) 821-2771

askone@usc.edu

Website