GLBT Historical Society Poster Collection, circa 1960's-2018

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Summary

Title:
GLBT Historical Society poster collection
Dates:
circa 1960's-2018
Creators:
GLBT Historical Society
Abstract:
This is an artificial collection of over 3000 posters and oversized ephemera items assembled by GLBTHS staff and volunteers since 1985. The materials document a wide range of subjects, groups, and events pertaining to LGBTQ+ social, cultural, and political life from the late twentieth to the early twenty-first centuries. The collection includes advertisements for events, performances, fundraisers, businesses and organizations, exhibitions, and film screenings; campaign materials for political candidates and ballot initiatives; promotional posters for books, publications, albums, CDs, films, and commercial products; posters from protests and marches, political coalitions, and public awareness campaigns; and commercially-distributed decorative posters and artwork reproductions.
Extent:
Approximately 3300 posters and oversized ephemera items; 78.2 linear feet (11 oversized boxes, 15 flat file drawers)
Language:
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], GLBT Historical Society Poster Collection (#GLBT-POSTER), The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.

Background

Scope and content:

Posters and oversized ephemera documenting a wide range of subjects, groups, and events pertaining to LGBTQ+ social, cultural, and political life. Geographically, the bulk of the materials are from the San Francisco Bay Area, though a limited number of items are from other parts of California, other U.S. states, and other countries. Chronologically, the bulk of the materials are dated from the 1970s through to the 2000s, with a limited number of items appearing from the 1960s and 2010s. Within the collection, prominent themes and subjects include: nightlife and parties, many of which took place in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood; theatrical productions, with notable companies being Theater Rhinoceros and Lilith Women’s Theatre Collective; sex and kink cultures, including bathhouses, leather title contests, leather/fetish shop and product advertisements; annual gatherings, such as San Francisco Pride, Folsom Street Fair, and Castro Street Fair; and the multifaceted community response to HIV/AIDS, seen in the form of protests led by ACT UP, safer sex campaigns, emerging community organizations, and a multitude of fundraisers. Other movements and causes documented throughout the collection include gay liberation; LGBTQ rights and the rise of LGBTQ political candidates; lesbian feminism and the women’s music scene; anti-imperialism and Third World solidarity; support for sex workers and sexual liberation; anti-bullying and anti-discrimination; and community responses to sexual violence and police brutality. Material forms include calendars, poetry broadsides, mailers, uncut print proofs, signs/notices, restaurant menus, screen prints, offset lithographs, and silkscreens. Particular research strengths of this collection are seen in its documentation of graphic design histories and queer information sharing practices, printers and printing collectives, such as Women’s Press Project and David’s Print Shop, and the work of illustrationists and visual artists, such as Todd Trexler and Dodie Shoemaker. While many of the materials in the collection are suitable for all ages, some of the items may contain sexually explicit content. These explicit materials are intended for adult audiences only.

Acquisition information:
This is an artificial collection assembled by the staff at the GLBT Historical Society from items received by donors. Additions to the collection are ongoing.
Processing information:

Collection rehoused and arranged, and finding aid created by Ash Waltz in September 2025- February 2026. Funding for processing this collection was provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library. This finding aid uses terminology for LGBTQ people that was in current use at the time of its creation. Descriptive language for queer identities evolves quickly and some of these terms may now be dated or even offensive. Finding aids are themselves historical documents; they reflect the moment in which they were written and often reflect the terms that subjects used for themselves. Please contact the GLBT Historical Society Archivist with questions or comments.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by GLBT Historical Society staff.
Date Prepared:
circa 1960's-2018
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. The erotica in this collection may only be viewed by researchers aged eighteen and over and it is made available for educational and research purposes. For help searching the contents of the collection, contact the Managing Reference Archivist.

Terms of access:

All requests for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material must be submitted in writing to the GLBT Historical Society Archivist. Permission for reproductions and/or permission to publish or quote from material is given on behalf of the GLBT Historical Society as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder. 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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], GLBT Historical Society Poster Collection (#GLBT-POSTER), The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society.

Location of this collection:
989 Market Street, Lower Level
San Francisco, CA 94103, US
Contact:
(415) 777-5455
reference@glbthistory.org
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