Collection Guide
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Wachs (Joel) Gay and Lesbian Records
Coll2014.119
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Joel Wachs gay and lesbian records
creator:
Wachs, Joel
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014.119
Physical Description:
1 Linear Feet
1 flat archive box
Date (inclusive): 1983-1996
Abstract: Gay and lesbian-related legal records, correspondence, and awards of Los Angeles City Councilmember Joel Wachs, 1983-1996.
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
[Box/folder #, or item name] Joel Wachs Gay and Lesbian Records, Coll2014-119, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
Collection processed by Kyle Morgan, 2014.
Legal records and correspondence of Los Angeles City Councilmember Joel Wachs regarding the discrimination of gay and lesbian
people by the Los Angeles Police Department, November 1995 to April 1996. The records include legal briefs from The People
of the State of California vs. Donald Cole Chapman and Virginia Acevedo vs. City of Los Angeles, and correspondence from the
American Civil Liberties Union and Randy Hirt. The records also include awards from Christopher Street West and the Log Cabin
Republican Club.
Joel Wachs was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1939, but grew up in Los Angeles. He received a bachelor’s degree in political
science at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1961; a law degree from Harvard in 1964; and a master's degree in
tax law from New York University in 1965. Wachs returned to Los Angeles to practice corporate tax law. In 1971, he was elected
as a Los Angeles City Councilmember for District 2 located in the San Fernando Valley. Wachs served as a councilmember for
thirty years. He was involved in the passing of an anti-AIDS discrimination law in 1985, establishing the Los Angeles Endowment
for the Arts in 1988, supporting rent control, and supporting assistance for the city's elderly. Wachs became president of
the Los Angeles City Council in 1981. Wachs ran, unsuccessfully, three times for mayor. After his last loss (2001) he resigned
from his city council position to assume the presidency of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Source: Joel Wachs Papers, Loyola Marymount University, http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c82r3sdr/entire_text/
(accessed November 21, 2014)
Joel Wachs Papers, CSLA-29, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gay politicians
Gay activists
Wachs, Joel
Los Angeles (Calif.). City Council -- Archives
Los Angeles (Calif.). Police Department -- Archives
Wachs, Joel -- Archives