Finding Aid to the Don Slater/Homosexual Information Center Collection, 1957-1998
Coll2013-085
Kyle Morgan
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Don Slater/Homosexual Information Center collection
creator:
Homosexual Information Center (Hollywood, Calif.)
creator:
Slater, Don (Donald Rutherford Slater)
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2013-085
Physical Description:
2.9 Linear Feet
2 archive boxes + 1 archive carton
Date (inclusive): 1957-1998
Abstract: Correspondence, membership records, publications, promotional material, clippings, subject files, financial records, and court
records of the Homosexual Information Center, 1965-1998. Also includes the personal correspondence, financial records, medical
and insurance records, photographs, and memorial service materials of Don Slater, 1957-1997. A longtime Los Angeles gay activist,
Don Slater was one of the founders of ONE Incorporated in 1952 and the founder of the Homosexual Information Center in 1965.
Open-reel audiotapes eparated to the ONE audiovisual collection
Interviews recorded on 7-inch open-reel audiotapes for the KPFK 90.7 FM show
Homosexuality Today.
Dr Clarence Colwell interviewed by Joseph Hansen, January 15, 1970.
Howard Fox, Randy Schroeder, and Ralph Shaffer of the Gay Liberation Front. Moderator: Joseph Hansen. August 11, 1970. (unknown
if broadcast)
Ken Gual of SCREW interviewed by Joseph Hansen, Part 1 and 2, March 27, 1970. (2 reels)
Leo E. Laurence interviewed by Joseph Hansen, 1970.
Marcus Overseth interviewed by Joseph Hansen, February 6, 1970. (2 reels)
Other separated recordings
Don Slater lecture on equal rights at California State, Los Angeles. January 15, 1965. 7-inch open-reel audiotape.
Tangents meetings, February 20, 1970, and March 27, 1970. 7-inch open-reel audiotape.
Hay-Burnside-Pine, track 1; HIC board meeting, January 20, 1970, track 2. 5-inch open-reel audiotape.
Separated to the ONE program and periodcal collections
Alert, News from the UFMCC on AIDS Legislation, Education, Research, and Treatment (May 1992).
Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches General Conference XVI (July 18-25, 1993).
ZAP!, published by homophiles of Penn State (December 1974).
Acquisition
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
Processing Information
Formerly box 103-306. Collection processed by Kyle Morgan, 2013.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder #, or item name] Don Slater/Homosexual Information Center Collection, Coll2013-085, ONE National Gay & Lesbian
Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, membership records, publications, promotional material, clippings, subject files, financial records, and court
records of the Homosexual Information Center, 1965-1998. Includes records of the National Planning Conference of Homophile
Organizations and the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations, 1966-1970. Also includes the personal correspondence,
financial records, medical and insurance records, photographs, and memorial service materials of Don Slater, 1957-1997.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.
Biography
Donald Rutherford Slater was born in Pasadena, California, on August 21, 1923. He served in World War II before rheumatic
fever resulted in his honorable discharge. He enrolled at the University of Southern California and received a degree in English
literature. In 1951 Slater joined the Mattachine Society, and in 1952 was one of the founders of ONE Incorporated, which published
the first national gay and lesbian periodical,
ONE Magazine. Actively involved in the publication of the magazine, Slater became managing editor in 1958. A disagreement between Slater
and business manager Dorr Legg in 1965 sparked a battle over control of ONE that led to competing ONE publications. When Legg
won the right to use the name ONE later that year, Slater started his own organization, the Homosexual Information Center
(HIC), and periodical,
Tangents. Slater died on February 14, 1997, survived by his partner of over 50 years, Tony Reyes.
Sources:
"Don Slater, 1921-1997: A Gay Rights Pioneer Remembered by his Friends." Homosexual Information Center, 1997.
Hansen, Joseph.
A Few Doors West of Hope: The Life and Times of the Dauntless Don Slater. Homosexual Information Center, 1998.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gay press publications
Gay activists
Gay men
Homosexual Information Center (Hollywood, Calif.)
Slater, Don (Donald Rutherford Slater)
Don Slater/Homosexual Information Center (HIC) records
1957-1998
Arrangement
Correspondence, publications, and promotional material are listed first. The remainder of the collection is arranged alphabetically.
HIC publications and promotional material
Box 2, Folder 6
Brochures and pamphlets
circa 1966-1979
Box 2, Folder 8-12
Promotional materials
1965-1996
Physical Description: [5 folders]
Scope and Contents
Includes flyers, mass mailings, press releases, and other broadly distributed materials.
Box 2, Folder 13
Tangents publications
1965-1970
Box 1, Folder 1-27
Correspondence and subscription records (chronological arrangement)
1965-1995
Physical Description: [27 folders]
Scope and Contents
Includes inquiries, subscription requests and forms, and professional and personal correspondence.
Box 2, Folder 1-3
Correspondence and subscription records (alphabetical arrangement)
1965-1975
Physical Description: [3 folders]
Box 2, Folder 30
Baby book, Don Slater
1923-1924
Box 2, Folder 14
Biographical and memorial service materials
1997-1998
Scope and Contents
Includes the HIC publications "Don Slater, 1921-1997: A Gay Rights Pioneer Remembered by his Friends" and
A Few Doors West of Hope: The Life and Times of the Dauntless Don Slater.
Box 2, Folder 15
Clippings
1965-1976
Scope and Contents
Includes articles written by Don Slater.
Box 3, Folder 1
Court case records
1957-1981
Box 3, Folder 2
Financial records (personal)
1960-1971
Box 2, Folder 16
Hannepin County Library and American Library Association cataloging materials
1974-1975
Box 2, Folder 17
Medical and insurance records
1978-1995
Box 2, Folder 18
Miscellaneous records
1961-1992
Scope and Contents
Includes notes, receipts, W-2 tax forms while at ONE Incorporated, speaking engagement and other event flyers, 1965 ONE at
Cahuenga materials,
Tangents editorial and mockup records, Homosexual Information Center stationary, and pencil/pen sketches among other documents.
Box 2, Folder 23-29
North American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO) records
1966-1970
Physical Description: [7 folders]
Scope and Contents
Includes planning and conference records from events in Kansas City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Houston.
Box 3, Folder 5-6
National Planning Conference of Homophile Organizations (NPCHO), Credentials Committee records
1967-1970
Physical Description: [2 folders]
Box 2, Folder 19
Photographs
circa 1923-1996
Slater (Don) photographs, sample
Physical Description: Six black-and-white photographic prints, four color photographic prints, two color and two black-and-white laser prints on
paper, and one negative.
Scope and Contents
Images of Don Slater as a child and adult and of Tony Reyes.
Box 3, Folder 4
Tax-exempt status records
1968-1977
Scope and Contents
Includes correspondence with IMRU.
Box 2, Folder 20-21
Vennen court case records
1965-1971
Physical Description: [2 folders]
drawer 14-2
White cardboard sign with black text: "Don Slater 1923 1997" with a red heart in the middle
1997
