Where can you find historical LGBTQ materials?

We have compiled a list of resources, focused on the Seattle area.

The Michael C. Weidemann LGBT Library at Gay City houses books, CDs and DVDs donated by community members, and can be checked out by community members for free with a valid ID. The library is staffed by volunteers, who are available for everything from answering a simple resource question to helping you pick out just the right book to read.

The Pacific Northwest Lesbian Archive (now closed) was a community group that collected a lot of material significant to local lesbian history.  These materials are being processed by volunteers for permanent inclusion in the Washington State Historical Society archives, accessible in their research center. Collections include the Lesbian Resource Center materials.

Washington State Historical Society archives, connected to the Washington State History museum, both in Tacoma, WA.  WSHS is the home of the Pacific Northwest Lesbian Archives materials as well as other materials related to LGBT lives.

The Museum of History and Industry received many of the materials collected by the grassroots group The Northwest Gay and Lesbian History Museum Project, including the bar sign for “Shelly’s Leg.”  They were also one of the first U.S. museums to use LGBT as a search term in their on-site collections database.

The Northwest Gay and Lesbian History Museum Project is a local history organization that has taken on different projects over the years, including a 1994 Seattle LGBT history exhibit, two published books of oral histories and a walking tour highlighting significant sites of Seattle’s LGBT histories.

 The University of Washington Special Collections GLBTQ collection  includes significant to LGBTQ peoples and communities from the Northwest housed in this University of Washington’s Special Collections archive.

The University of Washington Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium has a section dedicated to LGBTQ Activism in Seattle, with links to oral histories, photographs, and community organizations.