KENNESAW, Ga. | Oct 23, 2020

The KSU Archives is pleased to announce the completion of a project to make its LGBTQ history materials more accessible to researchers. The acquisition of materials documenting local LGBTQ history is a priority collecting area for the Archives. This initiative has included the creation of the LGBTQ oral history series in 2014 and has yielded the donation of several collections to the Archives relating to Kennesaw State University, Cobb County, and the surrounding areas (see our LibGuide for a detailed list of LGBTQ history collections).

To make these materials more accessible to researchers, the Archives has added 260 new resources relating to local LGBTQ history to our Scholarly Online Access Repository.

• 250 issues of Southern Voice dating from 1988 to 1995. This newspaper served as an alternative news source for lesbians and gay men in Atlanta and the Southeast, covering topics such as the AIDS epidemic and LGBT rights.
• 8 interview transcripts for the LGBTQ Oral History Series, as well as additional metadata describing the content of each interview.
• Video and transcript for Television news clips on the 1993 Cobb County arts funding controversy from the Theatre in the Square Collection.

Online access to these materials will enable research by not only our local user community, but also researchers worldwide. Transcripts for video content will enable access for hearing impaired users and will allow researchers to locate relevant topics more quickly through keyword searchability.

The KSU Archives LGBTQ collecting initiative is ongoing, and plans are being made to expand the oral history series when in-person interviews can be safely conducted. If you are interested in participating in an oral history or donating materials to the Archives, please reach out at archives@kennesaw.edu.