The History Project maintains one of the largest independent LGBTQ+ archives in the nation, which includes more than 250 collections from organizations and individuals that range from the records of early Gay Liberation organizations and photographs of pre-Stonewall Boston to objects such as T-shirts and buttons and materials documenting the marriage equality movement.
The History Project is excited to welcome visitors to the Archives for research and browsing by advance appointment. If you're interested in viewing our collections for your research or personal interest, please reach out to us at info@historyproject.org. Let us know your research area or specific collections you'd like to work with, and we will do our best to connect you with relevant materials in our collections.
The History Project holds a completely run of Gay Community News (1973-1999), as well as the extensive Gay Community News photograph collection, which includes photographs divided into several large categories: People, Organizations, and Demonstrations.
When Gay Community News began in 1973, it was as a fairly simple local newsletter featuring a calendar of events for the gay community in Boston and New England. In the first issue of the Gay Community Newsletter, as it was initially and very briefly called, the editors and collective members wrote about the need for a publication of this sort: "There has been a long-standing need in the Boston gay community for improved communication between the various gay organizations and the gay individual. The lack of coverage in the "straight" press has added to this problem of getting necessary information to our community. Gay groups have attempted to overcome this problem by newsletters to their members, but this has lead to duplication of efforts, with vast portions of the community left uninformed about events until after they have passed. The Gay Community Newsletter is meant as a means to solve this problem. The purpose will be to list all of the events and information of interest to the gay community in one publication. This will not be a literary publication. We are fortunate to have several already serving the community. We feel weekly publication will be necessary to fill this need for quick current information."
By the second issue of Gay Community News, just a week later, the editors had changed their tone and had this to say: "This will be the last issue of GCN that will have the appearance of a PTA bulletin. To give you a more concise professional paper, next week we will be switching to offset printing. The paper will be then printed on regular newsprint, with our manpower needs reduced ... We are trying to give you the best paper possible, but your interest and support alone will determine how well we can do this."
The news coverage in Gay Community News quickly expanded, then, and in a few short years, it was a national publication in both scope and readership. During a critical period in the lesbian and gay rights movement, GCN was a nationally respected, and oftentimes controversial, source of information about the community and a catalyst for political debate.