| Director's Report |
Madeline Davis GLBT Archives of WNY
Director’s Report September 30, 2009
We have received a check from Embrace WNY in the amount of $800 which is our half of
the proceeds of the premier showing of Swimming With Lesbians. The other $800 was
received by Blue Sky productions, Dave Marshall’s production company.
Wendy & I flew to Austin, Texas for the Austin International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
After a series of mishaps, the film was shown on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 11:45 a.m. We had a
modest size but enthusiastic audience who were very impressed by the film itself and by
what we are doing at the Archives. A number of people said they were encouraged that
the Archives existed and it was clear that they were going to discuss it with friends. One of
the film’s missions is to inspire others to begin local GLBT archives of their own and I think
that the fact that this film will be showing at a number of film festivals will do just that. The
next showing will be at the Rochester ImageOUT festival on Oct. 11 at 11:30 a.m. at the
Dryden Theater which is part of the Eastman complex. Wendy & I shall attend as will Dave
Marshall. I shall also be going to the showing in Seattle, WA on Oct. 21.
On Sept. 17 Dan DiLandro, Archivist from Buff State, visited the Archives and answered
many of the questions that have been of concern for a while. We spoke about cataloging
procedures, finding aids, storing and describing 3d objects, original order and places and
persons of origination. It was a very productive meeting. We shall be meeting regularly
after the contracts are signed.
At a meeting with Dan DiLandro, Wendy, Maryruth Glogowski and myself, the contract was
signed to transfer the James D. Haynes, Donald A. Licht Mattachine Society of the Niagara
Frontier collection to Buff State. After the contract was signed Wendy & I were given a
tour of the area that will eventually house the MDGLBT Archive. It is on the second floor of
Butler Library and will have a unique space within the Special Collections area on the
second floor. We were told about display cases, types of shelving and the kind of
renovation which will take place in that space. I am very impressed by the size of the
space and feel confident that it will be presented and preserved with care and dignity.
There will be a visit within the next few weeks of members of the Board of the Buff State
Foundation. They wish to see the Archives in its original (current) state to get an
appreciation of how we started and the extent of our collection. After that the transfer of
the MSNF collection will take place. In addition Maryruth continues to work on the wording
of the contract for the overall collection which we hope to have in place within the next
month or so. Once contracts are signed, funding sources will be notified and work can
begin to transfer, arrange and input the collection according to BSC guidelines.
On August 25 we had a meeting in the Archives with Dr. Craig Centrie of El Museo. Also at
the meeting were Lucie __, Kitty Lambert, Corey ___ and Cheryle Rudd. The purpose of
the meeting was to discuss a spring showing a the gallery of GLBT historical and
artistically interesting memorabilia and papers. We shall be receiving help from both Corey
and Lucie in deciding what materials will be pertinent to the show and they will also aid us
in creating wall and other kinds of displays. Craig will be asking for funding to mount the
show which will take place from the end of May to the end of June, 2010.
On Sept. 18 we had a visit from Dr. James Tammaro who is the Western NY regional
records archivist from the NY State Archives which is part of the State Education Dept. He
received a tour and asked questions about the preservation of our papers and about the
transfer to Buff State.
I am working on a biographical study of Tangarra, the female impersonator who passed
away in April, 2007. We have many photographs from his life as a performer and a
number of hours of taping done in the early 90s as part of a prior project. I am receiving
help from Tom Bolze who did his PhD dissertation on female impersonators and who used
Tangarra as a major part of his research. I have also done a recent interview with
Lorraine Anthone who was Tangarra’s 94 year old niece. I have a few more interviews
already planned and am already engaged in historical research on Female Impersonators
and on drag both nationally and locally.
New collections:
Donald Licht presented the Archives with photo albums specific to Jim & Don’s 25th
anniversary, their vacations and their family histories. These will be a valuable addition to
the Haynes/Licht collection.
Joe Raimondo loaned the Archives a photo collection which I shall be scanning into the
computer files. I also interviewed Joe about his life and his knowledge of drag queens and
drag bars. This interview will be part of the Oral History collection in the Archives.
Camille Hopkins has given permission to photocopy any or all of the materials she allowed
Dave Marshall to use for Swimming With Lesbians. I have begun that project.
Michael James donated documents from his two years as President of Stonewall
Democrats. This greatly enhances the Stonewall Democrats Collection. He also donated a
complete file of his research on Domestic Partner Benefits as they pertain to Civil Service
employees. Michael was instrumental in obtaining DPBs for his own partner at his former
place of employment, the East Aurora School System.
| MADELINE DAVIS GLBT ARCHIVES OF WESTERN NEW YORK |
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