PHOTOGRAPHY ( OPPOSITE PAGE ): COURTESY OF RI PRIDE ; ( THIS PAGE ): COURTESY OF PROVIDENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY LGBTQ + COMMUNITY ARCHIVES .

Female impersonator Francis Renault .

Providence Public Library Since 2019 , the Rhode Island LGBTQ + Community Archives at the Providence Public Library has collected materials related to queer history from the state ’ s earliest decades to the present day . Kate Wells , curator of Rhode Island Collections , manages the project alongside an advisory board of local LGBTQ + community members . “ For very good reasons , LGBTQ + people were hiding their identities for a very long time because of safety issues . To then be able to uncover those stories for people to say here ’ s my identity … in our experience , we see researchers come in who really respond ,”

she says . The collection includes materials from all eras of Rhode Island history , from Cumberland ’ s eighteenth century Public Universal Friend to vaudevilleera female impersonator Francis Renault . It also serves as a repository for the Queer StoRIes project founded by Virginia Thomas . “ If it ’ s documenting queer history in the state , that ’ s something we ’ re interested in ,” Wells says . provlib . org

Wanderground Lesbian Archive / Library As a lesbian immersed in the community at the tail end of the twentieth century , Mev Miller experienced a rich cul-

ture of activism and solidarity where women bonded over shared spaces and publications . Several decades later , she says , many of those spaces have disappeared . “ I think there is this awareness that we ’ ve lost those community connections ,” she says . In 2022 , with the help of a team of volunteer “ groundkeepers ,” the Cranston resident transformed her private collection into an archive of lesbian history . The collection comprises more than 5,000 books , T- shirts , records and other items celebrating lesbian culture in New England between 1950 and 2000 . “ We feel that era of lesbian activism and lesbian feminism was a very special time in our herstory , and one that ’ s important for young lesbians coming of age to understand ,” says M ’ lyn Hines , a member of Wanderground ’ s Amazon Steward Council . In addition to collecting oral histories and hosting pop-up exhibits , the archive ’ s organizers are seeking a larger space where the artifacts can be accessible to the public . wanderground . org

Binch Press / Queer . Archive . Work In 2021 , Binch Press and Queer . Archive . Work — already sharing a space in Providence ’ s Valley Arts District — combined into one organization dedicated to uplifting LGBTQ + and BIPOC voices . Though it maintains an extensive zine and book library , the organization functions less as a traditional archive and more as a makerspace for queer and

BIPOC work . “ It ’ s really the studio as a community hub for queer and trans folks that has become the most important aspect of who we are and what we provide ,” says Paul Solellis , who founded Queer . Archive . Work as part of his artist practice in 2020 . “ What we are doing is making and preserving evidence of queer life and saving it in our library .” The space features a full screen-printing studio along with binding equipment , a library and supplies . Members have access to the space , and the public is welcome during biweekly open studio hours . “ It is the relationships that are forming and growing within the space and supporting each other through our collaborative work that I think is the most valuable aspect of who we are ,” Solellis says . queer . archive . work

John Hay Library at Brown University The John Hay Library at Brown University houses several collections of LGBTQ + materials , including the personal papers of queer scholars and activists , materials related to the science fiction fandom Gaylactic Network , and more than 4,700 volumes of gay pulp fiction , lesbian fiction and erotica . In 2021 , the university established the Global Lavender Voices strategic direction to celebrate queer voices in its collections . Future collecting efforts will focus on lesbian , trans , nonbinary and two-spirit peoples from the BIPOC communities of the United States , Brazil and the Caribbean . library . brown . edu