This guide provides resources related to the WSU Queer Archives, a shared initiative between the Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) at Washington State University Libraries-Pullman, and the LGBTQ+ Center at Washington State University. 

The mission of the WSU Queer Archives is to share untold stories of diverse queer rural life and its interconnections between urban spaces while centering joy, community, and intersectional resistance. This initiative seeks to move beyond representation towards instilling agency and co-creation with WSU LGBTQ+ students, faculty, staff, and with our broader community to resist the erasure of queer narratives and queer lives.

The primary purpose of this guide is to share archival collections in MASC that document queer history and experiences on the Palouse and beyond. New collections will be continually added to this guide as they are reviewed. 

Additionally, this guide will provide resources that can assist with research in LGBTQ+ history and archives including books, journal articles, history projects, and archival collections beyond WSU.

Within some MASC collections listed in this guide, there are historical materials that may be offensive or harmful, containing racist, sexist, Eurocentric, ableist or homophobic language or depictions. We retain such materials unaltered in order to document history and preserve context. MASC staff is making efforts to update our finding aids (collection descriptions created by staff) to acknowledge offensive or harmful content. For more information, see MASC’s statement of Acknowledgement of Bias and Harmful Content. In this guide, you will see some collections labeled with a content warning for homophobic language or violence to be aware when researching. There are also labels of “queer joy” to indicate collections that contain joyful content created by queer people (with gratitude to Dr. Kyle Serrott for the labeling idea).   

For questions about this guide or to suggest content, please contact: 

• Erin Hvizdak, erin.hvizdak@wsu.edu
• Lotus Norton-Wisla, lotus.norton-wisla@wsu.edu

The Queer Archives Initiative is funded in part by the Washington Digital Heritage Grant. This grant is supported with funding provided by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. Additionally, initial funding was provided through WSU’s 2023 Transformational Change Initiative (TCI) grant. TCI grants are awarded annually by the Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement and are designed to support innovative ideas addressing inclusion, diversity, equity, and access.