Hall-Carpenter Archives

HCA logo

The Hall-Carpenter Archives (HCA, founded 1980) are Britain's major resource for the study of lesbian and gay activism in the UK since the publication of the Wolfenden Report in 1957. Their name commemorates the gay writer Edward Carpenter and the lesbian novelist Radclyffe Hall. in the mid 1980s the collection was held at the London Lesbian and Gay Centre (LLGC), 69 Cowcross Street, London EC1.

The archives comprise:

• the main archives, housed in the London School of Economics (LSE) Library, comprising three main sections:

• • Records and publications of gay organisations and individuals in the UK and worldwide.
  • Gay, lesbian and bisexual newspapers and magazines, 1954-
  • Ephemera, 1907-

• the HCA press cuttings collection, the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive (LAGNA) housed separately at the Bishopsgate Institute.

• the HCA Oral History Project comprising a number of interviews with lesbians and gay men, housed at the British Library (National Sound Archive).

Archives at LSE

Records and publications of gay organisations and individuals

These include:

• Aids Care Education Project (ACE)
• Albany Trust, including the records of the Homosexual Law Reform Society
• Campaign for Homosexual Equality
• Friend
• Gay Liberation Front
• Joint Council for Gay Teenagers
• Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement
• Andrew Lumsden
• Lisa Power
• Peter Tatchell
• Ian Townson
• Simon Watney
• Gregg Blachford

LGBT journals

These include:

• Attitude
• Capital Gay
• Diva
• G Scene
• Gay News
• Gay Times
• Pink Paper
• Scotsgay

The journals have been fully listed on the Archives catalogue.

Ephemera

This series contains small deposits relating to gay life and culture from various individuals and organisations.

Other papers

As well as the Hall-Carpenter archives, the LSE houses other archives including:

• the papers of Michael James, 1941-, gay activist, including documents relating to the London Gay Liberation Front, Body Positive, and the Gay Switchboard

• the papers of Dr Mary McIntosh, 1936–2013, sociologist, mainly relating to gay and feminist politics.

Other projects

GLF anniversary

Web page of images to created to celebrate the 40th anniversary (October 2010) of the Gay Liberation Front.

LGBT timeline and employment rights exhibition

Two web pages featuring images from the Hall-Carpenter Archives. The timeline features highlights in UK LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) history since the publication of the Wolfenden Report in 1957. The employment rights exhibition contains images from the archives of some of the groups who fought for improved working conditions for LGBT workers from the 1970s onwards.

External links

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/holdings/lesbian_and_gay_archives.aspx