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William Way LGBT Community Center subject files on media and entertainment
Notifications
Held at: John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center [Contact Us]1315 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The direct descendant of the William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center is the Gay Community Center of Philadelphia (GCCP), which was located at 326 Kater Street from April 1976 to November 23, 1981. From 1982 to 1995, the organization continued as Penguin Place.
"The William Way Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center was formed in 1996, when a group of community leaders came together with the goal of creating a stronger, more stable community center out of Penguin Place, the community center at the time.
"After an extensive search, the Community Center purchased the former Engineers' Club of Philadelphia in March 1997. Soon after, renovations began, and the building opened to the public in July 1997. Since then, the Center has developed an array of programming and services that target LGBT groups, and community organizations have moved permanent offices into the Community Center. In addition, over 70 groups meet at the Community Center on a regular basis, and many more use the facility for special events. The building is open seven days a week and is currently [as of 2012] used by over 2,500 people each month."
Bibliography:
Quoted text from: William Way Community Center. "About Us." Accessed June 25, 2012. http://waygay.org/aboutus/default.asp.
This collection consists of various materials relating to the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) community and media and entertainment. It includes: a series of catalogs from LGBT presses and bookstores, circa 1986; materials related to LGBT stage performances, actors, musicians, and playwrights, including playbills, headshots, clippings, sheet music, etc., circa 1982-1995; gay men's pornographic film and intimate apparel advertisements, circa 1970-1990; and files on American and foreign LGBT films.
Materials collected over time by volunteers of the William Way LGBT Community Center.
Summary descriptive information on this collection was compiled in 2011-2012 as part of a pilot project conducted by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania to make better known and more accessible the largely hidden collections of small, primarily volunteer run repositories in the Philadelphia area. The Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories (HCI-PSAR) was funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
This is a preliminary finding aid. No physical processing, rehousing, reorganizing, or folder listing was accomplished during the HCI-PSAR project.
In some cases, more detailed inventories or finding aids may be available on-site at the repository where this collection is held; please contact John J. Wilcox Jr. LGBT Archives of Philadelphia directly for more information.
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- John J. Wilcox, Jr. LGBT Archives, William Way LGBT Community Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Celia Caust-Ellenbogen and Michael Gubicza through the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories
- Sponsor
- This preliminary finding aid was created as part of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Collections Initiative for Pennsylvania Small Archival Repositories. The HCI-PSAR project was made possible by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Access Restrictions
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Contact John J. Wilcox Jr. LGBT Archives of Philadelphia for information about accessing this collection.