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ONE Inc's Historic Records 1953-1994
Now Available to Researchers
and the Public
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After years of work by ONE archivists, the records of ONE Incorporated--the oldest LGBT organization in the western hemisphere--are finally accessible to the public. ONE Incorporated's records showcase 4 decades of pioneering publications, expansive educational services, dogged legal battles, innovative research, and tireless social service efforts of one of the earliest and most influential LGBT institutions.
 Among the highlights of the collection, pre-Stonewall era records document ONE Inc.'s courageous fight against overwhelming prejudice and persecution to lay the foundation for the civil rights successes to come. ONE Inc. publications loudly promoted the gay and lesbian cause, including ONE Magazine cover stories on gay marriage in 1953 and gay servicemen in 1960.
 When the magazine was confiscated by government authorities, ONE Inc., abandoned by the ACLU, soldiered on to deliver the first Supreme Court decision for gay rights in 1958. ONE Inc. challenged the biased teachings of schools and universities by providing annual educational conferences and university-level courses. ONE Inc. discredited the prejudiced research findings of the past by supporting properly constructed studies of homosexuality starting in 1956.
ONE Inc. was the first LGBT North American institution to:
·openly sell a gay publication;
·maintain an office open to the public;
·offer social services such as employment aid,
housing, and peer counseling;
·challenge and defeat a federal agency in court;
·make public appearances on television, radio, and
the lecture circuit;
·conduct and support independent research on
homosexuality;
·distribute a gay scholarly journal;
·offer gay-oriented courses and extension classes;
·have its educational services officially accredited
by the state;
· establish a publicly accessible LGBT library;
· offer travel tours;
· establish a tax exempt foundation; and
· intervene politically in a public election.
Out of a Mattachine Society meeting in October 1952 where ONE Inc. was born emerged what would become the voice and leader of LGBT rights and justice. Come explore the records of this courageous and dedicated effort as it battled the Orwellian social, cultural, scientific, educational, legal, religious, and political persecutions of the 1950s and 1960s. Come explore the voices and stories of this generation as told in the thousands of submissions from artists and photographers and the tens of thousands of letters from readers around the world. The records of ONE Inc. and the letters of its readers help define the identity and voice of a burgeoning national and international consciousness, one inalterably founded on the pride, dignity, and indomitable spirit of being gay or lesbian.
For over forty years, ONE Inc. informed, educated, listened to, and did battle for LGBT people the world around. Through these records we will never forget the contributions they made to LGBT history, nor the work we continue to do in their name and honor at ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives. |
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