Collections

Gown, photos, and scrapbook from donor’s long career as a drag performer.
This collection is not yet processed.
Memorabilia related to swimming activities of the International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics meets and the Gay Games, early 2000s.
This collection is not yet processed.
The Kurt Krieger Collection was donated to the Department of Special Collections in October of 2017 by Reverend Kurt Krieger. The collection contains literature related to evangelism within the gay and lesbian communities.
The Larry Sullivan Collection was a gift of Larry Sullivan in May 2011. It contains a wide array of documentation related to the Gay and Lesbian Services Network, and specific elements of that organization such as Condom Crusaders, a group that supported safe sex within the LGBT community. Along with GLSN materials, representative documents from other groups and organizations, such as AIDS ACTION Committee and The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), can also be found here. Rounding off this collection is a wide variety of Articles, both scholastic and general reading, along with other documents, Flyers, Brochures, Informational Booklets, Newsletters, Periodicals, and Postcards, all related to AIDS awareness and prevention, as well as other issues regarding the LGBT community.
The Lavender Ladies Collection was donated to the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid- America by decision of the organization’s board members in June of 2011. It consists of materials collected by club members over time, including local, regional, and national publications; books; sound recordings; audio-visual materials; and t-shirts. While some of the books were added to LaBudde Special Collections (searchable in the Library’s online catalog), the bulk were subsequently donated to the LIKE-Me Lighthouse, an LGBT community center in midtown Kansas City. T-shirts are housed with the Kansas City Museum, the GLAMA collaborating partner responsible for preserving donated artifacts. The collection features material related to the life and work of Jo-Pat Bishop, an early member of the organization, who was also active in Kansas City’s theater community. She mounted theatrical productions at the Lavender Umbrella, located at 308 E. 43rd Street in Kansas City. In the late 1980s, the Lavender Umbrella served as a meeting space for the Lavender Ladies and other groups. Additionally, the collection contains an expansive array of lesbian- and feminist-oriented publications from the late 1950s through early 2000s, including such titles as The Ladder (published by the national lesbian advocacy organization Daughters of Bilitis), Off Our Backs, and Sojourner. Also housed within the collection are video and audio tapes of local programming from the early 1990s through the early 2000s that feature LGBT content, as well as a series of episodes of the nationally-syndicated television program Network Q. The collection contains a small quantity of photographs from the life and career of Jo-Pat Bishop and from various social activities of the organization.
The LGCCKC Collection was gifted to the LaBudde Special Collections in February 2010 by Dan Melton, former Treasurer and Development Officer of the organization. The collection contains a great deal of documentation related the early history of the Center, including Board minutes, Friends of the Community Center minutes, and a Board Notebook. In addition, there is a large amount of material related to Out in Westport and other outreach activities, and a good collection of Center newsletters is present as well.
The Linda Wilson Collection was gifted to the GLAMA Collection in LaBudde Special Collections by Linda Wilson in January 2014. The bulk of the collection comprises materials related to Wilson’s affiliation with Willow Productions, a council of CrossCurrents Culture Unlimited. Included are artist’s packets, Willow Productions’ business materials, and other organizations Wilson has actively participated in. Highlights of the collection are various posters of diverse events along with photographs of noteworthy female artists recruited by Willow Productions and other alliances to perform at Kansas City area venues.
The Marc Hein Collection was gifted to LaBudde Special Collections in July, 2010 by his sister, Louanne Hein. The collection features a variety of writing by Hein, including samples of his two published columns, a myriad of correspondence, and two diaries. He kept three separate scrapbooks: one of his writing; one featuring his Pride-related activities; and one documenting his Gay Games experience. The collection also contains an array of newspaper and magazine clippings, detailing events in which he was involved locally and at the Gay Games, and some which center on AIDS research. The collection also includes an original drawing by Hein, a poster of the logo he created for the 1989 Pride Festival, held in Southmoreland Park.
The Mark Sappington Collection was a gift of Mark Sappington in June 2012. Contained in the collection are various documents related to the organization International Front Runners, notably the Kansas City, Chicago, and Minneapolis/St. Paul chapters. These documents provide details of the membership and events from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The collection primarily consists of material generated by the Gay People’s Union and Gay Community Services. These include newsletters, promotional materials, and documents related to the structure of the GPU. In addition there are items from the 1976 Republican Convention and from the University of Kansas gay and lesbian student group. Included with the collection contents are handwritten annotations by the donor which contextualize the material.