SC LGBTQ+ Collection: Archival Collections

Administrative records, subject files, correspondence, audiovisual materials, and born-digital files documenting the activities of the Alliance for Full Acceptance (AFFA), a Charleston, South Carolina-based organization that advocates for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people.

Papers of Lynn Dugan, founder and co-chair of the Charleston Pride Organization, Inc. and founder of the Charleston Social Club, a social group for lesbians and supporters in the Charleston, South Carolina, area. Materials include organizational and event files documenting the first Charleston Pride event in North Charleston, South Carolina in 2010 and Charleston Social Club’s tenth-year anniversary celebration, Lezz Fest in North Charleston in 2013.

The collection consists of the papers of Mary Jo Smith Fetzer, graphic artist and founding staff member of WCIV-TV in Charleston, South Carolina. The papers include photographs, correspondence, and artwork from Fetzer’s personal and professional life and materials belonging to her partner, M.E. Van Dyke.

These records contain operating files, newsletters, and event files documenting the activities of the Lowcountry Gay & Lesbian Alliance (LGLA), a Charleston, S.C. nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQ people and opposing discrimination. Topics include LGBTQ civil and legal rights including same-sex marriage, homophobia, and coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community.

The collection consists of the papers of partners Carol Lyons and Dorothy D’Anna, co-founders and co-directors of the Little Theatre School at the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina. The papers include correspondence, theater programs, photographs, and newspaper clippings documenting the couple’s work in the theater.

Collection consists of the records of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of Charleston, a mission of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), from 1990-2009. Records include meeting minutes, bylaws, and financial information relating to the church’s activities, including worship services, the church food bank, and partnerships with Lowcountry AIDS Services (now Palmetto Community Care).

The collection contains correspondence and newspaper clippings relating to Charlotte A. Myers’ divorce from literary critic and poet Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Materials also relate to Caroline Griswold, a writer and Griswold’s daughter from his first marriage, who was raised by Myers. There are also daguerreotype portraits of Myers and Caroline Griswold and a commonplace book assembled by Myers. The papers also cover correspondence between Griswold’s grandchildren and Joy Bayless, author of the biography Rufus Wilmot Griswold.

This collection contains assorted ephemera, photographs, and audiovisual materials documenting the research interests of James T. Sears, author of several books on LGBTQ history in the South. The collection includes materials relating to female and male impersonators and LGBTQ music. Notable items include the typescript of a poem by Allen Ginsberg, a American flag belonging to openly gay airman Leonard Matlovich, and the signature of Sir Edward Clarke, who defended Oscar Wilde during his libel case.

These papers contain writings, working files, correspondence, art, and photographs documenting the personal and professional life of John Martin Taylor, also known as Hoppin’ John, American food writer and culinary historian of the American South. Topics include Lowcountry cooking, culinary history, food writing, Hoppin' John's, Taylor's culinary bookstore in Charleston, S.C., mail art and his life as a gay/bisexual man.

Papers of Reeves van Hettinga, French-style chef and trompe l’oeil artist. He spent most of his adult life in New York City before retiring to Charleston. The collection includes biographical materials, art, professional papers and photographs. There are also materials relating to his brother William, artist and founder of the Charleston newspaper Poor William’s Omnibus.

Board meeting files, financial records, strategic planning files, correspondence, event files, resource files, and promotional materials documenting the activities of We Are Family (WAF), a North Charleston, South Carolina-based nonprofit organization that provides support, resources, and leadership development opportunities to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex (LGBTQI) and straight ally youth.

The papers contain writings, biographical materials, correspondence, and photographs documenting the life of John A. Zeigler, Jr., poet, music philanthropist, and co-owner of the Book Basement bookstore in Charleston, S.C. Materials relate to Zeigler’s education at the Citadel, and his service in the U.S. Navy during World War II in Yakutat, Alaska. The papers also cover Zeigler’s relationship with Edwin Peacock, their friendship with lithographer Prentiss Taylor and his partner Roderick Quiroz, and Taylor’s friendship with author and poet Langston Hughes.

A Charleston-area gay newspaper; the Historical Society has issues from 1982-1983.

A gay and lesbian newspaper published from 1981-1982.

Legislative files, correspondence, printed material, voting records, and personal papers of Burnet Rhett Maybank (1899-1954), United States Senator from 1941 to 1954. Of interest is a folder dating from 1941-1942 concerning widespread prostitution and vice in Charleston that caused parts of the city to be declared "out of bounds" to members of the United States armed services during World War II.

Co-owner of the Book Basement in Charleston, S.C. with his life partner John Zeigler. Letters (some copies) to Edwin Peacock and John Zeigler, chiefly regarding their friend, author Carson McCullers.

Papers are mainly correspondence (some undated) between Charleston (S.C.) author Josephine Pinckney and Prentiss Taylor, an artist and graphic designer in Virginia.

Educator, gay rights activist, and author of many works on sexuality, identity, and sex education, and the history of homosexuality and the gay rights movement in the United States. The James T. Sears Papers span the dates 1918-2011, with the bulk of the material covering the period between 1950 and 2004. Taken as a whole, the collection offers a deep and rich source of information on gay, lesbian, and bisexual culture in the United States, especially in the South,.

Author Dawn Langley Simmons had one of the first gender confirmation surgeries in the United States. The collection houses extensive files of correspondence dating from the 1950s to 2000. Significant correspondents or individuals mentioned in letters include Margaret Rutherford, Isabel Whitney, Vita Sackville-West, Sir Harold Nicolson, Nigel Nicolson, Robert Holmes, and Edwin Peacock.

Records of the S.C. Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement in Columbia and elsewhere; papers of individuals and various organizations concerned with matters of interest to the GLBTQ community; newsletters, national and local publications, and other materials re GLBTQ life in S.C. and elsewhere, donated by the Harriet Hancock Center (Columbia, S.C.), and various other donors.

African American anthropologist Joseph Allen Towles (1937-1988) met British anthropologist Colin Macmillan Turnbull (1924-1994) in 1959. The two exchanged marriage vows in 1960 and they lived together in an interracial, homosexual relationship until Towles' death in 1988. The collection contains eight different series of materials that document various aspects of their lives and careers, both separately and together

Artist, etcher, and author, of Charleston, S.C., Verner's papers contain correspondence with Dawn Langley Simmons.

Poet and book store owner in Charleston, SC. Collection predominantly contains World War II-era correspondence between lovers/partners John Zeigler and Edwin Peacock and their close friend George Scheirer, along with Zeigler's correspondence with his family.