Interested in gender studies? Want to learn more about international activism in support of LGBTQ+ rights? Curious about the changing definition of obscenity through history? If so, then DePaul’s newly acquired Archives of Sexuality and Gender is what you’ve been looking for!
We are happy to announce that the DePaul University Library now has access to two collections in this unique database. Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Centuries (Part III of the set) contains over 5,000 books on the topic. And International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture (Part IV) includes manuscripts, periodicals and other ephemera, with most of the material spanning a more modern period, from 1970–2016.
Some highlights of this database include:
- Material related to the court case of Mary Ware Dennett (1872-1947), who wrote the pamphlet, The Sex Side of Life in 1918. In 1922 the Post Office declared the pamphlet obscene, and prohibited its distribution through the mail. She was indicted and found guilty in 1928, but her conviction was reversed two years later in 1930.
- Organizational Files from the Lesbian Herstory Archives. The materials cover the 1950s to the present, and contain flyers, minutes, posters, fundraising letters, and newspaper clippings.
- Books on Sex, Law, and Medicine from the Kinsey Institute, tracing hundreds of years of history, from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Titles cover various subjects like biology, medicine, psychology, and psychiatry, but also literature, fiction, poetry, art, and religious texts, to name a few.
You can find the Archives of Sexuality and Gender on the A-Z Databases & Resources list. For help with your research or to learn more about the Archives of Sexuality and Gender, use our Ask a Librarian service to schedule a research consultation.
Image Citations:
Grosbois, Charles. Shunga. Images du printemps. Essai sur les reprèsentations Èrotiques dans l’art japonais. [With illustrations.]. N.p., 1964. Archives of Sexuality and Gender.
Bryant, Louise Stevens, et al. Mary Ware Dennett Case Collection, f1919-1930 g (bulk 1927-1930). N.d. Archives of Sexuality and Gender.
Illinois Federation for Human Rights. n.d. MS Organization Files from the Lesbian Herstory Archives ORGFIL0659. Lesbian Herstory Archives. Archives of Sexuality and Gender.
Bedford, Arthur. The evil and danger of stage-plays: showing their natural tendency to destroy religion, and introduce a general corruption of manners; in almost 2000 instances, taken from the plays of the last two years, against all the methods lately used for their reformation. W. Bonny, 1706. Archives of Sexuality and Gender.