The Chris Gonzalez Collection, formerly the Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives, is a special collection housed at the Central Library of the

Indianapolis Public Library The Indianapolis Public Library (IndyPL), formerly known as the Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library, is the public library system serving the citizens of Marion County, Indiana, United States and its largest city, Indianapolis, Indiana, ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, United States. The collection contains more than 7,000 materials focused on local and national

LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...

issues and history. Its namesake, Christopher T. Gonzalez, was a local LGBTQ+ activist and founder of Indiana Youth Group. In 2019,

Indy Pride Indy Pride is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is a community-based, non-profit organization that seeks "to unite and serve its members and the LGBTQ community of Central Indiana through ...

partnered with the Indianapolis Public Library to open the collection to the public.

Creation

The brainchild of Michael Bohr, a lifelong resident of Indianapolis and graduate of

Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School is a Jesuit college-preparatory school on the northwest side of Indianapolis. Founded in 1962, the school is named in honor of Jean de Brébeuf, a French saint from the 17th century. Brebeuf Jesuit is part of th ...

, 1966 and

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

, 1970, started the archive in 1993 with the donation of his personal collection, which contained 1,600 books and other memorabilia of gay life in Indianapolis. During the 1980s and 1990s,

acquired immune deficiency syndrome The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a preventable disease. It can ...

(AIDS) took the lives of many friends of Bohr's, and, thus, served as a catalyst in the creation of the library. Additionally, Bohr's awareness of other LGBT libraries, particularly the Gerber/Hart Library in Chicago served as inspiration for establishing a library in his hometown of Indianapolis.

Collection

From the beginning, Bohr’s inclination was to collect and preserve the history of gay life in Indianapolis. Thus, by erecting the ''Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives'', it became the place that espouses and commemorates the lives of

same gender loving Same-gender-loving, or SGL, a term coined for African American and African Diaspora use by activist Cleo Manago, is a description for homosexuals in the African American community. It emerged in the early 1990s as a culturally affirming African A ...

people and a

repository Repository may refer to: Archives and online databases * Content repository, a database with an associated set of data management tools, allowing application-independent access to the content * Disciplinary repository (or subject repository), an ...

of LGBT titles and memorabilia for generations to come. Gay and lesbian publications like ''The Mirror'', ''The Works'' and ''The Screamer'', which is believed to be the city's earliest gay publication serve as examples. ''The Screamer'' was published on

mimeographed A mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo, sometimes called a stencil duplicator or stencil machine) is a low-cost duplicating machines, duplicating machine that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The process is called ...

paper in 1966 and its writers worked

undercover A cover in foreign, military or police human intelligence or counterintelligence is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent during a covert operation. Official cover In espionage, a ...

by using

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

. The Bob and Margaret Green drag scene video collection is also included. Other notable items in the

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...

are a collection of more than 200 T-shirts from GBLT festivals and parades across the United States, artwork by local artists, LGBT paraphernalia, mementos, and rare LGBT collectibles.

Development

''The Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives'' became a reality in March 1995, in collaboration with ''Diversity, Inc.'', a now-defunct LGBT community center in Indianapolis. While Diversity's focus was on the future, serving as a public identified central clearinghouse for people who identify as gay, lesbian,

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

and

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

, the library's role was to keep a shining light on the past. Between 1997 and 2007, the library went through several changes and a few different sponsors. Indeed, with no other alternatives, the collection was placed in storage for approximately a year. However, Bohr continued seeking additional collections and some were simply donated by people in the community. In April 2008,

forged a relationship with ''The Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives'' and became its sole benefactor. Indy Pride is a community-based, non-profit organization that seeks to "celebrate and educate others about the rich historical and cultural legacy of

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

, bisexual and transgender peoples."Indy Pride In 2017, Indy Pride gave the majority of the collection to the

to make it more accessible to the public. Over 7,000 items were incorporated into the public library's collection at its flagship location, each marked with an identifying plaque inside. The grand opening in 2019 included the unveiling of a permanent display in the Simon Reading Room.

Chris Gonzalez

The collection is named for Christopher T. Gonzalez, a local supporter and activist of gay and lesbian youth in Indiana. He is credited with establishing the

Indiana Youth Group Indiana Youth Group (IYG) is a LGBTQ+ advocacy and support group based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded by Christopher T. Gonzalez, in recent years the organization has had a growing number of clients, including LGBTQ+ youth as well as their par ...

in 1987,Gurevitz, Maire. (2016, October
The Michael Bohr Collection of The Indy Pride Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives CA. 1960s-2016.
ndiana Historical Society. an award-winning, non-profit organization that caters to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. He succumbed to AIDS in April, 1994 at age 30.

References

External links

Indy Pride

Digitized magazine archives from the Gonzalez Collection hosted by IUPUI

Gonzalez Collection items currently available through the Indianapolis Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chris Gonzalez Library And Archives Organizations based in Indianapolis LGBTQ in Indiana Libraries in Indiana Archives in the United States LGBTQ museums and archives in the United States 1993 establishments in Indiana Special collections libraries in the United States