Archives

In the narrowest sense, archives are collections of records or historical materials that are professionally curated and maintained for the purpose of preservation and access. More broadly, the term archives has been used both as a theoretical concept and as a vernacular description for any collections of materials. In all senses of the term, archives have been important for Trans Studies, particularly as a resource for primary source accounts of trans lives. This entry offers a brief introduction to trans-specific archival efforts and the complexities involved in representing trans experiences in the historical record.

Although the term transgender was popularized in the late 20th century in North America, historical evidence shows that people have transgressed gender norms throughout human history and around the world. Thus, while the discipline of Trans Studies is only a few decades old, the practices and experiences it is based on have been ongoing for millennia. This presents several important challenges: How do we understand and interpret historical practices of gender expression that occurred prior to the emergence of the concept of “trans”? And, how do we account for different cultural contexts (both historically and currently) where there are divergent understandings of gender identity, particularly as it relates to or is conflated with sexual identity or sexual practices? To pursue these questions, archives have offered rich sites for academic exploration.

[Page 44]Historical materials relevant to Trans Studies can be found in a wide variety of archival contexts. Beginning in the 1980s, there have been a few independent efforts to collect trans history, such as the National Transgender Library and Archive, which began in Georgia and is now housed in the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan, and the Trans-Gender Archive, which began at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland and is now housed in the Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria (which is currently the largest trans archival collection in the world). There are also many LGBTQ-specific archives in North America––such as The ArQuives in Toronto, Ontario; the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco, California; and the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives in Los Angeles, California––where an abundance of trans history has been collected and preserved. Finally, in more general archives, such as university special collections, historical societies, and state and federal archives, trans-related materials have often been collected inadvertently, although more institutions now devote resources to intentionally collecting in this area (e.g., Cornell University’s Human Sexuality Collection, the San Francisco Public Library, and the Wellcome Library in London)

In addition to these brick-and-mortar sites, trans materials can be found in countless archival contexts online. Initiatives such as the Digital Transgender Archive, OutHistory.org, and the Queer Digital History Project support the digitization of historical materials, the development of interpretive resources, and the preservation of born-digital content. Akin to brick-and-mortar archives that inadvertently hold significant trans materials, popular online platforms––such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, along with tools such as WordPress, wikis, and group forums (i.e., YahooGroups and GoogleGroups)––include such a wealth of materials relevant to trans lives, history, and community building that numerous scholars advocate that these platforms should be treated as archives as well.

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