Find It Betsy Brinson collection of AIDS epidemic exhibit materials
Find It Equality Virginia records
Two manuscript collections documenting stories of the LGBTQ community in Richmond are now open and available for research.
This work was scheduled in part to strategically align resources in support of VCU’s recent hiring initiative that will support a new Virginia Commonwealth University a minor in LGBT+ and queer studies this fall, providing students with rigorous and broad training in an expanding and influential interdisciplinary field
In addition, plans are underway to establish the Queer Research and Advocacy Center, which will be known as the Q Collective, to serve as a creative and intellectual hub in support of LGBTQIA+ artistic and scholarly activities among faculty, staff, students and the Greater Richmond community. The Q Collective, which will be operated through VCU’s Division for Inclusive Excellence will stand out on the national higher education landscape as a rare effort to merge research, scholarship and advocacy to bring greater awareness to issues that affect LGBTQIA+ populations and communities.
New libraries collections that support these initiatives and field of study are
The Betsy Brinson collection of AIDS epidemic exhibit materials includes seven oral histories that have been digitized from their original format on audio cassette and carefully transcribed. In the oral histories, the interviewees share their experiences during the height of the AIDS epidemic in Central Virginia. Both the audio files and transcripts can be accessed online through the finding aid in ArchivesSpace.
The second collection is the Equality Virginia records, which consists of materials created and acquired by the local organization from its founding through 2008. The collection documents the administrative functions of the group, as well as its numerous outreach and advocacy initiatives aimed at securing equal rights for LGBT Virginians and their families.