Bj Bud Memorial Archives

 

In 2017, ASU Library was awarded a $450,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for Engaging, Educating, and Empowering: Developing Community-Driven Archival Collections;, a three-year project designed to reclaim and preserve the history of marginalized communities for future generations. Under the leadership of Nancy Godoy, Lorrie McAllister, and Alana Varner, the project will implement Archives and Preservation Workshops and Scanning and Oral History Days in order to give voice to Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. ASU Library is also digitizing and making existing collections, from the Chicano/a Research Collection and Greater Arizona Collection, accessible online.

This exhibit showcases a selection of periodicals and photographs from the Bj Bud Memorial Archives. This collection, the largest LGBT collection in Arizona, was assembled by local LGBT activists and the Valley of the Sun Gay and Lesbian Center. The Community Center, established in 1993, provided a safe space for the LGBT community in Phoenix. They also started a small library and archive that was accessible to anyone who wanted to learn more about LGBT community and experiences. On February 14, 1996, a lesbian activist named Harlene "Bj" Bud passed away and the Community Center honored her life by naming the collection after her. Then in 2004 the collection was donated to ASU Library.

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