About the HIC: Archives

Only in recent years has homosexuality become acceptable as a subject of general inquiry, and the scattered nature and unreliability of the sources of information have been a grave deterrent to practical study and enlightenment. Perhaps one of the most significant developments within the short history of the homosexual movement has been the establishment of the Homosexual Information Center Library as a public information effort aimed at bringing about open discussion and understanding where silence and misunderstanding once prevailed.

The library collection was begun in 1952 by dedicated founders of the homosexual movement in the United States. The collection was soon acquired by One, Incorporated, which greatly expanded it. The library found a new home in 1965 with the Tangent Group, where it was incorporated in 1968 into the non-profit, federally tax exempt Homosexual Information Center at Los Angeles, where it has been kept intact as a special research collection.

The library is one of the most unusual in the United States. It contains over 4,000 books, periodicals and pamphlets—many of them otherwise unobtainable—which give access to important data on all aspects of homosexuality. The homosexual movement section spans the crucial years from 1948 and records the movement's organizational, social and political history. Included in this section are periodicals in Japanese, and in French, German, Dutch, and other European languages, and pamphlets, newsletters, periodicals and reports of homosexual organizations probably not to be found in any other archive.

Homosexual Information Center provides general information on homosexuality as well as specialized, in depth resources for scholars. It serves both the general public and schools, where it assists in the preparation of papers and research projects. It publishes bibliographies, selected reading lists, a directory of homosexual movement organizations throughout the world, and a newsletter. It now has an interlibrary loan service, thus expanding the availability of its unique collection to a wide range of qualified institutions and individuals.

The services of Homosexual Information Center are open to the media and legislative bodies as well as to libraries and students. Our sole purpose is to make knowledge available in a field too long clouded by myth and uncertainty. Services from Homosexual Information Center are free, except for the usual nominal charges for mailing, duplication, and the sale of some publications. When writing letters of inquiry, we request that you send a self addressed, stamped envelope. Contributions of money or bibliographical materials are welcome and are tax deductible.