How cool is this? University of Victoria has an archive of transgender materials – from Reed Erickson, Ari Kane, Virginia Prince, and other people who collected significant trans history.
From the Archivists:
The Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria holds the world’s largest collection of archival material related to modern transgender activism and research.
The University of Victoria is committed to preserving the history of pioneering activists, community leaders, and researchers working for the betterment of transgender people. Our collection began in 2007 with the generous donation by Ms. Rikki Swin of the entire contents of the extensive Rikki Swin Institute. Included were almost 500 transgender newsletters; papers and memorabilia of Virginia Prince, one of the founders of transgender activism; twenty years of history of Fantasia Fair, the longest-running TG convention (37 years and counting); key documents from activist Ariadne Kane; and papers from the founders of the International Foundation for Gender Education. Other major holdings include the personal papers of transgender pioneer, philanthropist, and activist Reed Erickson, founder of the Erickson Educational Foundation; legal documents from the Kimberly Nixon vs. Vancouver Rape Relief case; records of Vancouver transsexual support organization the Zenith Foundation; and more.
We would like your support in building our collections and making them more easily accessible to people throughout the world. If you have material that you think might be suitable for the transgender archives, or if you would like to support our work through a financial donation, please contact Academic Director Dr. Aaron Devor (ahdevor@uvic.ca) or University Archivist Lara Wilson (ljwilson@uvic.ca).
The Transgender Archives at the University of Victoria are open to the public, faculty, students, and scholars. For more information about the collections, and about supporting the Transgender Archives at UVic , please visit: http://transgenderarchives.uvic.ca/
And yes, I’ve already offered them one of those (manuscript) copies of My Husband Betty I found when we were moving this past summer.