February was LGBT History Month and included celebrations across Scotland. On Saturday 18th February, GWL held an open day showcasing some of the treasures from the Lesbian Archive. The Rainbow Sisters, a youth group run by LGBT Youth Scotland, helped choose the material on display and have been regular visitors to the archive. The Sisters are currently working on numerous projects based upon their experiences and responses to material contained within the archive. One of GWL’s volunteers, Jenny, blogs about her experience on the day and includes some unusual methods of capturing the day’s events.

On Saturday 18^thFebruary, GWL held an open day to showcase material from the Lesbian Archive, which moved from London to GWL in 1995. We set out to encourage younger women to visit the library and learn about all of the wonderful things we have here – and to invite folk to join in with some exciting new projects working with the National Lesbian Archive. Those rows and rows of green archive boxes at the back of the library – holding just one third of the entire collection – are an intimidating sight and it can be difficult to know where to start. Fortunately the Rainbow Sisters’ young women, Archivist Laura and GWL volunteers were on hand to take visitors on a guided tour of a selection of archive materials.

Visitors learned about the Camden Lesbian Centre and Black Lesbian Group (CLCBLG) . Their newsletters and other publications connected lesbians together and provided vital support, community and information at a time when such resources were scarce and hard to locate.  Reading through these newsletters gives you a real sense of how different and challenging life as a lesbian during this period was, as well as offering a snapshot of the extent of activism and support the CLCBLG were involved in. Photographs documenting women’s activism in the UK and beyond, and capturing people during events and holidays provide an insight into lives of these women who worked to create, and preserve, the material in these collections.

Gabrielle Macbeth, Volunteer Co-Ordinator, is introduced to the zines by archives volunteers Jenny and Alice

Visitors could read a selection of handmade and self-published zines. All made by women, these date from the early 90s and are crammed with Riot Grrrl, do-it-yourself energy. They provide a rare window into the everyday lives, opinions and politics of women at this time. Copies of 50s and 60s lesbian pulp fiction, in all of their racy melodramatic glory, were a big hit and prompted interesting conversations about censorship, language and the sort of media available to LGBT women at that period in time. It was an interesting and thought-provoking day, every item raising questions and sparking further explorations into the past. Editions of Sappho and Arena Three, early lesbian magazines, were also available to peruse.

However! The lesbian archive focuses heavily on lesbian life in London, and of older lesbian women, and we are missing out on the voices of young Scottish LBT women. That’s why these new projects in partnership with LGBT Youth Scotland are so important. The ideas we are developing include a collaborative zine project (for more on zines, see Heather Middleton’s talk in May!), creative writing and drama inspired by materials from the archive, and a giant map of LGBT rights throughout the world. If any of these sound interesting to you, or if you would like to get involved in the National Lesbian Archive in other ways, please do get in touch!

Thanks, Jenny, for writing a blog about the event. Jenny is also the artist behind this fantastic drawing that captures the spirit of the day! If you would like to find out more about the treasures held within the Lesbian Archive, please get in touch. Our contact details can be found here.

Drawing of Lesbian Archive Open Day (c) Jenny Spiers 2012