I often teach archivally-focused undergraduate and graduate seminars where students research the visual culture of American progressive grassroots media (1960s-1990s), focusing in on feminist and LGBTQ periodicals. We examine cover graphics, comics, drawings, photographs, advertisements, typography, layout, and other elements of the periodicals’ visual aesthetics.
In addition to researching in physical collections, my students also conduct research through open-access digital archives, surveying what materials have been digitized and how we can ethically approach such materials. Be in touch with any relevant open-access resources not listed here; I’ll credit you for any that I add to this guide. I first put together this guide in Fall 2020 prior to teaching a remote archives course in Spring 2021.
Thanks to Jolie Braun, Justin Wigard, UF Latin American and Caribbean Collection, Colleen Theisen, Chris Caldwell, Cher Tan, Betty M. Bayer, Jen Scheuer, Erik Kvarnberg, Hillary Chute, and Tony White’s “The History of Artists’ Books since 1950” course for some fantastic suggestions that I’ve added below!
Last updated: March 2024.
Specific grassroots periodicals that have been digitized:
- Bay Area Reporter, SF LGBTQ periodical 1971-present, https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=cl&cl=CL1&sp=BAR&e=——-en–20–1–txt-txIN——–1
- Blue Ridge Lambda Alliance, Southwest Virginia LGBTQ newsletter, 1983-2008. All issues digitized by the Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project, https://www.jstor.org/site/roanoke/swvalgbtqhistory/
- The Body Politic, Canadian monthly gay magazine, 1971-1987, https://archive.org/details/canadianmuseumforhumanrights
- BOMB Magazine, cross disciplinary NYC artists mag, 1981-present, http://bombmagazine.org/about/
- Camp Ink, newsletter for early lesbian and gay organization based in Sydney, Australia, 1970-1977, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-757144341
- Chicago Defender, long-standing Black newspaper, founded in 1905, https://www.chicagodefenderarchives.org/
- Cultural Correspondence, New Left review out of Providence that published 1975-1985, http://library.brown.edu/cds/cultural_correspondence/
- Curve and Deneuve magazines, a US lesbian magazine that began as Deneuve in 1990, but was rebranded as Curve in 1996 and still publishes new issues, https://www.curvemag.com/digital-archive/
- Damage, San Francisco punk fanzine, 1979-1981, https://archive.org/details/damage_circulation_zero
- Dry, New York punk fanzine, 1979-1982, https://archive.org/details/dry_circulation_zero
- Dyke, A Quarterly, ran for five issues, 1975-1979, http://seesaw.typepad.com/dykeaquarterly/
- Drummer, Honcho, Mandate, gay men’s leather and pornographic magazines, http://drummermagazine.men/
- East Village Eye, NYC monthly magazine focused on the downtown arts scenes, 1979-1987, https://www.east-village-eye.com/issues-year.html
- The Empty Closet, Upstate NY LGBT periodical, 1971 to present, https://digitalcollections.lib.rochester.edu/ur/empty-closet
- FTM Newsletter, transmasculine newsletter started by Lou Sullivan, 1987-2008, https://vault.library.uvic.ca/collections/d13ed5ae-6ea3-4cb8-b72a-4a5c794982b6
- Gay Community News, Boston-area gay and lesbian newspaper, various issues digitized, 1973-1999, https://repository.library.northeastern.edu/collections/neu:gm80jm85b
- Gidra, 1969-2001, connected to Asian American movement, available online through Densho Digital Repository, which collects materials that touch upon “the forced removal and detention of more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese ethnicity during WWII,” https://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-297/
- HeartattaCk, punk zine, 1994-2006, http://heartattackarchive.com/
- Heresies, feminist art journal, 1977-1993, http://heresiesfilmproject.org/archive/
- HotWire, journal of women’s music and culture, mid 1980s-mid 1990s, http://www.hotwirejournal.com
- Lesbian Tide, Los Angeles lesbian publication, 1971-1980, http://www.houstonlgbthistory.org/lesbian-tide.html
- Lesbian Herstory Archives newsletter, newsletter of the Lesbian Herstory Archives, from 1975 onward, https://lesbianherstoryarchives.org/collections/newsletters/
- Lesbians on the Loose, Australian lesbian magazine, first nine years, 1990-1999 have been digitized, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-851395032
- Liberation News Service, New Left, anti-war underground press news service, 1967-1981, https://archive.org/details/liberationnewsservice
- No Mag, Los Angeles punk fanzine, 1978-1985, https://archive.org/details/nomag_circulation_zero/page/n1/mode/2up
- Outweek, LGBT NYC weekly, 1989-1991, http://www.outweek.net/archive.html
- Punk Planet, Chicago-based punk zine, 1994-2007, a bunch of issues viewable on archive.org, https://archive.org/search.php?query=%22punk+planet%22
- Radical Faerie Digest, 1974-present, https://www.rfdmag.org/back-issues.php
- Sinister Wisdom, multicultural lesbian literary & art journal, 1976 to present, http://sinisterwisdom.org/archive
- Slash, Los Angeles punk fanzine, 1977-1980, https://archive.org/details/slash_circulation_zero/page/n7/mode/2up
- Sonic Death, fanzine of the band Sonic Youth, http://www.sonicyouth.com/zines/
- Spare Rib, UK feminist journal, 1972-1993, digitized via the British Library, https://www.bl.uk/spare-rib#
- Transvestia, early transfeminine magazine started by Virginia Prince, 1960-1986, https://vault.library.uvic.ca/collections/6576cedf-1282-4089-8351-08f73f4199b4
- Umbrella, art journal, 1978-2008, https://ulib.iupui.edu/digitalcollections/Umbrella
- Unicorn Times, DC area arts newspaper, 1973-1985, https://digdc.dclibrary.org/islandora/object/dcplislandora%3A117866
- Voice of the Women’s Liberation Movement, 1968-1969, https://www.cwluherstory.org/classic-feminist-writings-articles/voice-of-the-womens-liberation-movement
- The Washington Blade, oldest LGBT newspaper in the US based out of DC, 1969-present, http://www.washingtonblade.com/archives/
- Washington Free Press, DC underground newspaper, 1967-1969, https://digdc.dclibrary.org/islandora/object/dcplislandora%3A117868
Zine collections:
- DC Punk Archive Zine Library, https://digdc.dclibrary.org/islandora/object/dcplislandora%3A38043
- Papercut Zine Library, https://www.papercutzinelibrary.com/virtual-library
- POC Zine Project, https://poczineproject.tumblr.com/
- Quarantine Zine Club, https://quarantinezineclub.neocities.org/zinelibrary
- Queer Zine Archive Project (QZAP), https://archive.qzap.org/
- Sherwood Forest Zine Library’s Virtual Zine Library, https://www.sherwoodforestzinelibrary.org/recently-added-pdfs-links
Larger collections of grassroots periodicals:
- Chicana Por Mi Raza, “Chicanx and Latinx histories of the long Civil Rights Era,” http://chicanapormiraza.org/
- Civil Rights Digital Library, http://crdl.usg.edu/
- Digital Transgender Archive, https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/
- The Freedom Archives, “progressive history of the Bay Area, the United States, and international movements for liberation and social justice,” http://freedomarchives.org/
- From a Secret Location, “poetry, little mags, small presses, and transient documents from the mimeo era and beyond,” https://fromasecretlocation.com/
- Archives of Gay Freedom Movement (Jamaica) and Rainbow Alliance of the Bahamas along with 81 issues of the Jamaica Gaily News, https://dloc.com/ICIRN
- Graphic Narratives Network & Collection, project based at MSU where scholars are working with and digitizing some of their comics collection, http://graphicnarrativesnetwork.org/ & https://d.lib.msu.edu/gnn
- Houston LGBT History Publications, mostly Texas publications but also others like Lesbian Tide (Los Angeles), http://www.houstonlgbthistory.org/index-pubs.html
- Independent Voices, “open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals,” https://www.jstor.org/site/reveal-digital/independent-voices/
- Lesbian Poetry Archive, http://www.lesbianpoetryarchive.org/periodicals
- Quarantine Public Library, collection of artists’ books and zines, https://www.quarantinepubliclibrary.com/
- Rise Up! A Digital Archive of Feminist Activism, Canadian-focused, https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/
- Roz Payne Sixties Archive, https://rozsixties.unl.edu/
- Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project, http://lgbthistory.pages.roanoke.edu/physical-archives/
- UC Berkeley, digitized periodicals largely from the Bay Area, https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/sfbagals/
Journals about artists’ books:
- Blue Notebook Journal, 2006-present, https://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/blue-notebook/
- The Bone Folder: an e-journal for the bookbinder and book artist, 2004-2012, https://philobiblon.com/bonefolder/
Additional digital projects of/about grassroots media:
- Asian American Little Magazines, 1968-1974, https://scalar.lehigh.edu/asian-american-little-magazines/index
- Bay Area Reporter Online Searchable Obituary Database, http://obit.glbthistory.org/olo/index.jsp
- From a Secret Location, “poetry, little mags, small presses, and transient documents from the mimeo era and beyond,” https://fromasecretlocation.com/
- GLBT Historical Society Digital Collections, https://www.glbthistory.org/digital-collections
- June Mazer Lesbian Archives, digital collections at the bottom of this page, https://www.mazerlesbianarchives.org/collections
- Lesbian Herstory Archives, digital resources, https://lesbianherstoryarchives.org/digital-resources/
- The Panther and the Lash: Black Literary Movement Publications and the Black Aesthetic, http://www.whitfrazier.com/pantherproject.html
- Power to the Printers: The Alternative Press In Iowa City, 1965-1985 exhibit, https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/gallery/exhibit/power-to-the-printers-the-alternative-press-in-iowa-city-1965-1985/
- Uptight and Laid-back: Iowa City in the 1960s exhibit, http://dsps.lib.uiowa.edu/sixties/
- Wearing Gay History, Historical LGBT T-Shirts, http://www.wearinggayhistory.com/