Fresno State Library secures grant to launch Central Valley LGBTQ2+ archives

Fresno State Library’s Special Collections Research Center was awarded a $126,000 Preservation and Accessibility of California’s LGBTQ2+ History grant from the California State Library to expand the Central Valley Rainbow Archives, established in 2014.

The immediate goal of the grant is to preserve and make Jeffery Robinson’s collection of Central Valley-related historical LGBTQ2+ materials accessible to the public. Robinson was a respected LGBTQ2+ community activist and organizer in Fresno who died in 2022.

The materials span over five decades and include photographs from the 1970s to present, oral histories, Fresno Pride Parade videos (1991 to 2023), HIV/AIDS community records, activism ephemera, LGBTQ2+ bar materials and newspaper archives from “The Frontrunner,” “Q and A,” and “Newslink.” Robinson’s collection will serve as the foundation of the Central Valley Rainbow Archives at Fresno State.

As the first public and academic archive dedicated to LGBTQ2+ history in the San Joaquin Valley, this collection will be a collaborative project with Qistory, a Fresno-based LGBTQ2+ public history organization founded by Robinson, and Trans-E-Motion, a transgender advocacy and support organization serving Fresno and Madera counties.

The grant will also allow the Special Collections Research Center and Qistory to offer public workshops on archiving, oral history and processing historical materials. This training will allow the community to assist in organizing the archives and make these resources accessible for everyone. Training will also be available for Fresno State students, faculty and staff, as well as high school LGBTQ2+ clubs.

“I’m excited for the students and their future research, for us in having such a seminal collection and all the collaborative, community partnerships this will engender,” said Tammy Lau, head of Special Collections Research Center and University Archives at Fresno State. “This is a true community archive.”

Dr. Katherine Fobear, associate professor and founder of Fresno State’s LGBTQ2+ studies minor through the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department, is a Trans-E-Motion board member and also serves as a co-chair of Qistory. “We are fortunate to live in a state where our LGBTQ2+ artifacts are valued as integral to the history of this place,” Fobear said.

“There is so much incredible and diverse LGBTQ2+ history in the Central Valley, yet much of it has not yet been preserved, recorded or written about. Jeffery Robinson knew this very well, and he made it his life’s work to preserve the history of our community for future generations. This grant will carry forward his legacy and build an archive for future generations to connect with and enjoy.”

A public lecture series and an exhibition in summer 2028 will showcase Robinson’s collection, while Trans-E-Motion, Qistory and the Fresno State Library will host community discussions and surveys to guide the archive’s future growth. Dr. Peter Robertson, a longtime Fresno State development director and LGBTQ2+ leader, has been active in ongoing efforts to establish the Rainbow Archive, along with Robinson’s husband, Juan Bustamante.

“This tremendous California State Library grant does two things for the rainbow community,” Robertson said. “It increases the academic repository of LGBTQ2+ culture and history in our region. Most importantly, it also sends a powerful message that our community’s history matters and that Fresno State values the responsibility of preserving this significant collection of rainbow-related artifacts and stories.”

Fobear and Lau will serve as co-principal investigators on the grant. Robertson will play a key role in the archive development, collaborating with the LGBTQ2+ community and campus partners.

For more information on the archive and material donations, contact Lau at tammyl@mail.fresnostate.edu. For more information on the Qistory partnership, contact Fobear at katherinefobear@mail.fresnostate.edu. To donate funds to the project, contact Robertson at probertson@mail.fresnostate.edu.