Stonewall National Museum and Archives facts for kids

The Stonewall National Museum and Archives (SNMA) is a special place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is a non-profit organization that helps people understand and share the culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) people. They do this by keeping important historical items, explaining their meaning, and sharing stories about the LGBTQ+ community's role in society.

SNMA has a large library and a collection of historical documents. They also host many public events. You can visit their two small art areas, called the Ross Gallery and Hester Gallery, which show different exhibits from their collections. In 2021, SNMA also launched an online timeline called "In Plain Sight," which shows American LGBTQ+ history. Even though its name sounds like the Stonewall Inn where the 1969 Stonewall riots happened, this museum is not directly connected to that New York location.

A Look at Stonewall's History

The Stonewall National Museum and Archives was started in 1973 by Mark N. Silber. For the first 10 years, the collection was kept at his parents' house. Around 1983, it moved to a classroom at the Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale.

Later, the library joined with the Southern Gay Archives from Boca Raton. Together, they officially became Stonewall Library & Archives, Inc. In 2001, the library and archives moved into the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of South Florida.

A few years later, that center was going to be torn down. So, Stonewall needed a new home. Broward County offered them space in a former library building in Fort Lauderdale. The Broward County Commission agreed to this move on June 10, 2007. The new location opened its doors in February 2009.

In 2014, Stonewall opened another small branch called the Stonewall Gallery in Wilton Manors. However, this location closed in June 2020. This was part of Stonewall's plan to bring all its operations back to one main location.

The John C. Graves Library

The John C. Graves Library at SNMA is one of the biggest libraries in the United States focused on LGBTQ+ topics. It has many books and materials about or by LGBTQ+ people.

You need to be a member to borrow items from the library. But anyone can visit the library for free to read or do research. Good news for students: membership is free for all high school and college students! The library also offers free Wi-Fi for visitors.

The library accepts donations of books and materials. However, they must be about or by LGBTQ+ subjects. If they receive a book they already have, they might sell the extra copy for a small fee or give it to another LGBTQ+ library. You can search the entire library catalog online.

What Can You Find in the Library?

The library has many different types of materials you can borrow. These include:

• Fiction books (made-up stories)
• Non-fiction books (true stories and facts)
• Biographies (stories about people's lives)
• Books in foreign languages
• Fine arts books
• Books for youth and young adults
• DVDs, audiobooks, and CDs

Special Collections

Some items are very special and are kept in "Special" or "Restricted" collections. You can usually ask to see these if you are a member.

• Special collections: These are unique items because of their content or how rare they are.
• Signed and/or highly valued books: These books are very special, perhaps signed by the author or very hard to replace. They are not kept on the public shelves.
• Restricted collection: These are books that cannot be borrowed because they are very rare. This includes first editions (the very first printings of a book), old books signed by the author, and other unique items. Often, there are regular copies of these same books on the public shelves that you can borrow.

What's in the Collections?

As of 2022, the library has 28,000 books. Nearly 1,000 of these are rare books! The library organizes its books using a system called the Library of Congress system. You can see the full list of everything they have on SNMA's website. About 5,000 people visit the library each year, from casual readers to students doing research.

Besides books, SNMA also has a huge collection of archival materials. These are old papers and documents, totaling more than 6 million pieces! Most of these are from 1950 to today.

The collection includes old magazines and newspapers from all over the country. It also has personal papers and documents from different organizations. The main focus is on the American Southeast (areas west of Houston, Texas, and south of Washington, D.C.). Sometimes, the copies of old magazines that Stonewall has are the only paper copies known to exist!

A volunteer chief archivist named Paul Fasana helped organize a huge amount of archival content into one collection. The collection is now named in his honor. In 2020, SNMA received a grant to help them digitize (make digital copies of) some of their archives. This will help keep the content safe and make it available for people all over the world to see online.

In 2020, SNMA's board decided to make their collections, programs, staff, and board more diverse. This means they want to include more voices and stories from different backgrounds.

Programs and Events

Stonewall hosts many public programs to help people learn about LGBTQ+ issues. They have movie nights, book clubs, workshops, and social gatherings. Other events include fundraisers, walks, talks with writers, art exhibits, and volunteer programs. They also take part in LGBTQ+ events in the wider community.

The Stonewall National Education Project holds a yearly meeting for teachers and school leaders. This meeting helps them learn about LGBTQ+ topics for school lessons. It also teaches them how to create a safe and welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ young people. The Stonewall Archives is a great resource for teachers. It helps them find accurate historical information about LGBTQ+ history and culture to use in their lessons. This gives teachers a chance to teach and discuss LGBTQ+ history in their classrooms.

See also

In Spanish: Museo y Archivos Nacionales de Stonewall para niños

• Timeline of LGBT history