The ONE Institute's new home

The former fraternity house was made available to ONE Institute & Archives in 1995 as a gesture of goodwill by USC. But there was a problem: the building was in need of extensive repairs. Work on the building has been progressing nonstop since last year.

“It is better to try and fail than fail to try,” says ONE board member Jim Schneider, who has been supervising the successful operation. The hard-working businessman has set a friendly, cooperative tone at the job site. A board member of ONE Inc. as early as 1964, he joined the board of ONE Institute & Archives in 1997, mainly to see the building project through completion. “I have tenacity,” Schneider admits. “I never really quit anything until I finish it.”

On December 20, Maurice Holman, USC Vice President of Facilities Management, sent a team of carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and other craftsmen to finish the work. They have since installed new wiring, light fixtures, and flooring, as well as repainted the entire interior of the spacious building. Nearly $250,000 of university money and over $75,000 of ONE funds have gone into the project so far. While the building is now habitable, immediate additional needs include security and air-conditioning systems, and landscaping. “It is now up to the community to provide additional donations to finish the job, as well as to help us staff and enlarge the collections,” says USC Anthropology Professor and ONE board member Walter Williams.

ONE Institute & Archives is the world¹s largest holding of historical material documenting the experience of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people. It contains over two million individual pieces, including more than 25,000 books, 3,000 titled collections of archived periodicals, 100,000 photographs, 6,000 linear feet of organized subject files, and thousands of paintings, posters, protest signs, buttons, and other memorabilia of every conceivable sort.

The library and archive¹s wealth of collections provides a storehouse of information to scholars around the world, as well as offering a unique place of pride to visitors. Some rooms in the new ONE building have been permanently set aside for future museum and exhibition spaces, and local community groups are being encouraged to utilize the facility for special events. "USC administrators deserve much praise," continues Williams, who recently elicited an additional $35,000 from the university for the renovation job. "No other university in the world has put up this amount of money to help support research in gay and lesbian studies. In its ongoing commitment to pay for utilities, maintenance, and security, USC will be doing more than its fair share. I am proud to be part of such a cutting-edge academic institution that recognizes the international significance of ONE Institute & Archives."

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Like Schneider and Williams, ONE board member and English Professor Karin Quimby has been instrumental in moving the project along in recent months. Among other duties, she has been working with Louis Ortega and Ronne Roberts of Louis Ortega Design Studio, who have donated their talents in planning the refurbished quarters.

Quimby is especially looking forward to seeing the Lesbian Legacy Collection move into its own space in the new building. Librarian Yolanda Retter will be able to assist women and other researchers in accessing our diverse collection of lesbian and feminist books, periodicals, music, video and audio tapes, as well as the files and photographs of such historic community institutions as The Women's Building and the Lesbian Tide, she says. “It will also be wonderful to have space throughout the building for special exhibits of lesbian photography, art, and memorabilia.”

Although great strides have been made in the past several months to realize the dreams put forth by ONE Institute & Archives founders almost half a century ago, much work still lies ahead. The unpacking and sorting of archival materials will continue in the weeks ahead as well as the establishment of new fundraising goals. The California Community Foundation and Uncommon Legacy Foundation have contributed monies to the project during the past couple of years. And the Institute for the Study of Human Resources, ONE's longtime foundation sponsor, recently gave an additional $9,000 in memory of Dr. Calvin Cottam, who until his death in 1999 served as vice president of ISHR. But thousands of dollars of further donations are needed to staff and maintain the heritage and research center.

“We¹ve been looking forward to this moment for a long time. The organization is growing and changing, with four energetic new board members, but we need more volunteers and contributors to bring it all to fruition,” states Misha Schutt, ONE's board president. “Now is the time to come and see what you can be a part of.”

While it has taken some years for ONE Institute & Archives to find a permanent home, it has been building a major presence in cyberspace. Much work has gone into constructing ONE's Web site, which the Journal of Homosexuality recently cited as the world¹s best gay and lesbian archival Web site. A new simplified address www.oneinstitute.org makes accessing the site even easier than before. Editor Walter Williams and Associate Editor / Site Manager Todd White have included reviews and abstracts of nearly 400 books in the International Gay and Lesbian Review, part of this ONE Press electronic publication.

Along with the contributions made by Yolanda Retter on the Lesbian History Project Web site and other linked sites like the Jewish GLBT Archives and the Society of Lesbian and Gay Anthropologists, ONE Institute¹s Web site provides a valuable educational resource for scholars and the general public alike.

Now, with one central location finally ready, this project and other plans long wished for by ONE directors and volunteers can be even more fully realized. Finding a space large enough to preserve and make available the vast treasures of gay and lesbian heritage has been a long-term goal of ONE Institute.

That dream seemed all the more urgent when pioneer gay activist and ONE cofounder Dale Jennings recently died at age 82. His passing was prominently noted in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time magazine, and other major news sources, signifying that the cause for gay and lesbian civil rights and understanding has at last come home to the place it so richly deserves.

C. Todd White
Associate Editor and Web Manager
ONE Institute International Gay and Lesbian Review

ONE Institute & Archives
909 W. Adams Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90007

www.oneinstitute.org

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FamilyNation Team www.familynation.net
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