Lancashire Archives' collection of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender archives has just been boosted by a significant
collection of books, documents and research material.
Collected over 25 years by activist Jan Bridget, the collection
ranges from AIDS and bisexuality to education and trans
issues.
In 1987, Bridget co-founded the Lesbian Information Service - an
independent organisation that provided one-to-one support to
lesbians of all ages and backgrounds - as well as conducting
research into the issues facing lesbians in the UK.
Throughout her involvement with this, she accumulated a high
volume of LGBT material which she has now donated to Lancashire
County Council's archive.
Bridget said: "All too often the history of LGBT people has been
hidden so I am pleased that Lancashire Archives are challenging
this by developing an LGBT Archive - The Pink Collection. I am
absolutely delighted that Lancashire Archives have agreed to take
my library and archive for inclusion in their LGBT Archive. This
means my collection, which is possibly one of the best research
collections on LGB issues in the country, will now be available to
LGBT people, researchers and activists.
"It seems appropriate to me that my collection is being taken into
safe custody by Lancashire County Council not only because I was
born and grew up in Darwen but also because in the early 1990s I
conducted research into the needs of young lesbians in East
Lancashire and it was this that made me devote the next 21 years of
my life to supporting LGBT young people."
Lancashire County Council archivist Kathryn Rooke told
PinkPaper.com: "We launched the Pink Collection project during LGBT
History Month in 2011 to make Lancashire's LGBT population more
visible in our archives. We've been gradually building the
collection up but this deposit, which includes more than 100 boxes
of material, is of real national significance."
Information about part of the collection can be found at
lesbianinformationservice.org.
The Pink Collection, and all of Lancashire's archives, are open to
the public at Lancashire County Council's Record Office at Bow Lane
in Preston.
