The Daily Bulletin

The Pride Pins Collection is the next exhibition in this semester’s series featuring the Madeline Davis LGBTQ Archive, sponsored by Butler Library's Archives and Special Collections and the LGBTQ+ Resource Center. Drop by today during the opening reception from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the Campbell Student Union Fireside Lounge to design your own pin and enjoy some special treats. The Pride Pins exhibition is on view through March 25.

The Pride Pins Collection has been donated by many various community members and organizations and has been amassed over a lifetime of activism and political efforts. As with most early LGBTQ+ ephemera collections, some pins document events and activities that were not covered by traditional and conservative new outlets. The pins offer a significant and often underdocumented historical record of gay rights activism, community organizations, national and local rallies, HIV/AIDS activism, and support organizations.

Visit the collection in the display cases on the third floor of the Campbell Student Union, on view through March 25, or access the digital archive through the Digital Commons. Stop by anytime the Student Union is open.

Upcoming Exhibitions

• March 25–April 22: Pride/Political Posters/Gay Rights T-shirt Collection
• April 22–May 10: Gender Expressions: Charles Gustina Prints, Tangarra, Radical Faeries Photographs

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LGBTQ+ Resource Center
Visit the LGBTQ+ Resource Center on campus in Campbell Student Union 105G, call 878-4633, or e-mail the Student Leadership and Engagement Office. We are open Monday–Friday 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

If you would like to get involved in LGBTQ+ affairs on campus, please consider joining the Bengal Allies! We are open to all faculty, staff, and students who would like to build an inclusive environment on campus. Please contact Char Vetter, associate director of the Weigel Wellness Center, or Sean P. Terry, student activities assistant for evening and weekend life, for more information. 

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About the Madeline Davis LGBTQ Archive of Western New York
In 2001, noted gay rights activist Madeline Davis founded the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Archives of Western New York as a way to collect, safeguard, and provide access to materials that document the LGBTQ+ communities of Western New York and Southern Ontario.

In 2009, the archives were transferred to Buffalo State’s E. H. Butler Library. Housed in the Archives and Special Collections, the archives have expanded to more than 300 linear feet of items and have become the region’s largest LGBTQ+ collection. More than 80 individuals, groups, and diverse organizations are represented in the tens of thousands of documents and items that include photographs, local organizational records, multimedia materials, pamphlets, posters, clippings, awards, signs, banners, plaques, and published materials as well as an array of ephemeral items and other pieces that date back to the 1920s.

The Buffalo State Madeline Davis LGBTQ Archive is actively soliciting donations of materials and further support. As Madeline Davis herself has said, “Our community has a past, but no history.” The presence and continued growth of the many collections in the archives help to ensure that our shared history will only grow in scope and importance. Any contributions to the collections will help fill in historical gaps, ensuring that we have a past, a history, and a future. Please contact the Archives and Special Collections if you wish to donate to the collection or have questions about the materials.