The Log Cabin Republicans have donated their archives to the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) Studies.
“We’re excited to announce this agreement with the Tretter Collection,” said Log Cabin President Patrick Guerriero, who visited the Tretter Collection last summer. “This is an important step in safeguarding material related to Log Cabin’s history so future historians will have a clear picture about the role of gay conservatives in the fight for equality.”
Log Cabin Republicans is the nation’s largest Republican gay rights organization of Republicans who support fairness, freedom, and equality for gay and lesbian Americans. Log Cabin has state and local chapters nationwide, full-time offices in Washington, D.C., and Sacramento, Calif., and a federal political action committee.
“When future history books are written on the GLBT movement, there’s no question that the Log Cabin Republicans will have a chapter and it’s important that we create a historical legacy to pass along to future generations,” said Jean-Nickolaus Tretter, Tretter Collection historian and archiver. “We’re happy the work of Log Cabin will be a part of the legacy of the GLBT movement in our collection.”
Log Cabin’s Board of Directors decided on the Tretter Collection after a search process that included several other institutions around the country.
“This is the best facility to house Log Cabin’s historical material,” said Log Cabin Board Chairman Tim Schoeffler. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to have our work preserved for generations to come.”
The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies houses more than 30,000 items in a wide variety of media related to GLBT communities and the fight for equality. The international collection has items that go back as far as 4,000 years. The collection also maintains recent materials, including current editions of GLBT periodicals. While books are the core of the collection, the archives also include historical papers, letters, memoirs, photos and other items. The Log Cabin collection will likely include letters to U.S. presidents and letters from U.S. presidents as well as other public figures, Tretter said.
“With some of Log Cabin's founders and early leaders passing on, it was critical for us to find a place capable of preserving the documents that tell our story,” said Leonard Olds of Laguna Beach, Calif., a longtime member and leader of Log Cabin. “Our history was in danger of being lost. Now I’m happy to say it will be preserved so that when the history books are written about the GLBT movement, gay conservatives can be included in that story.”
Log Cabin leaders and chapter organizers around the country will send items to the Tretter Collection archives. These items and all others in the collection are available for study by the general public at the Tretter Collection facilities. The University of Minnesota Libraries is one of the university’s and the state’s greatest intellectual and capital assets. The Tretter Collection is in the University Libraries’ department of Special Collections and Rare Books.
