Pride Student Union Records, 1964-2015, Date acquired: 06/07/2013, bulk 1970-2015

 

Collection context

Summary

Abstract:
Meeting notes, reports, correspondence, programs, photographs, and clippings that document the activities of The Florida State University Pride Student Union.
Extent:
32 boxes
21.00 Linear Feet
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Pride Student Union Records, HUA 2013-0607, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/fa/HUA-2013-0607

Background

Scope and content:

The Florida State University Pride Student Union Records document the founding and development of Pride including its predecessor and auxiliary organizations. The collection contains administrative records, promotional materials, artwork, banners, newspapers, and journal and magazine clippings produced and collected by the organization since the late 1960s. The Pride Student Union is a student agency overseen by the FSU Student Government Association (SGA), and provides services and programs that address the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, asexual and intersex students. The organization was founded in 1969 as a political community group called the People's Coalition for Gay Rights, and went through five iterations before establishing itself as part of the SGA. There are also several auxiliary student groups and community organizations that grew out of the Pride Student Union, including the FSU Student Counseling Center, The Family Tree Community Center, and Seminole Allies & Safe Zones. The collection provides access to the voices of the LGBTQ+ community in Tallahassee, the State of Florida, as well as the surrounding Gulf States from the past fifty years.

Select materials from the Pride Student Union Records have been digitized and are available through the FSU Digital Library.

Biographical / historical:

In 1969, gay and lesbians in Tallahassee organized the People's Coalition for Gay Rights, which later became the Alliance for Gay Awareness, as a response to the Stonewall Riots. The organization was primarily a political organization active in the gay rights movement of the 1970s. In 1973, staff of the University Mental Health Center (now the Student Counseling Center) formed Gay Peer Counseling to provide support and counseling for gays and lesbian students. It became the most active LGBTQ+ group on campus in the early 1970s. In 1978, the group evolved into the Gay Peer Volunteers (GPV), which provided students opportunities for services in the community outside of the counseling environment. To include all students directly served by this student organization, the Gay Peer Volunteers changed its name to the Gay/Lesbian Student Union (GLSU) in 1989, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Student Union (LGBSU) in 1994, Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Student Union (LGBTSU) in 1998, and finally Pride Student Union in 2005.

There are several other auxiliary groups at FSU that have served the LGBTQ+ population. In 1984, Gay/Lesbian Support Services formed to continue and expand upon the goals and services of the preceding organizations.  In the 1990s, a specialist in student counseling continued the mission of GPV by founding Gay and Lesbian Allies (GALA), which was later absorbed by Tallahassee LGBTQ+ community center, Family Tree. Safe Zone-Tallahassee was founded in 1997 as a response to FSU administration to fund an LGBTQ+ committee or office space. In 2012, Safe Zone was revamped into Seminole Allies & Safe Zones, and provides workshops to students, faculty, and staff.

Acquisition information:
Pride Student Union
Custodial history:

Date accessioned: 2013/07

Arrangement:

Administrative records and photographs are arranged chronologically. Publications and newsletters are arranged alphabetically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Records subject to FERPA and any other applicable privacy laws have been restricted and are noted at the file level.

This collection is in an offsite storage location. Please contact lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu with requests for access or for more information.

Terms of access:

To request permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from the archives, please contact Heritage & University Archives, Florida State University Libraries, Tallahassee, Florida. Researchers must obtain separate permission from the copyright holders of material held within University Archives collections for which the institution does not hold copyright.

Preferred citation:

Pride Student Union Records, HUA 2013-0607, Special Collections & Archives, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. https://purl.lib.fsu.edu/fa/HUA-2013-0607

Location of this collection:
116 Honors Way
Tallahassee
FL
32306-2047
USA