Research Guides & Indexes: Queer History Research in Virginia: Published Sources

Books, Dissertations, and Journals

Books

Publications related to queer Virginians can be located in the LVA catalog. Note that some materials may be cataloged using both contemporary and historical terminology. See the Research Strategies page for suggested search terms.

Publications held by the Library of Virginia include:

Scholarly and popular history books about Virginia, the South, and the US
Fiction, poetry, essays, and memoirs by LGBTQ+ authors
Public health publications relating to AIDS awareness and services

Scholarly Databases

HeinOnline Social Justice Suite This link opens in a new window
Includes the LGBTQ+ Rights collection, with publications in the area of government, history, and law.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text archives of over 1,000 leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs.
MasterFile Complete This link opens in a new window
Full-text magazines, reference books and primary source documents, as well as an extensive image collection containing photos, maps and flags.
Oxford Academic: Books This link opens in a new window
Access to thousands of titles in multiple subject areas. After searching, select the filter option "Purchased" to see available subscription-level content.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive curated collection of multi-disciplinary dissertations and theses from around the world.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works.

Newspapers & Newsletters

Library of Virginia

Digital Collections

Virginia Chronicle
Free historical archive of Virginia newspapers. Titles include two LGBTQ+ newspapers, the Richmond Pride (1986–2000) and Our Own Community Press (Norfolk, 1977–1988), as well as alternative newspapers such as the Richmond Mercury (1972–1975).

Databases

America's News: Historical and Current This link opens in a new window
Includes full-text articles from the Richmond Times-Dispatch (1985-current) and digital issues of the Richmond Times-Dispatch (1903-1986).
Newspapers.com (select Virginia titles) This link opens in a new window
Titles with extensive coverage include the Alexandria Gazette (1803–1922), Bristol Herald Courier (1907–1963), Covington Virginian (1923–1963), Free Lance-Star (1885–1963), Hopewell News (1926–1963), Richmond News Leader (1926–1963), Norfolk Virginian (1865–1898), and the Virginian-Pilot (1899–1963).
ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Black Newspaper Collection This link opens in a new window
A digital collection that includes the Norfolk Journal and Guide (1916–2003).
ProQuest Historical Newspapers. The Washington Post (1877–2007) This link opens in a new window
Digital reproductions of pages.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers. Virginia Collection This link opens in a new window
Includes digitized issues of the News Leader (Staunton, 1904–current) and Daily Press (Newport News, 1898–current).
ProQuest Recent Newspapers.The Washington Post (2008– ) This link opens in a new window
Digital issues with a 3-month content embargo.

Physical Collections

Style Weekly, 1984– (Library of Virginia)
Alternative Richmond newspaper covering news, culture, arts, and creative thought.

Digital Collections at Other Repositories

Blacklight, 1979–1985 (DC Library)
An independent newspaper serving the Black gay and lesbian community of Washington, D.C.
Washington Blade, 1969–2004 (DC Library)
Originally published as The Gay Blade, this is the oldest LGBTQ newspaper in the United States and still serves the DC Metro area.
Southwest Virginia LGBTQ+ History Project Digital Collections
LGBTQ newsletters from Southwest Virginia, including the Blue Ridge Lambda Press, Blue Ridge Lambda Alliance, PALS (Positive Alternative Life Styles), Skip Two Periods, The Big Lick Gayzette, and Virginia Gayzette.

State Documents

General Assembly

Reports to the General Assembly, including House and Senate documents, are indexed online. Select reports are digitized and full-text searchable. Reports that have not been digitized are available at the Library of Virginia.

State Agencies

The majority of the Library's published state documents related to LGBTQ+ Virginians are health publications. The Library has extensive publications related to the state response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These publications are listed in our catalog.

Divisions of state agencies that have published materials related to HIV/AIDS include:

Virginia. Bureau of STD/AIDS
Virginia. Division of HIV/STD
Virginia. Division of HIV, STD, and Pharmacy Services
Virginia. Division of STD/AIDS.
Virginia HIV Community Planning Committee
Virginia. Office of Epidemiology. AIDS Program.

The Library also has select publications related to transgender health care in Virginia.