November 3, 2003

Publications

University Library publishes book on campus GLBT history

The University Library’s Regional History Project announced the publication of Out in the Redwoods: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender History at the University of California, Santa Cruz, 1965-2003. The book is based on 27 oral history interviews with UCSC students, alumni, and staff. The interviews were conducted by 11 UCSC students who were trained in an oral history internship course, as well as a team of community volunteers. Ten narrative essays by UCSC alumni are also included.

Photos and other historical material from the library's archive are included in the book Out in the Redwoods and will be on display at McHenry Library during the winter quarter.

Out in the Redwoods has been published as a 350-page illustrated paperback, featuring a poetic montage of excerpts from the oral histories, and the full narratives by alumni. Also included is a CD-rom with the full transcripts of the oral histories and other resources. Coordinated and edited by oral historian Irene Reti, the book also includes an introduction, timeline, bibliography, and other reference material.

Reti notes that the history of UCSC spans the historical timeline from before Stonewall, through the rise of the feminist movement, the gay liberation movement, and other leftist student movements of the 1960s and 1970s, the flourishing of women's studies, and the battle against AIDS, to the queer student activism of the past two decades. Nationally, UCSC has been a magnetic center of LGBT culture and activism. She adds that at this critical crossroads in history, those who witnessed and participated in the birth of a movement of liberation have been able and willing to share their singular historical experiences with the continuing generation of LGBT college students.

The library has collected a rich archive of historical material that will be the basis of an "Out in the Redwoods" exhibit on display at the library in the winter quarter of 2004. A reading/reception for the book will be held at McHenry Library on Friday, February 6, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

For more information contact Irene Reti at the Regional History Project, (831) 459-2847, ihreti@ucsc.edu.

Return to Front Page