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Creator
Gay Switchboard of New York, Inc
Call number
MssCol 1129
Physical description
7.25 linear feet (22 cartons)
Language
Materials in English
Preferred Citation

Gay Switchboard of New York records, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

The Gay Switchboard of New York, Inc. was founded in New York City in 1971 to provide a free telephone information service for the homosexual community. The switchboard provided information on medical, legal, and social services available to the gay community, and also maintained listings of gay bars, bathhouses, etc. Although generally apolitical, the switchboard did maintain close ties with other gay organizations ans periodicals in New York City and around the country. The records cover the period 1972-1983, although the switchboard remained in operation after that time. Administrative records, telephone logs, and internal and external ephemera generated by the Gay Switchboard of New York, Inc., for the period between March 1972 and July 1983. The logs reveal the social, political, and recreational concerns of the New York gay community before the impact of AIDS.

Biographical/historical information

Records of a gay community switchboard in New York City, founded in 1971.

Gay Switchboard Handbook (1980 revision), the idea for a gay community switchboard in New York was first suggested during a meeting of gay activists in the Spring of 1971. Represented at the meeting were the Gay Activists Alliance, Beyond, and former members of the already disbanded Gay Liberation Front. After much discussion, a group of eight individuals set out to establish what would become the Gay Switchboard. In the words of one of the Gay Switchboard's information packets (dated 1978) :

The object was to provide information of interest to Gay people in an unbiased, non-judgmental manner while allowing volunteers the option of expressing their own point of view, and to counsel people to the best of their ability. It was decided that the organization would remain independent.

Fund-raising began during the Summer of 1971, and with it the difficult task of finding a suitable location for the switchboard (the switchboard had five different addresses during the period covered by the collection). In the Fall of 1971, space was leased at 247 West 11th Street, and the Switchboard received its first call on 13 January 1972.

From the first, the Switchboard was operated by a volunteer staff, and supported entirely by voluntary contributions; there was no charge for a physician, lawyer, or counsellor to be listed for referrals, or for a bar or baths to be recommended. The Switchboard operated three telephone shifts (3PM to 6PM, 6PM to 9PM, and 9PM to midnight) with at least two people per shift. The volunteers were prepared to deal with matters ranging from entertainment suggestions to suicide calls. By the late 1970s, switchboard staffers estimated that they were handling 20,000 calls a year. Each call was carefully logged according to shift and category, and the resulting log sheets make up the bulk of the collection.

In October, 1977, the Gay Switchboard, in association with Dykes and Tykes Legal Custody Center, and Gay and Lesbian Community Services of New York, Inc., leased a suite of offices at 110 East 23rd Street, and founded the Gay and Lesbian Services Center. The Switchboard maintained its independent identity, however, and in November, 1977, was incorporated as Gay Switchboard of New York, Inc.

Although the present collection stops in July, 1983, the Switchboard remained in operation. In the mid-1980s, it moved to a location at 648 Broadway, and later merged with the Lesbian Switchboard to form the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of New York, Inc.

Scope and arrangement

The bulk of the collection consists of the telephone logs compiled by the Gay Switchboard during the period from March 1972 to July 1983. Each of the three nightly shifts has its own notebook page or log sheet, with categories of calls and (after September 1980) numerical summaries. As such, the logs reveal the social, political, and recreational concerns of the New York gay community before the impact of AIDS. It should be noted that these log sheets fall into two types. Those compiled between March 1972 and September 1979 were kept in a series of bound notebooks and occasional loose sheets, and contain a brief subjective description of the nature of the call. Starting in October 1980, the Switchboard began to use pre-printed log sheets, with set call categories and summary information for each shift. There is gap in the log sheets between September 1979 and October 1980.

The Switchboard made a great effort to provide accurate and courteous service to callers. Much of the correspondence and reference material in the collection are concerned with updating files of names and addresses. The Switchboard also printed a series of procedural handbooks for volunteers.

Although the Switchboard was resolutely apolitical during the period represented in the collection, it could not help but be affected by the events occurring around it (see, for example, the materials generated by the Switchboard's participation in the annual Gay Pride Week activities). This material is supplemented by a series of materials concerning goods and services (particularly medical and legal) listed by the Switchboard. As noted earlier, during the period represented by the collection, the Switchboard was supported entirely by voluntary contributions; there was no charge for a physician, lawyer, counselor, bathhouse, or gay bar to be listed with the Switchboard.

The structure of the Switchboard was generally informal, therefore such materials as administrative and financial records are sparse. A sense of the daily operation of the Switchboard can be better judged from the series of general correspondence, mailing lists (undated) of individuals and organizations active in the homophile movement, and ephemera either generated by the Switchboard or received from other homophile organizations and publications.

The Gay Switchboard of New York records are arranged in five series:

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gift of International Gay Information Center (via John Hammond), 1988.

Processing information

Compiled by Stephen Greenberg 3/90

Related Material

International Gay Information Center Collection

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Access restrictions

Access to materials in Series 5 restricted until 2058.