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Creator
Penn, Robert E.
Call number
Sc MIRS Penn 2003-23
Physical description
6 audio_recordings. 6 video_recordings
Language
Multiple languages; English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Preferred Citation
Robert E. Penn audio and moving image collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, The New York Public Library
Sponsor
An anonymous donor funded preliminary processing for this collection. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported a research library-wide grant for the digitization, and funded the Schomburg for the description and production of the finding aid as part of The Next Century of Black Studies Project.
Repository
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division
Access to materials
Appointment preferred: Request an in-person research appointment.

Robert E. Penn is an LGBTQ+ activist, writer, and producer. The collection consists of six audio recordings related to Penn's unpublished novel Flirtations, and six video recordings related to HIV and AIDS awareness.

Biographical/historical information

Born in 1948 in Kansas City, Kansas, and raised in Gary, Indiana, Robert E. Penn is an LGBTQ+ activist, writer, and producer. Penn moved to New York City in 1974. He earned a BA (1977) and MBA (1979) from New York University. Penn has lived with HIV since 1982, and has been an advocate for HIV and AIDS prevention and awareness throughout his career.

From 1990 to 1996, Penn served as assistant director of education on HIV prevention for the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC). Founded in 1982, GMHC is a community-based AIDS service organization based in New York City. In January 1995, Penn worked with Portuguese counterparts to develop a three-day HIV and AIDS prevention training for Portuguese doctors, nurses, and social workers in Lisbon, Portugal. That same month, he participated in two conferences held in Curitiba, Brazil: I Encontro Brasileiro de Gays e Lésbicas que Trabalham com AIDS (1st Brazilian Conference of Gays and Lesbians who Work with AIDS), and Encontro Brasileiro de Gays e Lésbicas (8th Brazilian Conference of Gays and Lesbians).

Penn's writings include novels, poetry, and screenplays. He has authored The Gay Men's Wellness Guide: The National Lesbian and Gay Health Association's Complete Book of Physical, Emotional, and Mental Health and Well-Being for Every Gay Male (1997), and an unpublished novel "Flirtations," amongst other published and unpublished works.

Scope and arrangement

The collection consists of six audio and six video recordings dating circa 1994 to 2000. The audio items are related to Penn's unpublished novel "Flirtations," and the videos are related to HIV and AIDS awareness. Item titles are devised based on the content of the recordings. Unless otherwise noted, items are in English.

The Robert E. Penn audio and moving image collection is arranged in two series:

  • SERIES I: FEATURING ROBERT E. PENN
    circa 1995-1997

    The series includes five audio recordings and two videos featuring Robert E. Penn and his work. They are arranged alphabetically by title. The audio recordings are of Penn reading from his unpublished novel "Flirtations," and one of him reading a screenplay based on the novel. The audio items' original formats are cassettes and some contain two parts, one for each side of the cassette. The videos include highlights from two conferences held in Curitiba, Brazil, in January 1995: I Encontro de Gays e Lésbicas que trabalham com AIDS, and VIII Encontro Brasileiro de Gays e Lésbicas; and HIV and AIDS public service announcements.

  • SERIES II: COLLECTED BY ROBERT E. PENN
    1990-1995

    The series includes four videos collected by Penn. They are arranged alphabetically by title. They include an instructional video about HIV infections and youth; a short documentary about Gay Men's Health Crisis's (GMHC) House of Latex and their annual Latex Ball in New York City, which celebrates ballroom culture, provides HIV prevention education, and raises awareness for the LGBTQ+ community; safer sex video clips for gay men; miscellaneous television recordings; and a portion of a 60 Minutes episode about what was presumed to be one of the earliest known cases of AIDS in 1959.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Robert E. Penn, 2003.

Processing information

Collection inventoried by Valerie Wingfield. Collection processed and described by Ornella U. Baganizi, archivist. Finding aid published in 2025.

Separated material

See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the Robert E. Penn papers, Sc MG 711.

See the Photographs and Prints Division for the Robert E. Penn photograph collection, Sc Photo Robert E. Penn Collection.

Related Material

The Gay Men's Wellness Guide: The National Lesbian and Gay Health Association's Complete Book of Physical, Emotional, and Mental Health and Well-Being for Every Gay Male by Robert E. Penn, Sc E 99-314.

See the Schwarzman Building - Manuscripts & Archives Room 328 for the Gay Men's Health Crisis records, MssCol 1126.

Using the collection

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division
515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801
Third Floor

Access to materials

Appointment preferred: Request an in-person research appointment.