The Tretter Collection: What We Have, What's Missing, and the Challenges of Trans History

This essay examines the history of the Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies at the University of Minnesota Libraries. The Tretter Collection today has strong holdings about white gay men, lesser holdings about lesbians, and large gaps in material about people of color, bisexuals, and the transgender community. I argue that this is the result both of its history and of broader societal forces that limit the production of material by and for these communities. While unique, many elements in the Tretter story hold true for other GLBT archives and may help researchers contextualize what they find (and do not find) as well as encourage more discussion about strategies for diversifying GLBT voices in our collections. I explore the strategies I have used to begin filling gaps in the archive, focusing on the inclusion of transgender voices.