Dr. JOHN P. DE CECCO ARCHIVEs & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

The Dr. John P. De Cecco Archives and Special Collections of the GLBT Historical Society are among the largest and most extensive holdings in the world of materials pertaining to LGBTQ people, occupying more than 3,500 linear feet of storage. Broadly speaking, our over 900 collections include personal papers, organizational records, periodicals, oral histories, photographs, audiovisual recordings, ephemera, artifacts and works of art.

Visitor Information

We also encourage visitors to explore our online resources.

ADMISSION & HOURS

The GLBT Historical Society’s archives are non-circulating. All materials must be consulted in the reading room. Due to limited space, all visits to the archives are by appointment only. Appointments are available Wednesday–Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

At least one collection must be paged in advance before you arrive for your appointment. Please consult our catalog and share this information with the archivist when you make your appointment. Email the reference staff here.

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT

Please contact us at reference@glbthistory.org for more information.

READING ROOM POLICIES

Pencils, paper, laptops and digital cameras are allowed in the reading room. We will ask you to stow your personal belongings in the vestibule and consume any food or drink you have in our office break room. No food or drink is permitted in the archives. Some of our collections contain sexually explicit materials; you must be 18 years old to view such content. You are welcome to take digital photographs of the materials without a flash for personal reference use. For information about duplications, licensing, permissions and associated fees, please click here.

GET INVOLVED

We maintain our extensive archival collections with generous help from foundations, business sponsors, individual donors and volunteers. You can join in supporting the archives by arranging a sponsorship, making a donation to the GLBT Historical Society, signing on as a volunteer — or all three!

LOCATION & DIRECTIONS

Archives & Research Center

989 Market Street, Lower Level

San Francisco, CA 94103

The archives are located on Market Street between 5th and 6th streets in downtown San Francisco.

By BART: Take any San Francisco-bound train to Powell Station, then walk one long block west toward Sixth Street.

By Muni: Via the Muni Metro underground, take lines K/T, L, M, or N to Powell Station, then walk one long block west toward Sixth Street (please note that bus shuttles have replaced rail service on the L until further notice). Via other Muni lines, streetcar F-Market and buses 5-Fulton, 5R-Fulton Rapid, 7-Haight-Noriega, 9-San Bruno, 9R-San Bruno Rapid and 31-Balboa all stop within a block of the archives.

By car: Metered street parking is available, but may be very difficult to find. There is a valet pay lot off Stevenson Street and self-parking is available at the Fifth & Mission civic garage.