A Message from Ms. Bob Davis
Founder and director of Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive

For over 35 years I have been fascinated by the history of my trans community, the people who formed it and those who preceded it.  The first transgender magazine I bought was the premiere issue of Female Mimics International in 1979.  By the early 1990s I had accumulated a rich trove of transgender history, information that many in the community wanted to see.  I began to share the archive by writing history columns for trans community publications such as Lady Like, Transgender Community News and Transgender Tapestry.  Many of these articles are available at the Transgender Forum archive www.tgforum.com.  I have presented lectures on trans history at conferences such as the 2nd International Congress on Crossdressing, Sex and Gender, California Dreamin’, and Fantasia Fair (2014). By 2000, scholars of transgender history had begun requesting access to my archive because of its depth and the rarity of its holdings.

The LOUISE LAWRENCE TRANSGENDER ARCHIVE is the next logical step, a community-based institution that will make this important collection available to scholars and the public.  The history of marginalized communities is elusive, imperiled and best preserved by the community itself.  The LLTA will preserve transgender history and encourage its study.