by Pat McSparin // Spring 2011

From a lesbian-focused album collection to spectacular cabaret costumes and two decades of AIDS Walk T-shirts, the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America (GLAMA) features important pieces of American history. The Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections in the Miller Nichols Library at UMKC houses the collection. Founded in late 2009 as a partnership between the Kansas City Museum, the Jackson County Historical Society and the UMKC libraries, GLAMA was established to collect, preserve, and make accessible the documents and artifacts that reflect the history of the gay and lesbian community of the Kansas City area. “The response has been enthusiastic,” said Stuart Hinds, head of Special Collections at LaBudde. “We’ve picked up about a dozen collections in our first year.” These are just a few highlights.