Introducing Speaking Out!

 

Hello! My name is Louise Neilson and I am Project Archivist on LHSA’s Wellcome Trust funded project Speaking Out: Cataloguing advocacy, support and empowerment in the Lothian Gay and Lesbian Switchboard archives. If you are a regular reader of our blog or you have contacted us in the past you may recognise my name as I have been Access Officer here since April 2018 and will be conducting this project as a secondment and returning to that role in April 2023.

What am I doing?

Lothian Gay and Lesbian Switchboard (LGLS) opened on 2 March 1974 and was the UK’s first gay helpline and Scotland’s first gay charity. It was an activist-run mental and physical health service for LGBT+ people in the Lothians and beyond, yet despite this pioneering history, LGLS archives remain largely invisible to researchers due to their current uncatalogued state… which is where I come in!

As Archivist for the Speaking Out project I will be working hard over the next 11 months to open up the collection through cataloguing, rehousing and selectively digitising the LGLS collection. The process of cataloguing will allow confidential records to be identified and closure periods applied where necessary, but it will also allow non-confidential material to be opened for access by researchers.

I will also be working collaboratively with local LGBT groups to produce a public exhibition based on the LGLS archive which will also exhibit new work created as a response to the collection. In additional to this I will be hosting a series of workshops in the Centre for Research Collections from creative writing to zine making!

Switching the Changes, Gay Scotland, Issue 26 (Mar/April 1986)

Information about Edinburgh Gay Switchboard

What have I done so far?

I am now four weeks in to the project and to get started I thought it would be best to scope the collection, get a sense of what’s in there, and then create a detailed box list. After looking through the 44 boxes, folders, and box-files (and getting completely engrossed in almost everything I came across) I have created a structure that will allow me to begin cataloguing the collection.

The collection is in very good condition but before cataloguing starts I will be checking in with LHSA’s Manager and accredited conservator, Ruth Honeybone, to bring up any concerns and to discuss the best way to store the different materials that form the collection.

What is in the collection?

The collection comprises of records created and collected by LGLS which includes things like minutes, correspondence, call logs, resources for volunteers and promotional materials.

Reading minutes and correspondence has been helpful in getting a sense of how LGLS was organised and how it operated. It has also been useful to read through the press cuttings collected by LGLS volunteers and editions of Gay Scotland as these provided a wider context of LGBT+ lives, activism and politics across Scotland and internationally during the 1990s and 2000s.

Gay Scotland, Issue 21 (Jul 1985)

Call logs form a large proportion of the collection and capture one of the core functions of LGLS – to provide a listening service for people struggling with issues or difficulties relating to their sexuality.

Call logs come in different formats including bound log books and individual index cards. Each log contains a summary of the call including notes on what advice was given, updates on subsequent calls, or details of any in-person meetings between caller and an LGLS befriender. By the nature of the service LGLS provided the logs can contain confidential, and often sensitive information. Anonymised transcription will be used to allow access to a selection of call logs while ensuring we adhere to data protection legislation and maintain the confidentiality that was so crucial to the work of LGLS. 

First Log Book (1974)

It is going to be a privilege to work on opening up this collection and spreading the word about this ground-breaking organisation and its important place in LGBT+ and Scottish history. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages, and of course this blog, for further updates (and plenty more pictures)!