Leather Archives & Museum: 25 Years

social responsibility. As the archivist at the
LA&M, I feel a dual responsibility —a
responsibility to you all, members of the
alternative sex and culture communities, as
well as a responsibility to educate and
provide access to a history that has been
systematically and systemically ignored and
kept out of traditional repositories.
supporting each other through history.
The LA&M is a profoundly moving place: a
living entity; a site of memorial; a place for
collective memories to be exhibited, to live.
For 25 years the LA&M has provided a space
for both people within Leather/kink/BDSM/
fetish communities, and also for those who
aren’t in the community to explore the history
of alternative sex and sexuality. I urge
everyone to visit the LA&M, explore, and
learn about why alternative sex history is
important not just for the communities
represented within the collections, but for the
history of American cultural and identity
development in the 20th and 21st centuries. I
am eager to see the cultivation of
professionalism, access, and expansion of
the collections over the next 25 years, and
the impact that the LA&M will continue to
have long into the future.
Our existence as a museum, archive, and
library disrupts and challenges the notions
that 1: explicit materials should not be
embodied in traditional repositories, and 2:
that these materials are too inappropriate to
be “on display.” Through primary source
materials and collections, the LA&M provides
evidences of how the history of alternative
sex and culture can help elucidate the
sociosexual history of American culture. The
Leather Archives & Museum is a sacred
place that excites and enraptures. We are
learning more and more that our sexual
identities are pivotal to understanding
ourselves and our histories, and the LA&M as
an institution is poised on the forefront of
providing evidence of this through our
collections and exhibits.
Sometimes I pace around the archives room,
strategizing about the selection and
processing plans for the next collections;
sometimes volunteers and interns and I laugh
hysterically and have to take a dance break
after putting thousands of letters and
drawings into archival quality sleeves. Often,
we get teary at the beauty and resilience of
leather communities loving, teaching, and
Jakob VanLammeren, MLIS
August 2016
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