LibGuides Home: History Day Previous Topics: Lavender Scare

Lavender Scare

See also the general guide for History Day. Under Civil Rights page there with be a box of LBGTQIN2 resources that cover a broad topic than Lavender Scare.

History Day
Scratch pad with general resources for History Day. Links to archived past guides

Lavender Scare Government Publications

Many of these may be found online through our subscription databases as well as freely accessed websites.

See also the links to other libraries' guides (below).

Congress

Employment of homosexuals and other sex perverts in government. Interim report submitted to the Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments by its Subcommittee on Investigations pursuant to S. Res. 280 (81st Congress) a resolution authorizing t
Call Number: Online and Serial Set Number 11401 S.Doc. 241
In print and online at Stanford Digital Repository
Serial Set Vol. No. 11401, Session Vol. No.11
81st Congress, 2nd Session
S.Doc. 241

Comstock Law 17 Stat. 598
"An Act for the Suppression of Trade in, and Circulation of, obscene Literature and Articles of immoral Use."
Contraception was included.
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Prohibited U.S. Postal Service from mailing "Every obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy, or vile article."

Senator Joseph McCarthy spoke on Senate floor. Congressional Record, 81st Congress, 2nd Session, Vol. 96, Part 2, pp. 1952–1981
Congressional Record. Feb 20, 1945. Extension of Remarks (Appendix) by Joseph Clark Baldwin (NY) in reference to Caligula and the downfall of Rome.
Report of the Joint Special Committee to Investigate Chinese Immigration. (1877)
1891 immigration law
Immigration Act of 1917
1917 Navy investigation at Newport Naval Station. In response, Articles of War were updated in 1920-21.
1921 Senate Naval Affairs Committee recommended discharge of "suspected perverts."
1921 Army Regulation 40-105 - screened recruits for medical defects and included sexual orientation.
Tariff Act of 1922 and Tariff Act of 1930 - Customs Service was not to allow "obscene" materials from other countries into the United States.
1944 War Department Circular No. 3 addressed same-sex relations within military.
1944 WAC training camp at Fort Oglethorpe screened women.
Employment of Moral Perverts by Government Agencies

Courts

Supreme Court Opinions 1952. Sweeney v. Woodall.
One, Incv. Olesen
- 241 F.2d 772, reversed. Eric Julberfor petitioner. Solicitor General Rankin, Acting Assistant Attorney General Leonard and Samuel D. Slade for respondent. PER CURIAM. The petition for writ of certiorari is granted and the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is reversed. Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476.

Executive Branch

Census Bureau

1880 Census : Report on the defective, dependent, and delinquent classes of the population of the United States, as returned at the tenth census (HathiTrust)
Federal Documents I 11.5:21/reprint
Original available online through our library catalog.
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Hathi Trust gives title as: Tenth census. June 1, 1880. v.21.

Lavender Scare Articles, Databases, etc

Articles

"These People Are Frightened to Death" Congressional Investigations and the Lavender Scare
Article in Prologue Magazine Summer 2016, Vol. 48, No. 2 By Judith Adkins.

"History of LGBT: Federal Law and Policy" in Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 2004.

Lavender Scare Books, etc

Sexual behavior in the human male by Alfred C. Kinsey. Wardell B. Pomeroy [and] Clyde E. Martin
Call Number: Stacks HQ18.U5 K5
Publication Date: 1948
Ask and Tell by Steve Estes LIBGUIDES: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was the directive of President Clinton's 1993 military policy regarding gay and lesbian soldiers. This official silence continued a collective amnesia about the patriotic service and courageous sacrifices of homosexual troops. Ask and Tell recovers these lost voices, offering a rich chronicle of the history of gay and lesbian service in the U.S. military from World War II to the Iraq War. Drawing on more than 50 interviews with gay and lesbian veterans, Steve Estes charts the evolution of policy toward homosexuals in the military over the past 65 years, uncovering the ways that silence about sexuality and military service has affected the identities of gay veterans. These veteran voices--harrowing, heroic, and on the record--reveal the extraordinary stories of ordinary Americans, men and women who simply did their duty and served their country in the face of homophobia, prejudice, and enemy fire. Far from undermining national security, unit cohesion, or troop morale, Estes demonstrates, these veterans strengthened the U.S. military in times of war and peace. He also examines challenges to the ban on homosexual service, placing them in the context of the wider movement for gay rights and gay liberation. Ask and Tell is an important compilation of unheard voices, offering Americans a new understanding of the value of all the men and women who serve and protect them."
Call Number: Stacks UB418.G38 E77 2007
ISBN: 9780807831151
Publication Date: 2007-05-14

Lavender Scare Other Institutions

National Archives - NARA

"These People Are Frightened to Death" Congressional Investigations and the Lavender Scare
Article in Prologue Magazine Summer 2016, Vol. 48, No. 2 By Judith Adkins.
Discovering LGBTQ History (NARA)
National Archives (NARA) tumblr page with links to many resources.
site: "Featured documents reflecting the history of American lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender men and women from 1778 to the present. A project of Stonewall@NARA, the National Archives LGBTQ employee affinity group."

Library of Congress (LOC)

Selected Legal Milestones (LOC)
From the Library of Congress (LOC) guide on LGBTQ+ Legal Resources: A Beginner’s Guide: "This list is a starting point for external resources related to landmark and historic rulings related to issues of gender identity, sexuality, and the law. This list is by no means comprehensive."

Executive Branch

Apology for Past Discrimination toward Employees and Applicants based on Sexual Orientation
Press Statement. John Kerry, Secretary of State. Washington, DC. January 9, 2017

Others

We're Here, We're Queer, and We're in the Public Record! The LGBTQ Movement and Life as Seen Through Government Information
UC Berkeley exhibit: "This online and gallery exhibit was created to supplement a presentation given at the 2016 Federal Depository Library Conference. That presentation, "We’re Here, We’re Queer, and We’re in the Public Record: Federal Government Documents on the LGBT Movement," highlighted a number of primary sources documenting the U.S. federal government's stance on issues related to the LGBT movement from the 1800s to the present day. These documents illustrate that, while our society may not be fully inclusive of LGBT people, our government is much more open than it was in the past."
This shocking 1975 letter shows how far the federal government has come on gay rights
We should try to find the original document if students decide to use this.
Site: "...1975 letter from a district director at the Justice Department's Immigration and Naturalization Service, posted by BuzzFeed's Chris Geidner"
LGBT Rights Milestones Fast Facts - CNN
From CNN: "Here is some background information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender milestones in the United States."
The Johns Committee, 1956-1965
A Florida Committee. Part of University of Central Florida Libraries' research guide on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Resources