HBIGDA - Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association 

The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dyphoria Association (HBIGDA) was a multi-disciplinary transgender health professional association established in 1978. The association was created in order to foster communication among professionals that were involved in the treatment and research of gender identity disorders.

About HBIGDA

HBIGDA was named after Dr. Harry Benjamin (1885-1986), a gerontologist and endocrinologist who was a pioneer scholar and researcher on transsexualism. Founding members of the association include Paul A. Walker, Richard Green, Jack C. Berger, Donald R. Laub, Charles L. Reynolds Jr., Leo Wollman, and Jude Patton. Past presidents of the association include Leah Schaefer (1991-1995), Alice Webb (1999), and Eli Coleman (1999-2003).

The association sponsored professional conferences, distributed information, published The International Journal of Transgenderism, and created ethical guidelines. In 1979, HBIGDA issued the first version of the Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders (SOC). These guidelines were created to aid professionals in the treatment of people with gender identity disorders. The SOC have since been in constant development and updated as new research is presented.

Renaming

In 2006, HBIDGA was renamed The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). The language change served to eliminate the term "gender dysphoria" and put an emphasis on overall health and well-being instead of illness.

Collection details

The HBIGDA collection is divided into four series:

• Organizational information
• Symposium materials and publications
• Correspondence
• Miscellaneous

It also contains an appendix listing materials extracted from the collection and incorporated into the Kinsey Institute Library's general holding.

The Leah C. Schaefer Collection also has a selection of HBIGDA items (Series III) which includes organizational material, conference information, newsletters, and correspondence.
Materials from the WPATH era (2006–) are located in the The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Collection.

Full text holdings:

• HBIGDA Symposium 1, 1969 Brochure
• HBIGDA Symposium 1, 1969 Attendee List
• HBIGDA Symposium 2, 1971 Itinerary
• HBIGDA Symposium 6, 1979 Brochure
• HBIGDA Symposium 8, 1983 Program
• HBIGDA Symposium 9, 1985 Program ("Final program" appears to be a simple itinerary)
• HBIGDA Symposium 10, 1987 Program
• HBIGDA Symposium 13, 1993 Program
• HBIGDA Symposium 14, 1995 Program
• HBIGDA Symposium 15, 1997 Delegate Listing
• HBIGDA Symposium 16, 1999 Program and Abstracts (2 files)
• HBIGDA Symposium 17, 2001 Program and Abstracts (2 files)

For a complete list of collections materials, please contact the Kinsey Institute Library.

James W. Edwards Collection

The collection of James W. Edwards (1950–1996), American medical anthropologist and East Asian researcher, comprises seven archival boxes consisting of 183 file folders. The Edwards collection is divided into two parts:

• Papers: publications, manuscripts, correspondence, publication drafts, and conference papers
• Research files: scholarly journal articles, research notes, statistics, and original or photocopied news clippings

Edwards' extensive library is archived at The Kinsey Institute, Institute for Research in Sexuality and Gender at Renmin University of China, and Columbia University. For a listing of his donations to the Kinsey Institute, please contact the Kinsey Institute Library

Edythe Ferguson Collection

Edythe Fallon Ferguson was a pseudonym used by a transvestite living in Long Beach, California. The collection includes sample lists of available lectures on transvestitism, a representative collection of selected lectures on the topic, a few short essays, and a collection of correspondence (primarily to Dr. Alfred Kinsey) by Ferguson between 1951 and 1956.

Ferguson had developed a system for instruction in "legitimate female impersonation developed thru [sic] personalized lectures" that she sent through the mail to interested individuals whom she deemed qualified. Prospective students were asked to send her photos, physical descriptions, and information regarding their temperament and mannerisms. Her course included instruction in physical expression, vocal training, fashion, movement, and "encouragement of the psychological aspect and suggestions for acquiring the feminine 'state of mind'." Students were required to report their progress to Ferguson who would furnish between 100 and 120 lectures to the student depending on their perceived rate of progress.

The Ferguson Collection consists of one box containing one hardback bound volume and one archival folder under one series heading: 1) Lectures and Correspondence which includes copies of correspondence course lectures, essays, and letters (primarily to Alfred Kinsey) written by Edythe Fallon Ferguson between 1951 and 1956.

Chris Gonzalez GLBT Archives

The Chris Gonzalez GLBT Archives collection is a partnership among the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections, the Chris Gonzalez Library & Archives, and the Indiana University Indianapolis Library Program of Digital Scholarship.

This digital collection provides a unique glimpse into the early, organized GLBT community in a mid-sized, Midwestern city. Presently, the collection includes digital versions of, The Screamer from 1966–67 and The Works, later renamed, The New Works News, 'Indiana's gay news magazine for gay men and women,' from 1982–1989.

Access the archives online »

Kenneth R. Haslam, MD Polyamory Collection

The Kenneth R. Haslam, MD Polyamory Collection consists of conference materials, internet resources, media coverage, and research articles, as well as Dr Haslam’s personal correspondence and papers originally delivered at poly-oriented meetings, sex research and sex therapy conferences. There are also materials from several other donors relating to research, media response, and community communications and publications. The bulk of the collection represents the work of Dr. Haslam and other poly-activists from 2000 to the present, with contributions from earlier polyamory writers and activists dating from the 1970s.

Haslam’s decision to develop the polyamory collection at The Kinsey Institute reflects his interest in providing information and educating the public about polyamorous relationships. The collection includes biographical information about Kenneth Haslam, who has been a leader in organizing and documenting the polyamory community, and in introducing polyamory into the academic sphere. Haslam’s presentations, featured in this collection, are geared towards educating professionals, practitioners, the public and the poly-community; they form a framework for understanding polyamory, along with snapshots of the lifestyles and communities.

The collection represents many different polyamory groups and communities, including the 1970s Kerista Community and the Church of All Worlds in the U.S., and international materials, such as Dutch language publications from The Netherlands. The collection also contains newsletters that were the precursors of Loving More magazine and a complete collection of the;magazine; listservs, blogs, and journals; websites such as "Polyamorous Percolations;" "Swingercast," the swingers' podcast; Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness materials; and archives of various web-based discussion groups.

There is also a polyamory bibliography (PDF) containing a variety of materials, including books on the subject that are held by the Kinsey Institute.

This archive also contains data from Polyamory Demography: the "Loving More Magazine" Study (2000) commissioned by Ryam Nearing.

For a complete list of materials in this collection, download the Haslam Collection Finding Aid.

An Announcement from the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections about the Kenneth R. Haslam, MD Polyamory Collection (January 2019).

Jeanne Hoff Archive

Dr. Jeanne Hoff, a psychiatrist trained at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, worked with the Harry Benjamin Practice, and later opened her own private practice in transgender care. Hoff herself went through gender affirmation surgery in the late 1970s. Her archives are inclusive of her professional records and documentation, book reviews, correspondence, and essays.

Also included are TV appearances, notably an award-winning episode from the NBC show, "Not for Women Only," produced by Madeline Amgott and hosted by Polly Bergen and Frank Fields. Another interview, "Becoming Jeanne…A Search for Sexual Identity" by Lynn Redgrave and Frank Fields, was broadcast by NBC as Hoff on June 30, 1978 (around the time Hoff began her transition). "Becoming Jeanne" won the prestigious Ohio State Broadcasting award in 1979, and Madeline Amgott was nominated for an Emmy award.

Thomas N. Painter Collection

The collection of Thomas N. Painter (1905–1978)—gay activist, writer, and Kinsey collaborator—consists of 61 bound volumes and 99 archival folders (28 ft. total) of:

• Correspondence (1943–73)
• Personal documents (1928–74)
• Drawings and sketches (1944–66)
• Personal and family photographs (1932–61)
• Painter's unpublished autobiography

It also features manuscripts—both fiction (1944–1970) and non-fiction (1941–1974), including two book-length unpublished manuscripts on homosexuality and male prostitutes (1941).

Much of the collection reflects Painter's research, including his Index of Persons, notes, clippings, documents, maps, diaries, correspondence, manuscripts, date books, and over 2,700 photographs and photographic negatives from and about more than 400 individuals (approximately 1940s–60s). The collection also includes a privately printed autobiography (1836) by one of Painter's ancestors with Painter's family history (to 1914), manuscripts, and documents (1925–34), and notes on individuals (from 1861) that Painter incorporated into his own work.

B.E.M. Erotica Manuscript Collection

The B.E.M. collection comprises more than 1,100 original, unpublished manuscripts of erotica (36 linear ft.) donated to the Kinsey Institute in the mid-1960s by a private collector. The manuscripts were written primarily by anonymous military personnel in the 1940s and consist of sexual fantasies and stories, many of which feature bondage and domination or mild sado-masochistic themes.

The collection includes both typed and handwritten manuscripts; many are hand-bound and decorated. The manuscripts are organized into series by the type of binding, the author or collector, or the content.

Eros Collection

EROS magazine was first published on February 14, 1962 by Ralph Ginzberg. Lavishly bound in hard covers, only four quartely issues of Eros were produced.

Ginzberg initially promoted the magazine by sending three million direct mail circulars. He received approximately 10,000 unsolicited letters in response, expressing opinions both pro and con with regard to the proposed magazine. In addition, the Postmaster General received 25,000 letters of complaint from citizens who had received the mailer. Soon after (with a fifth issue in production), Ginzberg was served with an indictment accusing him "sending obscene matter through the mails" in violation of the Comstock Act of 1873. The indictment was based on a book published by an affiliate of EROS, though Ginzberg believed it was an indirect attempt to hamper the magaizine's production.

In December 1963, Ginzberg was sentenced to serve five years for sending "obscene" literature through the mail. The trial and subsequent appeals dragged on for another 10 years. On February 17, 1972, Ginzberg began a five-year sentence at the Lewisburg Penitentiary in Pennsylvania. He was paroled eight months later.

The Eros Collection consists of two boxes containing 17 archival folders divided into two series: 1) Correspondence including comments and letters sent to EROS magazine and its publishers in response to the initial EROS mailer; 2) Promotional information and news clippings dealing with EROS magazine and the 1963 trial and subsequent appeals of Ralph Ginzberg (1960s–1970s). The Kinsey Institute library collection contains Eros magazine vol.1, no.1–vol 1., no.4 (1962) [call number: J800 Er75].