00383 GAMMA: An Inventory of Its Organizational Records Finding aid prepared by Lara D. Friedman-Shedlov. Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul MN.

Manuscripts Collection

 Finding aid encoded by Stephanie Grabowski, May 4, 1999.Finding aid written inEnglish August 2008Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to Version 2002 by Monica Manny Ralston, Daniel Sher, and Joyce Chapman. OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Minnesota Historical Society GAMMA (Organization: Minn.). Organizational records. 1978-2004. Records of a social and athletic organization for gay men in the Twin Cities. 1.25 cu. ft. (2 boxes). See Detailed Description for shelf locations. HISTORY OF GAMMA

The founding meeting of GAMMA took place in 1977, when the Twin Cities area had few social clubs for gays and lesbians. The organization grew out of a more informal, Minneapolis-based group, known as the Little Sisters of LaSalle, which had been organizing parties, volleyball games, and trips to sporting events and publishing a newsletter. GAMMA was officially incorporated in 1978 as a nonprofit athletic and social organization. Activities planned by the group have included trips to sporting events and artistic performances, a volleyball tournament, camping trips, parties, musical performances, dining out, and group travel. Although membership was always open to all, the membership has been almost exclusively male throughout the history of the organization.

 SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

Records of GAMMA include a set of chronologically arranged administrative records, an extensive run of the group's newsletter, GAMMA News, and photo albums. The chronological administrative records include minutes, agendas, budgets, membership reports, some correspondence, and other related materials. There is also some information about the formation of the GAMMA Foundation, which was founded in 1989 "to provide financial support to individuals and groups committed to enriching the life and culture of gays and lesbians in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and the State of Minnesota as a whole."

 CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics: Gay men -- Minnesota -- Twin Cities Metropolitan Area -- Societies, etc. Gays -- Minnesota -- Identity. Organization: GAMMA Foundation. Type of Documentation: Photographs. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. GAMMA (Organization : Minn.) Organizational Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

 Accession Information:

Accession Number: 15,328; 15,722; 15,876

 Processing Information:

Processed by: Lara D. Friedman-Shedlov, August 1998; Dennis Meissner, December 2002

Catalog ID number: 09-00320248

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION 144.E.19.4F 1 Administrative records, 1980-1996, 1999-2001. 13 folders.

Minutes, agendas, bylaws, articles of incorporation, membership reports, budgets, and related materials arranged chronologically. The 1999-2002 folder contains only membership lists.

 Membership list process, undated.

Procedures for adding new members, renewing members, and deleting former members from the organization's database.

 GAMMA Foundation bylaws, 1989-1990. GAMMA News, June1978-April-May 2004. 8 folders.

Monthly, bi-monthly after 1997, newsletter of the organization. Although uniformly titled Gamma News here, it seems to go through random, informal name and appearance changes. Scattered issues, including the first five issues of volume 1, are missing from 1978-1979. Other issues missing are July 1988, June 1989, September-December 1991, and February 1992-August 1993.

 Photo albums: Volume 1: 1978-1980.

Pages have been removed from binder.

 Volume 2: 1982-1983.

The album was photocopied and the photos subsequently removed from the album pages and placed in envelopes for conservation purposes.

 144.E.19.5B 2 Volumes 3-4: 1983-1989, 1993-1994. 5 folders.

The albums were photocopied and the photos subsequently removed from the album pages and placed in envelopes for conservation purposes.