July 12, 2012

Without the efforts of dozens of dedicated volunteers, little would be accessible at ONE Archives. Charles and Fred are among the volunteers that contribute their time and expertise to preserving our past.

Charles Schewene, a dedicated volunteer, has uncovered a wealth of information on the Knights of the Clock. While many researchers have attempted to find information about this 1950 gay, interracial social organization, they have come up short. Through his persistence, Charles was able to obtain a copy of the original articles of incorporation from the office of the California Secretary of State. With this information he continues to comb the ONE Incorporated and Legg collections for more information on the individuals involved with the organization.

His success with the Secretary of State’s office led him to request the articles of incorporation of a number of other organizations adding valuable information to our collections. The papers filed with the state include the bylaws, the names of the officers, and occasionally when the organization folded.

Just as Charles uncovered information thought to be lost to time, Fred Bradford and his assistant,  a University of California Riverside student were able to access files saved on Commodore Computer 5.25 inch floppy disks. After researching the means to access and copy the files, Fred decided to use a Kryoflux, USB-based floppy controller. Again through persistence, they uncovered the text files located on the disks.  Overtime the computer and disks had been assigned to various collections, all related to ONE, Inc. This proved to be partially correct; many of the files existed in the Fred Boydell Papers. Boydell had volunteered at ONE in the 1980s and he or someone at ONE had used the Commodore to compile a list of the early ONE Inc. lecture series. While this information was available in a number of different formats, we now have an easily accessible-chronological listing of ONE’s early lecture series going back to 1955.

Each day we uncover and make accessible more information on our LGBTQ history, please join us in this adventure. There are many ways to contribute to the cause – financial support, donating your personal and/or organization records, and giving of your time. ONE Archives offers many volunteer and internship opportunities, if you are interested or have any questions, please give us a call at 213-741-0094 or e-mail us at askone@onearchives.org.

Michael C. Oliveira
Project Archivist

Image: Volunteer Charles Schewene and Archivist Loni Shibuyama working at ONE