About

Welcome to the website for the ONE Archives Foundation, Inc., the independent community partner that supports the ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California (USC) Libraries, the largest repository of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) materials in the world. Founded in 1952 as ONE Inc., the publisher of ONE Magazine, the ONE Archives Foundation, Inc. is the oldest active LGBTQ organization in the United States. In 2010, the ONE Archives Foundation, Inc., deposited its vast collection of LGBTQ historical materials with the USC Libraries. Today, the organization is dedicated to promoting this important resource through diverse activities including educational initiatives, fundraising, and range of public programs.

Value Statement

Out of our commitment to social equity and justice, we tell the stories of the LGBTQ community and its history. We engage with the complexity of queer history and representation through highlighting the intersectional and authentic narratives of Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), women, gender-nonconforming and transgender people, people of various abilities, youth, and elders across all socio-economic classes.

We work in partnership both within our community and outside it in ways that foster trust and long-term relationships among groups. We seek to encourage understanding and empathy among our constituents in order to build coalitions and create social change.

Purpose

Make the history, contemporary experience and humanity of the LGBTQ community an integral part of the greater social whole.

Vision

Be an activist cultural institution and leading producer of historical and contemporary LGBTQ stories reaching broad audiences through media, exhibitions, symposiums, publications, outreach and educational programs.

Mission

Tell stories that connect history and contemporary culture to affect social change today. We cultivate the personal and communal courage found in LGBTQ history to empower the contemporary queer experience, promote social justice and equality for all.

ONE Archives Foundation is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.