Ron Dutton (he/him)

To document the intense and history-making political activity of the early 1970s gay liberation movement, librarian Ron Dutton began collecting everything he could, both contemporary reportage and material from earlier times: newsletters, picket signs, press releases, meeting minutes, government reports, scholarly articles, changes to laws, buttons, posters, brochures and photos.

This profile quickly expanded to include social, sports and religious organizations, sexual practices, health issues, discriminatory crimes, queer businesses, and underrepresented community members such as youth and seniors, First Nations, women, gender and ethnic minorities.

The Archives is Ron's give-back to his wonderful community and is heavily drawn upon by scholars and students on assignment, reporters back-grounding stories, artists and authors seeking historical accuracy, individuals and organizations reconstructing their personal narratives.

Five years ago, some 3/4 million items were relocated to the City of Vancouver Archives (CoVA) for greater preservation and public access, and for digitizing photos, posters and AV.

Today, Ron continues to rigorously collect both older donated documents and emerging trends (most notably the current gender revolution), material that is periodically deposited with the main collection at CoVA.