Michael McConnell Files

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ArchivalResource

Michael McConnell Files

1943-2016

https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/13/resources/2022

The file was created jointly through the efforts of Michael McConnell and Jack Baker, gay activists involved in the fight to extend political recognition and marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples in the state of Minnesota. Materials include administrative documents, correspondence, journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, bulletins, flyers, brochures, pamphlets, posters, catalogs, ephemera and directories that document activities, events and ideas associated with the Gay Liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. Inclusive dates for the collection are 1965-2006; bulk dates are 1970-1984. The collection has been maintained in the original order created by the donors. The first series of the collection, Publications, consists of eight subseries. The subseries consist of historical materials featuring particular aspects of the gay publications, including lesbian-focused periodicals and newspapers; Twin Cities organizational newspapers, newsletters, flyers and related correspondence; US metropolitan and regional news publications, regional and national organization newsletters and flyers, and commercial periodicals with gay content. In addition to the various serial publications, the collection contains self-published flyers, brochures and newsletters reflecting the grass-roots nature of many of the organizations represented in the collection. Many of the publications in the collections represent the first or early edition(s) of the publication run. In most cases, publication runs are not complete. Original materials, including correspondence related to an organization are identified at the folder level.

42 boxes

eng, Latn

University of Minnesota Libraries. Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6618395

Related Entities

There are 2 Entities related to this resource.

Baker, Jack, 1942-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69x17f1 (person)

Jack Baker is a gay activist. His marriage to Michael McConnell in 1971 sparked controversy; they were the first same-sex couple to be married legally with a license that was never revoked. Their wedding became the earliest same-sex marriage ever to be recorded in the public files of any civil government. In late 1971, the Minnesota Supreme Court in Baker v. Nelson affirmed the lower court order to deny a marriage license to same-sex partners. Their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was accepted ...

McConnell, Michael, 1942-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h5735b (person)

Michael McConnell was born in 1942, grew up in Oklahoma, and received his Master’s degree in Library Science in the early 1960s. He met Jack Baker in Norman, Oklahoma in 1966. McConnell and Baker, committed to each other as life partners with the intention of becoming legally married, moved to Lawrence, Kansas in 1968. McConnell worked as an acquisitions and reference librarian at Park College, while Baker commuted to an engineering job in Topeka. In 1969, both men moved to Minneapolis. McConn...