New Digital Collection: Milwaukee Gay Peoples Union

Beginning as a student organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the group gradually became a resource for the entire Milwaukee community. Distancing itself from the radical politics of the New Left, GPU adopted a politically moderate approach to social change, emphasizing education and legal reform.

It actively embraced mainstream and alternative media outlets in order to educate the general public about homosexuality. GPU also took a leadership role in building an infrastructure for the emerging local gay and lesbian community.

It established Milwaukee's first gay and lesbian community center, operated a telephone counseling service and a venereal disease examination center, and organized a legal defense committee to assist gays and lesbians with paying for legal representation. The organization faded in importance by the early 1980s, although it continues to exist today.

The digital collection includes annual reports, articles of incorporation and by-laws, fliers, and newsletters; the complete run of GPU's monthly news magazine, GPU News (1971-1981); and audio recordings of Gay Perspective, a radio program produced by GPU and aired on local Milwaukee stations. Topics on these radio programs include homosexual liberation, legal reform, coming out, marriage equity, and gays in the military.

Some of the collection's source materials were highlighted in a UWM Libraries display at PrideFest held at the Henry Maier Festival Park in June. This year's event celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event frequently cited as igniting the modern struggle for LGBT civil rights. On June 28, 1969, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City, refused to submit to a routine raid by the police. Their spontaneous demonstrations sparked a political movement that continues unabated.

The digital collection is available online via the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections at http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/GPU. Original source materials are open for research in the Division of Archives and Special Collections of the UWM Libraries.

Michael Doylen

Life and Death in Paris Leads Off Lecture Series

Jeffrey Merrick, Professor in UWM's Dept. of History, will inaugurate the 2009-10 UWM Academic Adventurers Series on Friday, Sept. 18 at 3 p.m., with a talk entitled "Life and Death in the Streets of 18th Century Paris."

Academic Adventurers is a continuing series of informal programs which give members of the UWM community the opportunity to hear of their colleagues' adventures abroad and afield. The presentations, free and open to the public, are held in the American Geographical Society Library, third floor east wing of the Golda Meir Library. There are refreshments afterwards, courtesy of the Friends of Golda Meir Library.

Other speakers in the series are:

• Brendan Vierk, M.S. Candidate and Advisor, UWM Department of Geography, "The Secondary Karst Forests of Puerto Rico: Did Landforms Mold Their Regrowth?" on Nov. 13, 2009.
• Jim Lubner, Education Coordinator, UW Sea Grant Advisory Services, "The Denis Sullivan in the Bahamas: Connecting Wisconsin Students to Sea & Sail" on Feb. 12, 2010.
• Val Klump, Director & Sr. Scientist, Great Lakes Water Institute, "Adventures of a Great Lakes Limnologist" on Mar. 5, 2010.
• Norman Lasca, Professor Emeritus, UWM Geosciences Dept., "The Back Side of Antarctica: From the Falklands to Australia" on April 9, 2010.

Used Book Sale Returns Oct. 12-14

The Friends of the Golda Meir Library Used Book Sale is back after a semester hiatus due to the construction of the Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons.

This fall’s event will be held October 12-14. Over 6,000 books in a wide variety of genres will be offered, as well as a large number of LPs.

The sale, held in the fourth floor Conference Center of the library, is open to UWM students, faculty, and staff only, from noon to 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12. On Tuesday, Oct. 13 and Wednesday, Oct. 14, the sale is open to the public and runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hardcovers are priced at $3 and paperbacks $1.50. Trade paperbacks cost 25�. Most prices are reduced the last day of the sale. Proceeds benefit the UWM Libraries.

Himalayas Subject of 2009 GeoFocus Lecture

Richard Marston, University Distinguished Professor, Kansas State University, will give a lecture entitled "Land, Life, and Environmental Change in the Himalayas" on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. in the American Geographical Society Library.

Marston, chair of the geography department at KSU, is co-editor-in-chief of the journal Geomorphology. His main research interests are physical geography, human-environment interactions, and rural and regional geography.

Marston has numerous journal and book publications, and has received nearly $2 million in grants and contracts for his research, including funding from the National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Geological Survey.

This will be the second annual presentation of "Geo-Focus: The Edward Wilkommen Geography and Geology Lecture Series," sponsored by Wilkommen, a retired engineer, longtime AGS Library user and Wisconsin Map Society member.

The lecture is free and open to the public. A reception follows the lecture. The AGS Library is located on the third floor, east wing of the Golda Meir Library building. For more information or special needs, please call 414-229-6282.

Digital Literacy Contest

The Digital Literacy Contest (DLC), a competitive event designed to engage students and promote library and campus resources, will be held on October 6 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Daniel M. Soref Learning Commons.

The DLC is a high speed battle of minds to find and evaluate information online and in library databases. Competitors logon to the web-based contest and have 30 minutes to answer 30 questions using the Internet.

Registration is online at http://digitalliteracycontest.org/students/uwm. Participants must be present in the Learning Commons' instruction rooms during the event.

The contest is sponsored by the UWM Libraries and the UWM Office of Undergraduate Research. For more information, contact Kate Ganski at 229-6828 or ganski@uwm.edu.