Collection

Ward, Skip Papers

Span Dates: 1971-2006
Bulk Dates:
Volume: 4 linear ft.

Description

The papers of Blanchard "Skip" Ward, a resident of Alexandria, Louisiana who was one of the pioneering members of LGBTQ activism in Louisiana. He focused the majority of his efforts on the rural and religious members of the queer community. His efforts are linked to nearly every queer activist group in Louisiana and many others nationwide.

Hist/Bio Note

Blanchard “Skip” Ward, born September 17th, 1920, was raised in Alexandria, Louisiana. After serving in the United States Marine Corps and traveling throughout the United States and abroad, he returned to central Louisiana in his adulthood, where he remained for the rest of his life. He became increasingly involved in LGBTQIA activism in the early 1970s, when he first came out as homosexual in a Unitarian church in Baton Rouge and went on to co-found the Unitarian/Universalist Church’s Gay Caucus. He also created Louisiana’s first publication tailored to its gay population, called Le Beau Monde. Skip Ward held some form of membership with nearly every Louisiana LGBTQIA organization from the 1970s onward and was particularly active in the Louisiana Lesbian and Gay Political Action Caucus, a political activist organization, and the Radical (or Raedical) Faeries, a national organization for rural-based gender and sexual non-conforming spiritualists.

Finding Aid

A brief online finding aid is available.
https://archives.tulane.edu/repositories/3/resources/1150

Location

Tulane University Special Collections Library Jones Hall Room 202 6801 Freret Street New Orleans 70118 US
https://specialcollections@tulane.edu

Tags

Louisiana | Radical Faeries | Unitarian Universalists for LGBT Concerns | Author/editor | Gay Spirituality | Gay Liberation Movement