Collections and Fonds

Personal and organizational archival records are referred to as fonds. The ArQuives also houses a number of separate collections that consist of materials that have not be amalgamated into a fonds. However, both collections and fonds include personal and organizational records and are made up of the following record types.

  • Textual records
  • Audio-Visual records
    • Sound recordings, moving image, music
  • Posters
  • Photographs
    • Prints, slides, negatives
  • Artifacts
  • Artworks
Collections Icon

VIEW OUR COLLECTIONS 

The ArQuives is divided into several sections including archives, library, artifacts, and reference material.

The James Fraser Reference Library

  • Fiction/Nonfiction
  • Monographs
    • Academic articles and papers, pamphlets, annual reports or any publication unbound or not traditionally bound.
  • LGBTQ2+ Serials
    • Zines, newsletters, calendars, magazines, and reoccurring publications.

Art and Artifact Collections

include the following:

  • Artifact Collection
    • T-Shirt Collection
    • Button Collection
    • Matchbook Collection
  • Art Collection
    • National Portrait Collection
2 Women reading magazines

Reference Material

is also available to researchers. These records include:

  • Vertical Files
    • International, Canadian, and American research files, containing published materials
  • Newspaper Index
    • Newspaper clippings from LGBTQ2+ media
exhibit image behind rope
exhibit image behind rope

Our Digital Exhibitions

Explore highlights from the the world’s largest independent collection of LGBTQ2+ documentary heritage. Meet the people, places, and organizations that have made a difference for LGBTQ2+ Canada. Discover more in person at The ArQuives at 34 Isabella Street in Toronto, Ontario.

past event calendar graphic
past event calendar graphic

Our Past Exhibitions

Our main avenues for providing educational support are through tours of our Jared Sessions House where we hold public programming and our collections reside, as well as walking tours of Toronto’s LGBTQ2+ historical neighbourhoods, and presentations about our collections.

Collection Guides

There are many ways to access the collection. Collection Guides are documents that aggregate information about the collection to make it accessible to researchers. As Guides are made available they will be added to the site.