Scope and Contents
The collection spans the years 1965 to 2016 and consists of correspondence, writings, printed material, financial papers, photographs, audiocassettes, videocassettes, buttons, t-shirts, and other papers and realia relating to Jim Fouratt's life and involvement with political and counterculture activities, gay rights and AIDS activism, and nightclubs and the music industry. Papers relating to political and counterculture activism document Fouratt's involvement with movements and events of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the Youth International Party (Yippies) and the 1967 Central Park Be In. Papers relating to gay rights and AIDS document Fouratt's activism and work with organizations including the Gay Liberation Front and ACT UP. Papers relating to nightclub management document his work at Hurrah!, Danceteria, and other clubs, and papers relating to band management document Fouratt's work with a wide range of musical acts. Band demos and video recordings document new wave, rock, and punk acts that performed or sought to perform at clubs managed by Fouratt during the early to mid-1980s. Buttons collected by Jim Fouratt span a variety of political causes and many musical acts active during the 1980s. T-shirts collected by Fouratt represent a range of musical acts, clubs, and political causes.
Dates
- 1965 - 2016
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Boxes 55-142, 208 (audiovisual material): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Box 209 (born digital): Restricted fragile material. Access copies of digital files may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Jim Fouratt Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, Inc. on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund, 2015.
Arrangement
Organized into eight series: I. Papers relating to political and counterculture activism, 1965-1974. II. Papers relating to gay rights and AIDS activism, 1968-2016. III. Papers relating to nightclub and band management, circa 1978-2000s. IV. Band demos and recordings, circa 1980s. V. Video recordings of band performances, 1979-1987. VI. Buttons, 1965-1980s. VII. T-shirts, 1977-1990. VIII. Realia, circa 1980s-2000s.
Extent
241.83 Linear Feet (209 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Jim Fouratt
Jim Fouratt (born June 23, 1941, in New Brunswick, New Jersey) is an American gay rights activist, writer, nightclub promoter, and music industry manager. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Fouratt was a member of the Yippies and helped organize the Central Park Be In. He was present at the Stonewall Rebellion, co-founded the Gay Liberation Front, and has been an active contributor to many groups focused on gay rights and AIDS-related activism. Fouratt has worked in the music industry in several capacities, ranging from managing nightclubs such as Hurrah! and Danceteria in the late 1970s and early 1980s to working as vice president of A&R at Mercury Records in the late 1990s. He has also worked as an actor and journalist.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections as they are acquired, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization.
Information included in the Collection Description note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- ACT UP (Organization)
- AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- United States
- AIDS activists -- United States
- Audiovisual materials
- Born digital
- Buttons (information artifacts)
- Counterculture -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- Danceteria (Nightclub)
- Discotheques -- New York (State) -- New York
- Fouratt, Jim
- Gay Liberation Front (New York, N.Y.)
- Gay activists
- Gay liberation movement -- United States
- Gay rights -- United States
- Hurrah (Nightclub)
- LGBTQ resource
- Music trade -- United States
- New wave music
- Nightclubs -- New York (State) -- New York
- Photographs
- Political activists
- Popular culture -- United States
- Punk rock music -- United States
- Rock music -- 1971-1980
- Rock music -- 1981-1990
- T-shirts
- Youth International Party
- Title
- Guide to the Jim Fouratt Papers
- Author
- by Jim Fisher and Michael Rush
- Date
- July 2019
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.