Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children's Book Special Collection
Children's books and related materials, 1969-2023
Donated by Randall Tarpey-Schwed, this public collection traces how children's books represented LGBT families across publication, classroom use, library access, edition history, and public debate.
Ways into the collection
These routes group records by publication history, family representation, public access, editions, and donation context.
Early Landmarks
Books and related records that help trace the earliest visible forms of LGBT family representation in children's and young adult literature.
Families In Picture Books
Picture books that make family structure legible to young readers through everyday scenes, school forms, weddings, bedtime, and classroom conversation.
Challenges And Public Debate
Records connected to library challenges, censorship, public controversy, and the institutional question of whether children could encounter these books openly.
Small Presses And Publishing Networks
A route through small presses, feminist publishing, LGBT publishing networks, and community-made books that helped the genre take shape.
Translations And Editions
Items that show titles moving across language, edition history, visual treatment, and new readerships.
Collector And Donation Context
Records that frame the donation itself: collector files, research context, provenance, public talks, and the Mechanics' Institute setting.
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What the catalog contains
The records include books, editions, translations, periodicals, and files documenting how LGBT family representation entered children's publishing and library collections.
Spanning 1969 to 2023, the collection brings together pioneering titles, independent and feminist press materials, and related documentation that trace changing family representation, publishing networks, and public access over five decades.
Early records in the collection
Did You Ever?
Paula Goldsmid; illustrated by Janice Schopler
Lollipop PowerNonsexist children's booksGender roles
The Dragon and the Doctor
Barbara Danish
Feminist PressNonsexist children's booksSmall-press publishing
Black is Brown is Tan
Arnold Adoff; illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully
Interracial familyMultiracial childrenDomestic life
How Far Is Berkeley?
Image pending
Image pending
Martin's Father
Margrit Eichler; illustrated by Bev Magennis
Single fathersNurturing fatherhoodLollipop Power
When Megan Went Away
Jane Severance; illustrated by Tea Schook
Lesbian-parent family lifeSeparationChild grief
Families
Meredith Tax; illustrated by Marylin Hafner
Many kinds of familiesCoded lesbian familyClassroom use
A public collection with a research history
The collection includes books, editions, translations, periodicals, and files documenting how the donation was built, exhibited, researched, and connected to public debates over children's access to LGBT family stories.