Research Catalog

Title

Vito Russo papers, 1969-1990.

Author

Russo, Vito

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Bell, Arthur (Arthur Irving)
• Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012
• Brown, Rita Mae
• Charisse, Cyd
• Duane, Tom
• Kantrowitz, Arnie, 1940-2022
• Katz, Jonathan, 1938-
• Koch, Ed, 1924-2013
• Midler, Bette
• Tomlin, Lily
• Waters, John, 1946-

Subject

• Russo, Vito
• ACT UP (Organization)
• Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (New York, N.Y.)
• Gay Activists Alliance
• AIDS (Disease)
• AIDS (Disease) and the arts
• AIDS activists
• NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt
• Film criticism
• Film critics
• Gay activists
• Gay and lesbian studies
• Gay critics
• Gay liberation movement
• Gay men > United States
• Gay men's writings, American
• Gay rights
• Gay people > United States
• Gay people in popular culture
• Gay people's writings, American
• Homosexuality in motion pictures
• Motion pictures > United States > History

Genre/Form

• Correspondence.
• Diaries.
• Floppy disks.
• Sound recordings.
• Video recordings.

Source (note)

• Estate of Vito Russo, via Jed Mattes

Biography (note)

• Vito Russo was a film critic, writer, and gay rights activist.

Processing Action (note)

• Cataloged.

Call Number

MssCol 2654

OCLC

NYPW00-A119

Author

Russo, Vito.

Title

Vito Russo papers, 1969-1990.

Description

13.19 linear feet (36 boxes); 1.41 Megabytes (249 computer files); 230 audio files, 19 video files

Summary

Personal and professional papers documenting Russo's activities as a film critic, writer, and gay rights activist. Included are correspondence, journals, news clippings, personal memorabilia, photographs, computer disks, audio cassettes and videotapes. Correspondence relates to Russo's professional activity as writer and film critic, his political activism, and his personal life. Russo's journals chronicle his work, personal relationships and his fight against AIDS. Audio tapes contain lectures and interviews given by Russo. Computer disks contain the text of speeches given by Russo, research notes and interview transcripts for "The Celluloid Closet," drafts of articles and outgoing correspondence. Ephemera consists of buttons, handbills and flyers from gay rights events, as well as programs from gay and lesbian film festivals.

Restricted Access

Correspondence contained in boxes 1-5 is closed until November 7, 2015.

Biography

Vito Russo was a film critic, writer, and gay rights activist. Born in New York City in 1946, Russo attended college at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and received a Master's degree in cinema from New York University in 1971. Russo's essays, interviews, and film reviews appeared in such publications as Rolling Stone, New York, Outweek, The Village Voice, and Esquire. Beginning in the mid-1970s, Russo presented "The Celluloid Closet," a lecture and film series about the depiction of gay characters in movies. A book-version of "The Celluloid Closet" was published by Harper & Row in 1981. In 1983, Russo wrote, produced, and co-hosted "Our Time," a television series focusing on the gay community. In 1985 he was the national publicity director for the Academy Award-winning documentary "The Times of Harvey Milk." He also appeared in the 1990 documentary film "Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt." Russo was a member of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), a co-founder of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), and a co-founder of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Russo was diagnosed with AIDS in 1985, and died of AIDS-related complications on November 7, 1990.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Finding Aid

Occupation

Authors.

Lecturers.

Added Author

Bell, Arthur (Arthur Irving)

Bradbury, Ray, 1920-2012.

Brown, Rita Mae.

Charisse, Cyd.

Duane, Tom.

Kantrowitz, Arnie, 1940-2022.

Katz, Jonathan, 1938-

Koch, Ed, 1924-2013.

Midler, Bette.

Tomlin, Lily.

Waters, John, 1946-

Research Call Number

MssCol 2654