Deborah L. Smith Collection

The Deborah L. Smith collection contains material related to New Jersey LGBTQ, feminist, and other civil rights organizations and events, from the 1980s through the early 2000s.

The collection is divided into three series: Subject Files, Publications, and Ephemera. Each series is then divided into individual folders, generally organized alphabetically by subject or title. If necessary, folders are additionally organized by date. Series folders reflect Smith's own organizational system and have been preserved as much as possible in both titles and contents of folders.

The Subject Files series makes up the bulk of the collection and contain material that have been organized alphabetically by subject. Some are broad subjects, such as "AIDS/HIV" or "Legislative Issues", but many are about specific organizations or events, such as "Gay Activist Alliance of New Jersey" or "Boycott – Chrysler and Wendy's re "Ellen" Episode, 1997." These folders include correspondence, articles, newsletters, flyers, programs, and additional manuscript material.

The Publications series contain published material organized by title. These folders include newsletters, periodicals, a bibliography published by LGBT groups in New Jersey, and other print materials related to LGBT topics.

The Ephemera series contains metal lapel buttons organized by year, mostly related to politics, civil rights and liberties issues, and LGBTQ groups.