Hutchins Library News Blog

May 22 is Harvey Milk Day, a day to honor the life and legacy of the first openly gay politician in California and civil rights leader and activist. Sadly, he was assassinated by a political rival in 1978, but his legacy and contributions live on. 

If you would like to learn more, here are some library resources that may be of interest: 

• An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk's Speeches and Writings (e-book). 
• Harvey Milk: his lives and death by Lillian Faderman (biography, e-book). 
• The Right Side of History: 100 Years of LGBTQI Activism (essay collection, print edition). See the essay “The Mayor of Castro Street.” You can find the book in the General Collection Stacks (2nd floor) by call number 323.326 B873r 2015. 
• Milk (2009, film). This is the biopic of his life with Sean Penn portraying Harvey Milk. You can find it in our DVD Collection in the main floor under call number DVD 791.437 M644 2009. 
• The Times of Harvey Milk (2004, Documentary). You can find it in the DVD Collection under call number DVD 364.152 T583 2004 Discs 1-2.

If you want to find and read articles on Harvey Milk, LGBTQ+ topics, and other civil rights issues, the following databases may be of interest. You can find our databases on our library website via the “Databases A-Z” link: 

• Academic Search Complete
• Alt Press Watch
• J-Stor 
• Project Muse

Resources from the open web: 

• Harvey Milk on Wikipedia. 
• Harvey Milk Day on Wikipedia.
• The Harvey Milk Foundation. 
• The Mayor of Castro Street. This is the 1982 biography written by Randy Shilts. I was a bit surprised our library does not have it at the moment, however, you can borrow it online via the Internet Archive. 

Notes: Please note that to access our library's electronic resources off campus, you will need campus authentication (your Berea College username, password, and DUO authentication). You can also access our electronic resources if you visit the library in person. 

If you need research assistance, you can always stop by the reference desk, use the chat widget on the library website, or make an appointment with one of the librarians from the library website. 

To borrow books on Internet Archive, you will need an account with Internet Archive. If you do not have one, you can set up a free account with Internet Archive. I have one, and I do use it. Just click on their “Sign Up/Log In” link to get started. 

Welcome to another edition of “From our shelves” where I read a book from our collection and write a short review about it. This week I am reviewing Antifa: the antifascist handbook by Mark Bray.

The term “fascism” seems to be in the news constantly. We also often hear the terms “anti-fascist” or “antifa.” If you want to learn more about what antifa is and its history, this book is a pretty good primer that goes over the history of anti-fascism, Antifa, to today. The history starts around the 1920s with the rise of Hitler and Mussolini then the author takes us through to the 20th century and into the 21st century. 

The book has six chapters including history of the movement, interviews with anti-fascists from around the world, though the focus is a bit Eurocentric, tactics and philosophy of the movement. The book offers an accessible text, and unlike other texts on the topic this one does not get bogged down in theory and jargon. It also includes a list of resources for further reading. 

You can find the print edition of the book Antifa: the anti-fascist handbook in the library's General Collection Stacks (second floor) under call number: 320.533 B827a 2017 (link to catalog record).