The fonds contains records pertaining to the duration of Michael Lynch’s life, including records on his personal, academic, and activist work. The fonds has been separated into nine series. Personal records include: childhood records, photographs, news clippings, correspondence, diaries, government…
706cm of textual records
83 colour photographs, 23 black and white, 78 negatives, 199 slide images
58 records in electronic format
6 sound recordings
11 graphic materials
1 record on microform
Extent
7.06
History / Biographical
Dr. Michael Lynch was a Canadian-American university professor, activist, writer, scholar, and father. He taught modern poetry, fiction, and writing at St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto from 1971 to 1990. He was one of the first advocates for lesbian and gay studies by teaching one of the first courses with gay themes offered at a Canadian university. He hosted conferences on Walt Whitman and his paper, Here is Adhesiveness: From Friendship to Homosexuality, and was awarded the first Crompton-Noll Award from the Lesbian and Gay Caucus of the Modern Language Association in 1981. He served as an early editor of that organization's newsletter from 1981 to 1990. Dr Lynch was founder or early organizer of numerous gay organizations in Toronto: The Gay Alliance Towards Equality, the (Toronto) Gay Academic Union, and Gay Fathers of Toronto. He was a member of the editorial collective that published The Body Politic. When AIDS came to public attention in 1981, Dr. Lynch was one of the first leaders in Toronto to respond to the crisis. Dr. Lynch was a co-founder of the AIDS Committee of Toronto and served as chairperson in 1984. He originated the idea of Toronto's AIDS Awareness Week in 1983 and helped to found AIDS Action Now! In 1988, he was organizer of the Toronto AIDS Memorial and the founder of the Toronto Centre for Lesbian and Gay Studies. He was struck down by AIDS in 1991.
Scope and Content
The fonds contains records pertaining to the duration of Michael Lynch’s life, including records on his personal, academic, and activist work. The fonds has been separated into nine series. Personal records include: childhood records, photographs, news clippings, correspondence, diaries, government documents, and care team notes. Academic records include: research notes and writing drafts, finished articles, poems, and shorts stories, class notes, and correspondence. Activist records includes: materials relating to groups which Lynch was a part of, such as organizational records, newsletters, and correspondence.
Restricted access on files F0092-08-29 to F0092-08-36
Arrangement
Original order of files was kept where possible. Some accessions arrived in boxes with no discernible order, these items were organized in a way that was seen as similar to how earlier accessions had been arranged by the creator. Correspondence was put alphabetically, mixed correspondence chronologically. Accessions were combined.
The fonds has been arranged into nine series:
1-Personal and Early Life
2-Correspondence
3-Diaries and Appointment Books
4-Gay Studies Caucus
5-Research and Conferences
6-Articles and Manuscripts
7-Class and Teaching Notes
8-Gay Groups
9-Care Team
