Summary Information
Ralph Navarro Papers
1983-1999
- Navarro, Ralph, 1949-2001
UWM Manuscript Collection 218
.2 cubic ft. (1 box)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Papers of a prominent gay activist in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.
The bulk of the collection concerns Gay Information and Services, an information and
referral service coordinated by Navarro from 1987 until his death in 2001. The collection
also includes information about Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist's Citizen Commission on
Police-Community Relations and fragmentary information about the Gay Peoples Union, one of
Milwaukee's earliest gay rights organizations.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmmss0218 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Ralph Navarro was born in Chicago on August 4, 1949. He became actively involved in
Milwaukee's gay community in the early 1980s and participated in the formation of virtually
every important organization of that period. In 1981, he co-founded the Cream City Business
Association (CCBA), an affiliation of gay and lesbian business people and service providers,
and served as its first president from 1980 to 1984. He also helped to establish the Cream
City Foundation in 1982, which formed as the charitable arm of CCBA, and served as its
president from 1982 to 1983. In 1987, Navarro founded Gay Information and Services (GIS) and
co-founded the Lambda Rights Network (LRN), a gay/lesbian advocacy organization. From 1989
to 1990, GIS collected data for LRN's Hate Crimes/Violence Reporting Statistics Project.
From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, Navarro provided numerous guest editorials on
Tri-Cable Tonight, a news and entertainment program produced by the Milwaukee Gay/Lesbian
Cable Network. Navarro died at the age of 51 on June 1, 2001.
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the collection concerns Gay Information and Services (GIS), an information and
referral service coordinated by Navarro from 1987 until his death in 2001. This
documentation consists mainly of Navarro's efforts to secure funding to support GIS. The
collection also includes information about the Citizen Commission on Police-Community
Relations, established by Mayor John O. Norquist following the revelation of Jeffrey
Dahmer's serial killings of gay men and Milwaukee police department insensitivity to gay
issues. Finally, the collection includes correspondence from Navarro, mainly in his capacity
as president of the Cream City Foundation in 1983, with the Gay Peoples Union.
Preferred Citation
Citation Guide for
Primary Sources
Related Material in the UWM Libraries
Administrative/Restriction Information
There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all
members of the public in accordance with state law.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel,
privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin
Statutes 19.21-19.39).
Scott Gunkel donated the collection to the Archives in December 2003 (accession
2003-062).
Michael Doylen processed the collection in November 2004.
Contents List
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Citizen Commission on Police-Community Relations, 1991
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Gay Peoples Union, 1983-1987
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Miscellaneous, 1985
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Gay Information and Services
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Activity Reports, 1990, 1996-1997
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Correspondence, 1989-1999
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Reporting Forms (Blank), undated
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Speaker Service, 1997
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