2008-015_saxon.xml Inventory of the William Carl Saxon Diaries Saxon (William Carl) Diaries Michael P. Palmer ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives
909 West Adams Boulevard Los Angeles, California 90007 Phone: (213) 741-0094 Fax: (213) 741-0220 Email: askone@onearchives.org URL: http://www.onearchives.org
© 2008

ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives. All rights reserved.

 Machine-readable finding aid created by Michael P. Palmer. Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word. Date of source: May 2, 2008. Finding aid written in: English Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard Inventory of the William Carl Saxon Diaries Collection number: Coll2008-015 ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives Los Angeles, California Michael P. Palmer May 5, 2008 Michael P. Palmer

© 2008 ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives. All rights reserved.

 Descriptive Summary William Carl Saxon diaries 1971-1992 Coll2008-015 Saxon, William Carl, 1954-1992 4 archive cartons. 1.4 linear feet. ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives.
Los Angeles, California 90007
Journals, 1971-1992, of William Carl Saxon (1954-1992). The entries are primarily of a psychological nature, and chronicle his relationships with his family, friends, and his long-time partner, William John "Billy" Lorenz, and, from July 1990, the emotional effects of his struggle with AIDS. Languages represented in the collection: English Access

The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.

 Publication Rights

Researchers wishing to publish materials from this collection must obtain permission in writing from ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives as the physical and copyright holder.

 Preferred Citation

William Carl Saxon diaries, Coll2008-015, ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, Los Angeles, California.

 Acquisition Information

Gift of William John Lorenz, legatee of William Carl Saxon, September 1, 1994.

 Processing Information

Collection processed by Michael P. Palmer, May 5, 2008.

 Biography

William Carl Saxon was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 26, 1954. He graduated from Franklin Hugh School in 1972, and received a journalism scholarship from the Los Angeles Times to attend California State University Los Angeles, where he served as president of the Gay Student Union, and from which he graduated in 1979 with a BA in American Studies. Saxon did much volunteer work with the Braille Institute, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, and the Suicide Hot Line. He was last employed as a Quality Control Engineer and Customer Service Representative at Champion Irrigation Co. He was diagnosed with AIDS in July 1990, died of the disease in Los Angeles on February 22, 1992.

 Scope and Content of Collection

The collection consists of the journals of William Carl Saxon (1954-1992) for the period 1971-1992. The entries are primarily of a psychological nature, and chronicle Saxon's relationships with his family, friends, and his long-time partner, William John "Billy" Lorenz. The entries are extensive for the period 1972-1977, then become increasingly intermittent until 1990, when Saxon was diagnosed with AIDS. The entries from July 1990 until January 1992, document, in a deteriorating hand, the emotional effects of Saxon's struggle with the disease. A single folder contains several photographs of Saxon and Lorenz, Saxon's last will, his last letter to Lorenz, and materials from his memorial service.

 Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

AIDS (Disease) --Psychological aspects Diaries Saxon, William Carl, 1954-1992 Collection Contents Personal circa 1980-1992 1 : 1 Journals 1971-1992 1 : 2-7 ; 2 : 1-4 ; 3 : 1-3 ; 4 : 1-2 No. 1 / 2 (copy) September 20, 1971 - April 13, 1973 1 : 2 No. 2 (original) April 18, 1972 - March 12, 1973 1 : 3 No. 3 March 13 - July 27, 1973 1 : 4 No. 4 July 29, 1973 - April 8, 1974 1 : 5 No. 5 April 9 - December 29, 1974 1 : 6 No. 6 December 30, 1974 - April 6, 1975 1 : 7 No. 7 April 9, 1975 - June 7, 1976 2 : 1 No. 8 June 8, 1976 - November 25, 1977 2 : 2 No. 9 November 30, 1977 - July 23, 1980 2 : 3 No. 10 August 1, 1980 - September 3, 1983 2 : 4 No. 11 October 4, 1983 - November 2, 1990 3 : 1 No. 12 November 2, 1990 - March 13, 1991 3 : 2 No. 13 March 14 - September 15, 1991 3 : 3 No. 14 September 17, 1991 - January 5, 1992 4 : 1 Poetry undated 4 : 2