Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Leather Archives and Museum
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
- LA&M
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1991-
History
The Leather Archives & Museum is a library, museum, and archives pertaining to leather and alternative sexual communities. The organization was founded and incorporated in the state of Illinois in 1991. In 1996, a storefront home for the LA&M was opened in Chicago. In July 1997, Joseph Bean became the organization's Executive Director, and shortly thereafter proposed a capital campaign to raise funds to buy a building, which began in December of that year. The organization moved into its new home in late 1999, a 10,000 sq ft space on Greenview Avenue in Chicago. In 2002, Rick Storer became the Executive Director after serving as a volunteer for the museum for several years.