The Charles Botts Memorial Archives and Library is housed in the activities building of the Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church and is open to the public by appointment.

The Charles Botts Memorial Archives and Library does not yet have a web page but messages for the keeper, Larry Criscione, may be left with the church office at 713-861-9149.

We are also now happy to offer access to the working inventory detailing the contents of the Botts Archive!

As the library now exists, there are approximately 10,000 books including biographies, directories, published studies, and novels written for the LGBT community. The book collection includes books signed by people such as Truman Capote, Alan Ginsberg, and Barbara Jordan.

The periodicals include a full run of TWiT (This Week in Texas), Outsmart, and the Houston Voice as well as partial runs of earlier Houston publications such as Nuntius, Pointblank Times, Montrose Star, and LXIX. There are also many periodicals from outside of Texas represented such as The Ladder, Drum, RFD, and Gay Sunshine. The entirety of the periodical collection measures in at about 700 linear feet.

The Organizational and the personal papers section measures in at about 215 linear feet. And includes the papers of local activists, such as Gary VanOttingham who, on August 01, 1975, went before the Harris County Commissioners’ Court to speak out about gay rights, as well as come out publicly about his own homosexuality. Which cost him his job as the county comptroller.

There is also much in the way of ephemera-posters, buttons, trophies, fliers, scrapbooks, etc.

They are in need of someone to develope a web page for them.