The National Leather Association was formed following the Living In Leather : A National Conference for Lesbians and Gays of the Leather Lifestyle event. The organization was started in Seattle, WA. Chapters across the United States and Canada were formed beginning in 1988. The organization produced the Living in Leather conference annually from 1986 to 2000 in cities around the United States and in Toronto, Ontario. The organization published a newsletter entitled (at different times) The Link, Quarter Link and First Link.
The National Leather Association (NLA) became the National Leather Association – International (NLA-I) in 1991. NLA-I is governed by Articles of Incorporation, By-Laws and an Executive Board. NLA chapters are governed by NLA-I.
The records are in an artificial order established by the Leather Archives and Museum, as they were received from multiple donors. Donors with significant collections of NLA records have been kept as separate collections are noted in the related materials section of this finding aid.
The papers of Tony DeBlase at the Leather Archives contain a significant quantity of records related to NLA and NLA-I.
The NLA photograph collection at the Leather Archives contains photographs related to NLA and NLA-I, primarily from Living in Leather conferences.
The Spencer Bergstadt NLA photograph collection contains photographs related to LIL 2000 in Seattle, WA and NLA New Orleans Chapter of the Year Award event in 2000.
All non-textual resources related to NLA and NLA-I have been removed from the NLA records to other collections based on format. This includes numerous posters, fibers (t-shirts), photographs, and realia. Copies of NLA and NLA-I publications, The Link, Quarter Link and First Link have been removed and added to the serials collection. Chapter publications remain with the records related to that chapter.
This collection is a compilation of records donated by individual members and chapters of NLA-I and its chapters. The collection contains records pertaining to NLA-I, most NLA Chapters, and the annual Living in Leather annual conference. Records pertaining to NLA-I include administrative records such as By-Laws, Articles of Incorporation and minutes of Executive Committee meetings. Financial information about NLA-I is also included in the form of Treasurer reports and detailed financial records such as checkbook registers and ledgers. Records pertaining to the organization's publications and history are also included in the collection.
Records pertaining to the following chapters are included in the collection:
There is substantial information in the collection from NLA Houston and NLA Portland.
Records pertaining to the following Living In Leather conferences are included in the collection: