--Placeholder-- Anthony DeBlase ( 1942-2000 ), commonly known as Tony DeBlase. Staff mammalogist at the Field Museum for many years and world expert on bats ( hence his literary nom de plume Fledermaus ) , publisher of Drummer magazine , author of leather fiction, longtime leather activist , and designer of the distinctive black, blue , white and red Leather Pride flag, first premiered at the Portland, Oregon Pride Parade in 1989.
25 boxes of periodicals were removed from the initial donation of 72 boxes sent to the Archives by De Blasé’s partner Dr. Andrew Charles and merged with the periodical collection of the Archives. A list of these magazines can be found in the collection. Fabric materials ( T-shirts and hats ) and video materials ( in both VHS and Beta formats ) were removed from the collection and added to the Archives’ film holdings. Individual items of artwork which were part of this original donation have been integrated with the appropriate collections of the LAM in an effort to simplify access, as have the sets of slides purchased by De Blasé from such commercial studios as Zeus and Marathon Films. This has been particularly effective in the case of the drawings and prints created by the artist Dom Orejudos ( Etienne ), for whose work the LAM serves as the collection of record.
Access to the Chicago Hellfire Club materials of the De Blasé Papers is governed by the agreement between the Chicago Hellfire Club and the Leather Archives and Museum.
A significant amount of published material, unrelated to the life and leather career of Anthony De Blase , was removed from the initial donation and placed in the appropriate sections of the vertical files collection.. Of the seventy-two boxes of materials in the original donation, twenty five consisted of runs of periodicals- the remaining forty-seven comprise the papers collection. The boxes were inventoried between 2003 and 2006, with processing into subject files completed between 2006 and 2009.
Personal materials relating to Tony De Blasé's career as a publisher within the leather community, and was arranged by the publication or business involved, chiefly Desmodus Publications, DRUMMER, and Dungeonmaster. 10 boxes
Materials relating to the various Living In Leather conferences in which De Blasé was involved as organizer, staff member, and lecturer between 1986 and 1999. Contents are arranged chronologically. 16 boxes.
Materials relating to the National Leather Association at the national level. contents of this section include Executive Committee minutes, committee reports and internal correspondence. De Blasé's activities as part of the Executive Committee are well covered.
Materials related to individual chapters of the National Leather Association. Contents include local minutes, copies of local newsletters, and correspondence with the NLA International.
Chapters represented in the De Blase collection are Arkansas, Atlanta, Austin, British Columbia, Carolinas, Chicago, Dallas, Deaf International, Denver, Detroit, Florida, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Metro New York, New England, New Orleans, Ohio ( Columbus ), Pittsburgh, Portland, St. Louis, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, South Florida, and Toronto.
This section is arranged in three sections to preserve De Blasé's original arrangement and filing system: the first is in alphabetical order by the name of the correspondent, the second in numerical order by the zip code of the correspondent, and the last a section of the reponses to De Blasé's personal advertisements under the noms de plume of " Gene Hall " and " Master Top GUT " and the replies ( if any ) he made. Handwritten and typewritten letters, print versions of electronic mail, and faxes are represented. Business correspondence for Desmodus, DRUMMER and Dungeonmaster has been kept with the other materials relating to those organizations and publications.
This section contains typewritten manuscripts of some of De Blasé's stories as well as many original manuscripts of stories sent to him by their authors. Photocopies of stories from Katharsis have also been included.
This section contains materials relating to De Blasé's participation in the IML contests as a judge. Years covered are from 1988 to 1999.
Materials dealing with De Blasé's role as one of the early supporters of the idea of the Leather Archive and his subsequent work as a member of the Board of Directors.
This section contains documents chiefly relating to De Blasé's involvement with various of the annual Inferno events hosted by this organization and mailings he received as a member of the club.
Access to this section of the De Blasé papers is governed by the agreement between the Chicago Hellfire Club and the Leather Archives.