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Teri Rose Library
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The Leather Archives & Museum, located in Chicago and Serving the World. The LA&M is located in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.
The Museum itself is open Thursday 11am - 7pm, Friday 11am - 7pm, Saturday 11am - 5pm, Sunday 11am - 5pm. The exhibits are open to members of the LA&M free of charge. Admission may be purchased for $10 at the door. The 10,000 sq. foot, two-story building houses:
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Eight exhibition galleries |
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A 1,425 sq. foot climate controlled archival storage space |
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A 164 seat auditorium |
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A 600 square foot reading library to house the research collections |
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Various other spaces which serve as working space for staff, volunteers and researchers. |
In addition to activities in Chicago, the LA&M serves the leather world by preserving material from all leather communities, sending ?traveling? exhibits around the country, and providing email and telephone research assistance".
The LA&M is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a charity under the 501( c )(3) provisions. This means that monetary donations are tax deductible subject to IRS rules and regulations. While the LA&M is pursuing grant opportunities, we rely on the community whose history is being preserved for support. The LA&M operational expenses consist of archival and exhibit supplies, utility bills necessary to maintain appropriate environmental conditions, exhibit freight expenses, and administrative expenses.
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Dungeon Exhibit
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Mission Statement
"The compilation, preservation and maintenance of leather lifestyle and related lifestyles [including but not limited to the Gay and Lesbian communities], history, archives and memorabilia for historical, educational and research purposes.
History of the LA&M
In August 1991, the LA&M was incorporated in the state of Illinois. From that date until May 1993, the Leather Archives was, in effect, an idea struggling to take form. In 1993, 1994 and 1995, the LA&M existed as a growing collection and appeared in public only as exhibits at International Mr. Leather in Chicago (plus a couple of abortive attempts to appear on the road). In fact, most members of the Leather Communities of the world - even in North America - were still unaware of the LA&M. In 1996, a storefront home for the LA&M was opened in Chicago. Much larger exhibits were mounted in this space, but the collection outgrew the space very rapidly.
In July 1997, Joseph W. Bean arrived to take on the job of Executive Director of the LA&M. Within three months, he had started a series of changing exhibits and proposed to the Board of Directors a capital campaign to raise funds to buy a building. The capital campaign was announced in December of 1997, and met with immediate success.
The LA&M moved into its permanent home in late 1999. The 10,000 sq. foot building provided for exhibits and the effective storage of the ever-growing collection of leather history. In January of 2002, Joseph Bean retired from the LA&M, and then volunteer Rick Storer was hired to continue the work started by Bean and the entire leather community. In August of 2004, the leather community made a $225,000 balloon payment to pay off the mortgage of the LA&M. Also during 2004, the exhibit space was expanded from one 2,000 sq. foot gallery to a full building tour of eight galleries.
This eBay site is maintained by The Leather Archives & Museum, Inc. 6418 N. Greenview Ave., Chicago, IL 60626. 773-761-9200 giftshop@leatherarchives.org. 100% of the proceeds from sales on eBay help support the Leather Archives & Museum and its mission. Copyright to the original work of the artist Dom Orejudos (Etienne) and the photography of Kris Studios is held by Chuck Renslow and the Leather Archives & Museum. Images may not be reproduced with prior written consent. Using the eBay VeRo PLUS program, we will notify eBay immediately and end auctions using Etienne's or Kris Studios works and images without permission as quickly as possible. Read our Copyright Policy http://www.leatherarchives.org/about/copyrigh.htm
For your convenience, we accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express through our direct merchant account 
Our eBay site is directed and maintained by Jeffrey Storer, Director of Operations for the Leather Archives & Museum. Please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns.
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