Harvey Milk was one of the first openly and politically gay public officials in the United States, and his remarkable activism put him at the very heart of a pivotal civil rights movement reshaping America in the 1970s. An Archive of Hope is Milk in his own words, bringing together in one volume a substantial collection of his speeches, columns, editorials, political campaign materials, open letters, and press releases, culled from public archives, newspapers, and personal collections. The volume opens with a foreword from Milk's friend, political advisor, and speech writer Frank Robinson, who remembers the man who "started as a Goldwater Republican and ended his life as the last of the store front politicians" who aimed to "give 'em hope" in his speeches. An illuminating introduction traces GLBTQ politics in San Francisco, situates Milk within that context, and elaborates the significance of his discourse and memories both to 1970s-era gay rights efforts and contemporary GLBTQ worldmaking.

PrefaceForeword: "Harvey"Frank M. RobinsonIntroduction: Harvey Milk's Political Archive & Archival PoliticsChapter One: Milk and the Culture of Populism1. "Interview with Harvey Milk," interview, Kalendar, 17 August 19732. "Address to the San Francisco Chapter of the National Women's Political Caucus," speech, 5 September 1973 3. "Address to the Joint International Longshoremen & Warehousemen's Union of San Francisco and to the Lafayette Club," speech, 30 September 1973 4. "An Open Letter to the Mayor of San Francisco," public letter, 22 September 1973 5. "MUNI/Parking Garage," press release, 27 September 19736. "Alfred Seniora," press release, 28 September 1973 7. "Who Really Represents You," campaign flyer, September 1973 8. "Milk Note," column, Vector 1 February 19749. "Anyone Can Be a Movie Critic: How Not to Find Leadership," editorial, San Francisco Crusader, February 1974 10. "Letter to the City of San Francisco Hall of Justice on Police Brutality," public letter, 14 February 1974 11. "Where I Stand," article draft, Sentinel, 28 March 197412. "Where There is No Victim, There is No Crime," press release, 1 April 197413. "Political Power," article draft, Sentinel, 23 May 197414. "Letter to the San Francisco Chronicle about Anti-Gay Editorials," letter draft, 1 July 1974 15. "Library or Performing Arts Center," press release, 4 December 1974Chapter Two: The Grassroots Activist Becomes "The Mayor of Castro Street"16. "Au Contraire ... PCR Needed," column, Bay Area Reporter, 9 February 197517. "Harvey Milk for Supervisor," campaign letter, 26 February 1975 18. "Statement of Harvey Milk, Candidate for the 16th Assembly District," campaign material, 9 March 197619. "Reactionary Beer," column, Bay Area Reporter, 18 March 1976 20. "Nixon's Revenge - The Republicans and Their Supreme Court," column, Bay Area Reporter, 15 April 197621. "My Concept as a Legislator," column, Bay Area Reporter, 27 May 197622. "Uncertainty of Carter or the Certainty of Ford," column, Bay Area Reporter, 2 September 1976 23. "A Nation Finally Talks About ... It," column, Bay Area Reporter, 9 June 197724. "Gay Economic Power," column, Bay Area Reporter, 15 September 197725. "You've Got to Have Hope," speech, 24 June 1977Chapter Three: Supervisor Milk Speaks 26. "Harvey Speaks Out," interview, Bay Area Reporter, 8 December 1977 27. "A City of Neighborhoods: First Major Address I and II," reprinted speech, Bay Area Reporter, 10 January 1978 and 2 February 1978 28. "The Word is Out," public letter, 1 February 1978 29. "Letter to 'Abe' on Domestic Politics," private letter, 7 February 197830. "Letter to Council Members re Judging People by Myths," public letter, 13 March 197831. "Resolution Requiring State Department to Close the South African Consulate" and "Closing the Consulate," press releases, 22 March 197832. "Letter to President Jimmy Carter," private letter, 12 April 197833. "Untitled (on Gay Caucus and Gay Power)," column, Bay Area Reporter," 27 April 197834. "California Gay Caucus," article draft, Alternate, 12 May 1978Chapter Four: Milk and the Politics of Gay Rights35. "Keynote Speech at Gay Conference 5," tape cassette transcription of speech, 10 June 1978 36. "Gay Rights," article draft, Coast to Coast, 16 June 1978 37. "Gay Freedom Day Speech," reprinted speech, Bay Area Reporter, 25 June 197838. "To Beat Briggs," column, Bay Area Reporter, 3 August 197839. "I Have High Hopes Address," stump speech, 1978 40. "Harvey Milk vs. John Briggs," televised debate transcription, 6 August 197841. "The Positive or the Negative," column, Bay Area Reporter, 31 August 197842. "Statement on Briggs/Bigotry," public letter, 22 September 1978 43. "Overall Needs of the City," speech, 25 September 197844. "Ballot Argument Against Proposition 6," public letter (with Frank Robinson), 7 November 1978 Chapter Five: Harvey's Last Words45. "Political Will," tape cassette transcription, 18 November 1977Document ListEditor Biographies