Quatrefoil Library

1619 Dayton Avenue, St. Paul, MN (1984-2010)

Cover of Equal TIme announcing the opening of Quatrefoil Library. 1/8/1986. Courtesy of the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection

“Quatrefoil” proudly holds the distinction of being the second LGBT lending library in the United States—the Gerber-Hardt in Chicago was first—and it remains one of the largest libraries of its kind in the world. It began as the private collection of Dick Hewetson and David Irwin in the early 1980s, and transformed upon moving to rented space at the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union on West Broadway Avenue in North Minneapolis. The first public LGBT collection in Minnesota opened for regular business on February 4, 1986. Named after one of the first books to positively present queer male life—Quatrefoil, by James Barr (1950)—the library has been a safe space to the community for almost three decades. Jean-Nickolaus Tretter volunteered there before beginning the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection, as did George Holdgrafer, who would later begin Lavender Magazine.

Karen Clark, the first open Lesbian to serve in the Minnesota Congress, was first to donate money to the fledgling library.(1) Scores of other community leaders have ties with it, either as donors, volunteers, event organizers, or patrons. Community newspapers and local business leaders helped Quatrefoil expand it holdings, and the library exponentially expanded.

In a matter of months, the collection threatened to consume more space than the MCLU. In 1987, it moved to the former Richards Gordon School in the “Midway” between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Directors began regularly publishing the library’s newsletter—The Gay Bookworm and later Quatrefolio—shortly after the move. Quatrefoil continues to operate in the Gordon Building. The library’s book collection alone accounts for more than 15,000 volumes—it also offers pulp novels, films, periodicals, graphic novels, and other items of cultural interest. 20 years after the library’s founding, Adam G. Keim wrote a detailed recount of Quatrefoil Library’s history in 2006,: it is available at the following site: http://www.quatrefoillibrary.org/about/

Equal Time, Issue 98. Page 1. From the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection.

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Information for this page come largely from "History of the Quatrefoil Library," an e-book by Adam Keim. Minnesota: Friends of the Bill of Rights Foundation, 2006.

(1)Keim, page 14.

Part of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 100 Queer Places in Minnesota History, (1860-1969), (1969-2010)