A collection of letters and other documents showing how a handful of American families made history -- and launched a national movement -- by publicly supporting their gay and lesbian children is now available at Cornell University Library's Human Sexuality Collection.

The records of the organization Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) provides a detailed glimpse into both the personal, individual responses and the organized, collective efforts of parents and families speaking out publicly in support of their gay and lesbian family members.

PFLAG began when Jeanne Manford, a New York schoolteacher, expressed outrage at her gay son's mistreatment by local police in a letter published in the New York Post in 1972. Manford's statement, "I have a homosexual son, and I love him," sparked so much public response that she organized the first support group meeting for parents of gay children.

PFLAG's first national meeting was held in 1979, coinciding with the first March on Washington for Gay Rights. Now based in Washington, D.C., PFLAG boasts a membership of 70,000 households and 400-plus chapters, including chapters in Canada and other countries.

PFLAG's three-part mission includes support, education and advocacy. Its peer group meetings seek to help parents understand their reactions to the news that a child is gay, lesbian or bisexual.

In addition to Jeanne Manford's story, many other personal accounts are found in the records of PFLAG's founding and its programs. As part of its Family AIDS Support Project, PFLAG interviewed people about dealing with AIDS in their families.

The PFLAG collection includes files from its national board of directors and regional directors' council, documenting the activities of its national office and vast grassroots network. Researchers can study the factors that accounted for surges of growth and activity during certain periods, as well as how PFLAG has defined itself and its mission over time.

Established in 1988, Cornell's Human Sexuality Collection encompasses records of people from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, ages, and racial, ethnic and class identities. The collection is housed in the Carl A. Kroch Library on the university's campus. Its holdings include the archives of a number of advocacy and health organizations, documentation of lesbian and gay activism at a national level, personal papers of individuals and families affected by AIDS, treatises on sexuality dating back to the sexologists of the 1880s, and works that document obscenity trials and examine the politics of pornography.

For more information about the Cornell's Human Sexuality Collection, contact: Brenda J. Marston, curator, Human Sexuality Collection, 2B Carl A. Kroch Library; phone

(607) 255-3530; fax (607) 255-9524; or e-mail bjm4@cornell.edu or http://rmc.library.cornell.edu.