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Leather Archives and Museum, Chicago, IL

Photo: Skvader, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Museums

Leather Archives and Museum

Community archives, library, and museum in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood focused on leather, kink, BDSM, and fetish history.

6418 N Greenview Ave, Chicago, IL 60626 · Chicago, IL

About Leather Archives and Museum

The Leather Archives & Museum is a community archives, library, and museum in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. It was founded in 1991 by Chuck Renslow and Tony DeBlase to preserve and share leather and fetish community history, which had been lost or suppressed during the AIDS crisis. Its work centers on research, preservation, education, and community engagement. Visitors must be 18 or older. The building is reachable only by stairs. The museum is closing for renovations and plans to reopen in spring 2027.

  • #LGBTQ history
  • #leather culture
  • #kink
  • #archives
  • #library

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