About LGBT History Project Resources
The LGBT Center of Central PA and the Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections have partnered to document the stories and history of LGBT life and activism in the greater Central Pennsylvania region. This site contains oral histories that have been recorded for the LGBT History Project, as well as fully accessible digital versions of documents, images, and artifacts that have been donated to the project.
This is a quickly growing collection, and not all items are available through this website. Please contact Malinda Triller-Doran at archives@dickinson.edu for information about how to access all of the resources of the LGBT History Project, as well as how to donate additional materials.
Generous support to make these unique resources accessible has been provided by the Schlegel Deibler Charitable Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
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LGBT History Project
Date: June 1, 2017
David Leas was born in 1955 in Columbia, Pennsylvania. He comes from a working class family and described the sense of independence he got from his first job as busboy for the Accomac Inn. This job lead to a foray into the restaurant business, starting with opening the Railroad House in Marietta with his partner Marlon. David then went on to be an evening manager at Isaac’s and then transitioned into a higher up management job within the restaurant. Due to his pull at Isaac’s, he was able to convince the restaurant and other local restaurants to raise funds and collaborate with the Lancaster AIDS Project and SCAAN. David was also one of the original members of Gays United Lancaster and The Rural Gay Caucus, an organization formed in reaction to the urban focus of the Council of Sexual Minorities, formed by Governor Shapp. He also was one of the main driving forces behind the newsletter, Gay Era, often spearheading the publication of it. He remarks on how many of his friends, such as Bari Weaver, had to move due to the extreme harassment they faced for being openly gay. He then touches on the evolution of gay bars in the area and how he met his partner, Ben, who he has been living with in Elizabethtown for around twenty years.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Gays United Lancaster (GUL), PA Rural Gay Caucus, Gay Era
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 062: David Leas
Date: October 28, 2015
Lorraine Kujawa was one of the co-founders of the Lavender Letter in Harrisburg during the late seventies and eighties. The Lavender Letter was created to provide events for the lesbian community to attend in Pennsylvania. She started the newsletter in order to bring the lesbian community together by highlighting events available in Harrisburg, Lancaster, and other parts of Central Pennsylvania. Additionally in the interview, Lorraine Kujawa compares the differences in the communities of Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she currently lives, and Central Pennsylvania, where she grew up, towards the LGBT community.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 061: Lorraine Kujawa
Date: February 16, 2017
Colin Kreitzer was born in 1947 in Enola, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania with his parents and his younger sister. He attended West Chester College and moved to Harrisburg in 1977, where he began getting involved in the gay community through activism and social activities. In this interview Colin reviews his involvement in the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of Harrisburg, Dignity, Metropolitan Community Church, and volleyball. He also talks about the stigma of growing up as a closeted gay man, the bullying he experienced in primary and secondary school, and how he came to accept his sexuality and come out when he was in college. He discusses his past relationships and the struggles that he has experienced trying to forge healthy, emotional connections with others. Colin is also involved in Alcoholics Anonymous, and explains the values he has gained from the organization and the changes in his own character and behavior.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Gay Switchboard of Harrisburg (GSH), Dignity/Central PA, MCC Harrisburg
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 060: Colin Kreitzer
Date: March 25, 2015
Suzanne Kohr, formerly Ott, was raised in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. She is now 60 years old, and resides in Newberrytown, Pennsylvania. Suzanne had two children with her first husband, and has been married to her second husband, Tom Kohr, for almost two decades. Suzanne was the second oldest of eight children. She had seven brothers; Steve, Danny, Alan and Brian are all still living —and John, Andrew and Greg have passed away. Suzanne was close to her youngest brother Andrew who died from AIDS complications in 1997. Sue discusses Andrew’s strained relationship with his parents and siblings, and the prejudice he faced. She goes on to discuss some of his significant relationships, and life after moving away from Shippensburg to Virginia. Sue elaborates on Andrew’s frustration over HIV/AIDS treatment available to him, and his treatment up until his death. Sue concludes by describing Andrew’s legacy, and her hopes for increased acceptance of homosexuality by society.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 059: Suzanne Kohr
Date: October 9, 2016
Nikki Knerr was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1945 and attended York College and Pennsylvania State University where she studied mass communications. In 1967, Nikki opened her first graphic design business which ran for 25 years in Camp Hill, before she retired to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. When the HIV/AIDS crisis emerged along with negative social stigma in the late 1980s, she organized the Unity Festival to raise funds and awareness for those infected, as well as for the greater LGBT community around Pennsylvania. In this interview, Nikki discusses the joyful moments and struggles of belonging to the gay community. She emphasizes the role gay bars such as D-Gem and Altland’s Ranch played in uniting LGBT individuals, as well as the compassion and perseverance demonstrated by the thousands of volunteers that participated in the Unity Festivals. In the interview, Nikki touches upon some of the amusing highlights involving the organization of the festivals. She marvels at the modern progress of LGBT rights and opportunities to unite in settings of merriment, yet admits that ostracism and societal barriers still exist in other spheres of life.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 058: Nikki Knerr
Date: June 1999
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - June 1999
Date: May 1999
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
This issue features the section “Money Talk” where building a strong portfolio is discussed.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - May 1999
Date: April 1999
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Womyn's Chorus
Date: February 1999
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
This issue features “Money Talk” where common myths about IRAs are discussed.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Womyn's Chorus
Date: January 1999
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
Date: December 1998
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
Date: November 1998
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
This issue features the section “Money Talk” where it discusses the Roth IRA.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Womyn's Chorus
Date: October 1998
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Her Story Bookstore
Date: September 1998
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
This issue features the section “Money Talk” which talks about retirement planning.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - September 1998
Date: August 1998
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Her Story Bookstore
Date: July 1998
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
This issue features the section “Money Talk” to discuss money saving for retirement.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - July 1998
Date: December 1, 2017
David Klinepeter, father of the late Daniel Klinepeter, gives insight as a parent of a member of the LGBT community. He also speaks about his experience losing his son to AIDS and his advocacy with AIDS Memorial Quilt: The Names Project.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations: The Names Project
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 057: David Klinepeter
Date: January 16, 2016
Nancy Helm was born in Lancaster Pennsylvania and graduated from Manheim Township High School in 1981. After graduating she worked for a printing company and did other odd jobs before opening a hair salon with her partner. Not long after that she opened a book store across the street called The Closet. She opened the bookstore as an outlet for the gay community of Lancaster so they could meet and hang out and shop. But, the bookstore was eventually the target of anti-gay crime in the 1990s. It was bombed twice and received multiple threats, including from the KKK. In this emotional interview Nancy gives her story about how she dealt with this and how it affected her life as well as the life of the gay community.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 047: Nancy Helm
Date: March 27, 2015
Walter Heiliger was born in 1944 and grew up in rural Carroll County, Maryland, the second of three children. Walter, who describes himself as “severely hearing-impaired,” encountered difficulties in school and in connecting with others growing up, as he did not receive support for his hearing issues. Over the course of his career, Walter worked in a number of different positions at a variety of companies, including Head Ski Company and Black and Decker in Maryland and York Technical Institute and Freezing Equipment Sales in Pennsylvania. Now retired, he currently works part-time as a custodian at South York School District. Although he was aware that he was interested in men early on and had several relationships with men, he decided to marry a woman in an attempt to live a “normal” life. While the marriage was unfulfilling on many levels, Walter credits his wife for greatly improving his quality of life by getting him hearing aids and speech therapy, and it was through that marriage that Walter was able to have his three children. Walter came out in 1999, then in his mid-50s, and describes the varying levels of support he’s received from his family. Since coming out, he has slowly become more vocal in the LGBT community, joining PFLAG in Mechanicsburg for a time, attending programs for seniors through the LGBT Center, and working part-time at Altland’s Ranch in York. In this interview, Walter shares stories from his life, including his relationship with Bill, his most serious partner since coming out, who passed away in 2006. He also discusses the importance of reaching out to seniors in the LGBT community, as well as married men, and the idea of LGBT rights as a human rights issue rather than a political one.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Family Unit, Coming Out
Organizations: Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 046: Walter Heiliger
Date: September 20, 2013
Richard H. Hause was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on May 21, 1947, moving to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after he graduated from high school in 1965. After coming out to his family when he was eighteen, Richard began working for the State Government in the Department of Highways, and he eventually retired from the State Government in the Department of Public Welfare just eight years ago. While Richard discusses in his interview the difficulties of identifying as LGBT in both personal and professional spheres, he also illustrates the vibrancy of the gay community by citing memorable experiences both occurring in Harrisburg as well as in nearby communities such as Washington, D.C. He expresses his regular interest in LGBT activism, from supporting the Human Rights Campaign Fund to participating in the local Pride Festival every year to being an active member in the Dignity Chapter of Central Pennsylvania, one of the first LGBT organizations started in the area. Throughout his interview, Richard expresses the historical changes he has witnessed in the gay community both nationally and locally, and he emphasizes his distaste for organized religion, asserting its negative political influence on the gay rights movement.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Dignity/Central PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 045: Richard Hause
Date: April 20, 2015
Lori Hatch-Rivera was born in Rockville Central, New York on Long Island in 1958. After Lori’s family moved to South Florida, Lori enrolled into what is now Palm Beach Atlantic University and graduated in 1989 with a degree in history. After about ten years of teaching, Lori believed God was calling her to do ministry work and obtained her Master’s in Divinity at Florida Center for Theological Studies, and she is currently attending Lancaster Theological Seminary to fulfill her Doctorate in Ministry. She is the founder of an interfaith group located in Venice, Florida, and works closely with the LGBT Interfaith Coalition group and Equality PA. In this interview, Lori discusses familial issues surrounding her sexuality, her relationship with religion and the Metropolitan Community Church [MCC], as well as her social justice work within religious community in order to bring them greater awareness of LGBT identities. She also mentions future challenges for the LGBT community and her appreciation of Harrisburg’s tight-knit community. Today, she is married to her partner Darlene and is a Pastor at the MCC of Harrisburg.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, Equality PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 044: Lori Hatch-Rivera
Date: April 25, 2017
Mary Margaret Hart and Lynn Daniels are a married lesbian couple living in Central Pennsylvania. Lynn was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1931, while Mary was born in 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio. Throughout the interview, Mary and Lynn discuss their childhoods, how they met, and the difficulties of raising a family together in Central Pennsylvania during the 1980s. Mary, a therapist, had previously been married and had two children with her first husband, John, before meeting Lynn while completing graduate school. The couple discusses raising their daughters, Rachel and Sheila, at a time and place without other lesbian parents as role models. The two stayed active in the gay community, and they recount the differences they’ve observed growing up two decades apart, as well as what they’ve observed of their daughter Sheila’s experience, who is also gay. The couple married in 2014 after being together for 35 years.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Family Unit
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 018: Mary Margaret Hart and Lynn Daniels
Date: December 3, 2014
Jerre Freiberg was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His family has close ties to the Lutheran Church, and he has remained affiliated with the church throughout his life. Jerre attended Elizabethtown College for two years before leaving to join the Navy. He remained in the Navy for 22 years, retiring in 1986. After retiring for the Navy, Jerre continued to work as Lancaster County’s budget analyst, and later as the Director of Administrative Services for the Lancaster Guidance Center. Jerre was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1992, and he subsequently became involved in several Lancaster area HIV/AIDS groups and organizations. In this interview, Jerre discusses his naval career —and being in a same-sex relationship during his years in service. He details his experiences as being HIV positive in Lancaster, including his own work advocating for other HIV positive persons, such as being the director of the Betty Finney House which assisted low-income persons with HIV with housing needs. Jerre elaborates on some of his relationships, both before and after his HIV diagnosis. Jerre goes on to discuss changes he has seen since the early days of the AIDS crisis, and some of the challenges those who are currently HIV positive still face, particularly issues concerning senior citizens. He concludes with a reflection on changes within the LGBT community throughout his life — such as same sex marriage legalization and equality efforts.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 039: Jerre Freiberg
Date: June 1998
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
This issue is only the Center Piece, not the entire Lavender Letter.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: MCC of the Spirit, Her Story Bookstore
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - June 1998
Date: May 1998
Created by Lorraine Kujawa, Cindy Mitzel, Mary Nancarrow, and several others in 1983, the Lavender Letter Newsletter was a calendar of events for, by, and about lesbian women to create community in the Central Pennsylvania area. The newsletter was distributed monthly until the mid-2000s.
This issue features a section called “MoneyTalk” that provides information on how to start investing. There is also a section on the raffle being held for a local woman battling canner.
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Stone Soup
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - May 1998