1990-1999

These materials document several LGBTQ+ bars that operated in the Harrisburg, PA area, namely The Archives Nightclub and Restaurant (1983), La Rose Rouge (1978-1992), Neptune’s Lounge (1972), and the Shadows bar (1980-1984). These items take the form of bar memorabilia, photographs, and video recordings.

This collection also includes trophies, plaques, and buttons highlighting the Harrisburg Hustler’s volleyball team, which Larry Wilson sponsored from 1981-1987. In addition, it includes an anniversary pin from The Pennsmen Inc., an organization for LGBTQ+ individuals with an interest in the leather/rubber/fetish lifestyle and was founded in South Central PA in 1977, and a scrapbook featuring Pennsmen events.

The beginning pages of the Pennsman scrapbook also includes pictures of Benedict A. “Wesley” Trautwein, a drag performer known as Francis Parker. Wesley was a part of the The Jewel Box Revue, a troupe of drag performers who traveled around the country from 1939 to 1969, which made many stops in Pennsylvania. After departing the Revue, he moved back to Harrisburg and continued preforming at local bars and clubs, such as The Neptune Lounge.

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 collection contains a history of the Lavender Letter by Lorraine Kujawa and copies of the Lavender Letter from 1983 to 2006. It was two separate donations combined into one collection for easier access and use.

Amanda Porter [now known as Amanda Hecker] was born in 1950 in Lansdale, PA and was assigned male at birth. She attended Grove City College, receiving her BA in History, and enrolled in ROTC. After college, she joined the Air Force, and after being discharged attended Temple University, receiving her MA in Industrial Arts Education. Porter is married and has three children.

Porter is a transgender rights educator and activist. She was the Vice President of the Lehigh Valley chapter of the Renaissance Transgender Association, where she gave transgender education presentations on Transgender Equality, Gender Dysmorphia, and Transgender Inclusion in the Workplace, and has spoken at multiple Keystone Conferences. Porter’s goal is to make transgender people visible everywhere.

Porter lives in the Lehigh Valley area today.

Joseph F. Christ was born in 1927 with Klinefelter Syndrome and assigned male at birth. The seventh of eight children, Christ was placed into an orphanage during the Great Depression until the age 18. Two weeks later, Christ was drafted into the Army and fast-tracked to work in a secret German Prisoner of War camp in Richmond, Virginia due to fluency in German, Pennsylvania Dutch, and English. Following World War II, Christ got a degree in education from Moravian College, going on to teach English, German, and Social Studies.

In 1974, Christ went to Germany to teach American English on a Fulbright fellowship, and there was married a second time to, Liz, a Fulbright scholar who was in Germany teaching British English. While working there, Christ helped improve the English skills of a German cytogeneticist to allow her to participate in the World Health Organization, and it was through this connection that Christ discovered they have XXY chromosomes. Christ had occasionally started presenting as a woman before learning they were intersex following the end of their first marriage in 1973, but never formally came out, electing to present as masculine or feminine selectively. Christ expresses comfort in being able to present as either/or, while not particularly identifying with the LGBTQ+ community.

Christ passed away in 2018.

Two rainbow chain necklaces. 

Handmade chain vest created by Thomas Pfeiffer for Pennsman Inc.

A black and white pin depicting a protest. The pin reads in white and yellow text on a purple back ground "Speaking out for Equality," and then in smaller text under that, "The constitution, Gay Rights & The Supreme Court."

Pink Lily White & Company T-Shirt.

Founded by Paul Foltz in 1982, Lily White and Company was a south central Pennsylvania organization composed of entertainers and female impersonators. Lily White and Company produced numerous shows and performances throughout central Pennsylvania and the United States with the intent of raising funds for HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ+ organizations in the 1980s and 1990s.

A black matchbook with silver text from Stonewall in Allentown, Pa.

A white matchbox from The Cartwheel Night Club & Restaurant in New Hope, Pa.

A creneck sweatshirt for the Harrisburg Men's Chorus.

Two handmade, black leather spats covered in metal studs created by Thomas Pfeiffer for Pennsman Inc.

This collection contains material related to the establishment of the LGBT Center of Central PA and the activities of the AIDS Community Alliance. It also includes a 1995-1996 Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of Harrisburg directory, a flyer for the FAB Fall Achievement Benefit in 1996, documents from a 1999 LGBT rights program, and three matchbooks from gay bars once in Harrisburg, PA.

There materials were donated at the Lancaster PA Pride event in June 2013. The collection represents the contributions of Mark Stoner and Mary Merriman, and documents LGBTQ+ issues and activism in Lancaster County, PA.

Of particular interest in this collection is The Pink Triangle Coalition materials and the newspaper articles from the Lancaster New Era and Intelligencer Journal, two local newspapers in the area. The newspaper address the establishment of an MCC Church in Mountville, PA, debate over LGBTQ+ rights in the Elizabethtown school system, and controversies over an LGBTQ+ book display in the Lancaster County Public Library. There is also a run of The Lancaster Inqueery, housed in the periodical series.

Gloria Jackie Schulze was born on November 25, 1934 in Huntington, WV. She graduated from high school and attended John Marshall University (now known as Marshall University) where she received her degree in Journalism.

After her son Rick came out to her, Jackie attended a local Parents of Gays meeting, and then she, and Hope Nancarrow, local activist Mary Nancarrow’s mother, established a local Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) chapter. Founded in 1973, PFLAG is the largest LGBTQ+ organization for LGBTQ+ people, families, friends, and allies. Jackie was president of the local PFLAG chapter for 18 years, and during those years she regularly spoke at universities, schools, and churches. Jackie was also active in HIV/AIDS related activism alongside her son, Rick.

Jackie passed away in 2018.

Rick Schulze was born in Delaware in the early 1960s to Jackie Schulze and his father George. After moving around as a young child, Rick grew up primarily in the Harrisburg area. After high school, Rick went on to Mansfield University and was instrumental in forming The Mansfield Gay Alliance, the first gay organization on campus. Rick also was active in HIV/AIDS awareness in Central PA, along with his mother, and worked closely with the organizations South Central AIDS Assistance Network (SCAAN) and AIDS Resource. Rick then went on to work with the Department of Health in HIV/AIDS Counseling during the 1990s. Rick is now in academia, eventually settling in as a professor in Health Education and Public Health at Lock Haven University.

Rick lives in the Lock Haven area today.

This collection documents Jackie and Rick's activism through photographs, correspondence, PGLAF memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and other miscellaneous items.

This collection contains materials from the Harrisburg Men’s Chorus, and the 1989 and 1990 Unity Festivals, precursors to the Central PA Pride Fest. Unity Festival materials include planning documents, advertisements, and letters for Unity Festival 1990, which were originally stored together in the folder which is housed in the first folder in this collection. There are also photographs from Unity Festival 1989 and 1990. Harrisburg Men’s Chorus materials include programs from performances. There are also Artifacts which include one Harrisburg Men’s Chorus T-shirt and four Unity Festival T-shirts, which are a mixture of staff and spectator versions.

Colin Kreitzer was born in 1947 in Enola, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Wormleysburg, PA with his parents and his younger sister. He attended West Chester College (now West Chester University) and moved to Harrisburg in 1977, where he began getting involved in the gay community through activism and social activities. Kreitzer was involved in the Gay and Switchboard of Harrisburg (GSH), later known as the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of Harrisburg (GLSH), Dignity/Central PA, Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of the Spirit, and volleyball.

These materials contain artwork designed by Lawrence Valerio for LGBT events and organizations in Central PA, including Dignity of Central PA, a forum for human concerns, a place of seeking for greater self, knowledge, and wisdom, an affirmation of one's sexual orientation in faith, and personal ministry; the Open Air Festival, which was a precursor to what is known today as Central PA PrideFest; and the South Central AIDS Assistance Network (SCAAN) Caring a la Carte fundraiser, which was a local dinner held to raise funds to support the work of SCAAN and it’s support of the local HIV/AIDs positive community.

Samuel Deetz was born in Quakertown, PA on April 21, 1951 and was one of eight children. His father was a minister, so his family moved from place to place throughout his childhood, until they came back to Central PA where Deetz finished high school. While living at home after high school, Deetz started working as an accountant, which led him to continue a career in accounting.

Deetz became active in the LGBTQ+ community in his mid-twenties in the 1970s. He, with help from Mark Seagal, founded the Susquehanna Valley Gays United (SVGU) in the summer of 1975. He was a member of the PA Rural Gay Caucus from its inception in 1975 until 1978, where he was co-chair for the first Gay Lobby (Education) Day in March 1976 and became the convener of the Legislative Committee. He was invited to become a member of the PA Governor’s Council for Sexual Minorites in 1976, where he became a facilitator between the Rural Gay Caucus and the Council, as well as the Council and the PA State Police Department. He also was treasurer for the Pennsylvania for Social Justice Political Action Committee (PAC) from 1982 to 1985.

Deetz passed away in 2019.

This collection highlights Deetz’s activism in various LGBTQ+ groups in Central PA. Deetz was an accountant by trade which enabled him to hold treasurer positions in most of the organizations highlighted in this collection.

The Central Pennsylvania Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CPGLCC) was established in 2007. It grew out of The Business Association of Gays and Lesbians (BAGAL), which was established in the 1990s by Dan Miller. Miller wanted to create an association that brought together professionals of the LGBTQ+ community to network. After Miller stepped down from leadership, the group evolved into more of a social network over the years. In 2007, new leadership reshaped BAGAL with the rebrand to CPGLCC. A business affiliate of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, CPGLCC began building partnerships between gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses, professionals, and students of business. Today, their mission is to “support diversity and assist Central Pennsylvania’s business community in pursuit of an ideal workplace, marketplace, industry, and region.”

Deb Fulham-Winston served as the director of development for South Central AIDS Assistance Network (SCAAN) from January 1992 until June 1995. This collection contains materials from SCAAN promoting HIV/AIDS awareness.

This collection was donated by Anonymous donors and houses two pins dealing with HIV/AIDs awareness in the mid-1990s. The AIDSWAlK was an annual fundraiser in Harrisburg, PA sponsored by the South Central Aids Assistance Network (SCAAN), and the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was a national organization that served as a memorial to celebrate the lives of people who have died of HIV/AIDS.

This collection contains an informational flyer on The Lesbian Connection, LGBTQ+ and feminist activist buttons and pins, and LGBTQ+ artist vinyl records.

The Tassle Newsletter was produced by The Gay & Lesbian Organization of Reading & Allentown.