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Guides to Collections (Finding Aids)
2018
Since August 2012 the LGBT History Project of the LGBT Center of Central PA has actively collected stories of LGBT history in central PA as told by those who lived them. This growing collection of oral history interviews is housed by the...
1972 - 2013
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...
Collection: LGBT-010 - Wilson
Topics:
Organizations: Pennsmen Inc., The Jewel Box Revue, Harrisburg Hustlers Volleyball Team
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-010 Larry Wilson Collection
1976 - 2010
This collection contains newspaper articles collected by a Central PA resident from The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Blade, and The Washington Post that focus on national LGBTQ+ history in the Washington D.C....
1983 - 2006
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-009 Lavender Letter Collection
1978 - 2012
The bulk of the collection consists of buttons, ribbons, and t-shirts from LGBT events. It also contains documentation of the Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of Harrisburg and Dignity of Central PA. Several of the items in this collection relate the...
Collection: LGBT-014 - Loveland
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations: Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of Harrisburg, Dignity/Central PA
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-014 Barry Loveland Collection Inventory
1970s to present
These images represent a cross section of the types of materials included in the LGBT Center of Central PA's History Project, which is housed in the Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections....
1991-1995
Joy (Ufema) Counsel was raised in Altoona, Pennsylvania. After completing high school, (Ufema) Counsel began studying to become a nurse at the Altoona Hospital, and later completed a nursing program at Harrisburg Area Community College....
Collection: LGBT-038 - Ufema Counsel
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations: York Hospice House (York, PA)
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-038 Joy Ufema Counsel Collection
1961-2007
Robert “Bob” Deibler was born on January 20, 1940 in upper Paxton Township in Dauphin County, PA. He graduated from Millersburg Area High School and went on to attend Bloomsburg University with majors in social science and English, and later...
Collection: LGBT-081 - Deibler
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-081 Robert ''Bob'' Deibler Collection
1987-2019
Maria DiFava was born in Lebanon County, PA in 1953. She graduated from high school and attended nursing school and ultimately became an EMT volunteer. She later worked as a mail carrier for the US Postal Service. Marie married and had three...
Collection: LGBT-086 - DiFava
Topics:
Organizations: Lebanon County Lesbians (LCL)
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-086 Marie DiFava Collection
1990-1995
Margaret “Peg” Dierkers was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1957. She earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Ohio State University and eventually enrolled in a doctoral program in Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State...
Collection: LGBT-005 - Dierkers
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations: South Central Aids Assistance Network (SCAAN)
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-005 Margaret ''Peg'' Dierkers Collection
1992 - 2013
Dan Miller was born in 1956 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He earned his BA in Accounting from Elizabethtown College, later going on to get his MA in Finance from Penn State University. In October of 1990, after working for Donald L. DeMuth...
Collection: LGBT-007 - Miller
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-007 Dan Miller Collection
1977-1980
Dan Maneval was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on October 3, 1947. Maneval’s activism included the founding of the Homophiles of Williamsport (HOW), the West Branch Gay Support Network, Susquehanna Lambda, Susquehanna Valley Gays United, and...
Collection: LGBT-008 - Maneval
Topics:
Organizations: Homophiles of Williamsport (HOW), Susquehanna Lambda
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-008 Dan Maneval Collection
1961-2015
Sam Edmiston was born on July 17, 1945 in Middleburg, PA. In the April of 1963, Edmiston enrolled in the US Navy, and three weeks after his graduation, went to the Keel United States Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois for recruitment...
Collection: LGBT-041 - Edmiston
Topics:
Organizations: Dignity/Central PA, Susquehanna Valley Gays United (SVGU)
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-041 Sam Edmiston Collection
1973 - 1985
Anthony Silvestre was born in 1946 in the Bronx in New York. He finished his final year of college at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and then attended Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) as a graduate student.
Silvestre was...
Collection: LGBT-074 - Silvestre
Topics:
Organizations: PA Rural Gay Caucus, PA Governor's Council for Sexual Minorities, Homophiles of Penn State (HOPS)
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-074 Anthony Silvestre Collection
2011
This collection contains a campaign poster from John Campbell’s run for Harrisburg City (PA) treasurer as an openly gay candidate in 2011-2012.
Collection: LGBT-003 - Campbell
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-003 John Campbell Collection
2012
In 2012 Chris Dietz was one of a record three openly gay candidates running for state representative, and one of two from central PA. While Dietz did not win his race for PA State Representative, he has served as the openly gay president of the...
1990-1992
This collection of material reflects Thomas Pfeiffer’s involvement in the Lily White and Company drag troupe in Harrisburg, PA and The Pennsmen Inc., a group of LGBT people with a common interest in the leather/fetish lifestyle.
Collection: LGBT-017 - Pfeiffer
Topics:
Organizations: Lily White & Company, Pennsmen Inc.
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-017 Thomas Pfeiffer Collection
1993 - 1994, 2000
The t-shirts and flags in this collection were donated by Gerald Vath, who attended the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993 and the Millennium March on Washington in 2000. Vath wore these t-shirts and...
Collection: LGBT-018 - Vath
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-018 Gerald Vath Collection
1978-1885
These materials document the holy union of Nancy Datres and Riitta Lukkari. They also contain court documents and a photograph dealing with harassment Datres and Lukkari experienced from their neighbors.
Collection: LGBT-019 - Datres & Lukkari
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-019 Nancy Datres & Riitta Lukkari Collection
1996-2007
These materials document LGBT programs and events in Central PA, such as Pride Festivals, the annual FAB Fall Achievement Benefit, and Lily White and Company performances. This collection also includes items from Pennsylvania bars.
Collection: LGBT-023 - Maurer
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Womyn's Chorus
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-023 Teresa ''Teddy'' Maurer Collection
1984-1996
Bernie Pupo was born in Kulpmont, Pennsylvania in 1945 and attended Mount Carmel Catholic High School. After working in a factory after high school, Bernie moved to Harrisburg, where he joined SCAAN, the South Central Aids Assistance Network,...
Collection: LGBT-024 - Pupo
Topics:
Organizations: South Central Aids Assistance Network (SCAAN)
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-024 Bernie Pupo Collection
1987, 2008
Paul Foltz grew up in Steelton, PA. After college, Foltz began studying theatre in England. It was here that Foltz discovered a strong and open LGBTQ+ community. When he returned to the United States, he became involved in Pennsylvania’s LGBTQA...
Collection: LGBT-093 - Foltz
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-093 Paul Foltz Collection
circa 2000-2005
This collection contains stationary paper and envelopes for two funds and one event with which The Foundation for Enhancing Communities(TFEC) was involved. TFEC is a community foundation that serves the greater Harrisburg, PA area; Dillsburg, PA...
Collection: LGBT-026 - Foundation for Enhancing Communities
Topics:
Organizations: Foundation for Enhancing Communities
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-026 Foundation for Enhancing Communities Collection
circa 1995
Sharon Mahar Potter was born in Buffalo, NY and raised in Scranton, PA. She began commuting to Harrisburg, PA for the first time when she was offered a position to build the early intervention system for disabled children in the city. Profoundly...
Collection: LGBT-027 - Potter
Topics: LGBT Youth
Organizations: Bi, Gay, Lesbian Youth Association of Harrisburg (Bi-GLYAH)
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-027 Sharon Potter Collection
1985-1999
Steven Leshner became a member of Dignity/Central PA, a Catholic organization for LGBTQ+ individuals that has been active in the Harrisburg, PA area since 1976, in the 1970s, where he participated in events and activities, as well as became part...
Collection: LGBT-029 - Leshner
Topics:
Organizations: Dignity/Central PA
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-029 Steven Leshner Collection