- COVID-19 Project
- Home
- Archival Material
- College History Projects
- Subject-Based Digital Projects
- Carlisle Indian School Resources
- LGBT History Project
- Three Mile Island (TMI) Resources
- Civil War Resources
- James Buchanan Resources
- Slavery and Abolition in the U.S.
- Russian and Slavic Resources
- AIFS / AIFS Foundation Collection
- Books of Isaac Norris
- Writings by Dickinsonians
- Digital Images on Flickr
- Dickinson @ Internet Archive
LGBT History Project
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.
Search LGBT History Project
LGBT History Project
Date: 1996 - 1997, undated
Dr. Eric Selvey was born and raised in Harrisburg, PA. He attended optometry school in Philadelphia and returned to the Harrisburg area after graduating.
Selvey was a member of Lily White and Company drag troupe, which raised thousands of...
Collection: LGBT-013 - Selvey
Topics:
Organizations: Lily White & Company, Crossroads Magazine
View Item: 
LGBT History Project: LGBT-013 Eric Selvey Collection
Date: 1991 - 2003
This collection was donated anonymously by an individual associated with the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) of the Spirit in Harrisburg, PA.
The Newspapers Clippings series documents issues such as same–sex marriage, the relationship...
Collection: LGBT-012 - Anonymous
Topics: Lancaster Antidiscrimination Law
Organizations: MCC of the Spirit
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-012 Anonymous Collection
Date: 1968 - 2015; Bulk Dates 1970 - 1980
Joseph W. Burns started to donate these materials in 2013 as the first contribution of historical documents to the LGBT Center of Central PA History Project. These materials reflect his involvement in, and document, LGBTQ+ activism in Central PA...
Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns
Topics: PA Senate Bill 531, PA Senate Bill 83
Organizations: Lehigh Valley Citizens Concerned for a Better Community (CCBC), Gay Coordinating Society of Berks County, Reading (GCS Berks), PA Governor's Council for Sexual Minorities, Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (Le-Hi-Ho), PA Lesbian/Gay Support Network (PALGSN), PA Rural Gay Caucus, National Gay Task Force (NGTF), National Organization for Women (N.O.W.)
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-001 Joseph W. Burns Collection, Appendix: Bibliography of books donated by Joseph W. Burns
Date: 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
Date: 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
Date: circa 1985
HBG (Harrisburg) Hustlers #3 white tank top.
Collection: LGBT-010 - Wilson
Topics:
Organizations: Harrisburg Hustlers Volleyball Team
View Item:
Date: circa 1985
Harrisburg Hustlers Captain #3 silver and black stripe t-Shirt.
Collection: LGBT-010 - Wilson
Topics:
Organizations: Harrisburg Hustlers Volleyball Team
View Item:
Date: 1986
Long sleeved shirt from volleyball competition Charm City Invitational '86.
Collection: LGBT-010 - Wilson
Topics:
Organizations: Harrisburg Hustlers Volleyball Team
View Item:
Date: 1983
The Archives Nightclub and Resturant matchbook.
Collection: LGBT-010 - Wilson
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item:
Date: 1960s to 1980s
This collection documents the earliest known organizational history of the LGBTQ+ community in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley region. The Lehigh Valley Homophile Society ("Le-Hi-Ho") held its first meeting on June 22, 1969. The goal of the group...
Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns
Topics:
Organizations: Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (Le-Hi-Ho)
View Item:
Date: undated
Amanda Porter 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...
Collection: LGBT-069 - Porter
Topics: Transgender Experiences
Organizations: Renaissance Transgender Association Lehigh Valley Chapter
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-069 Amanda Porter Collection
Date: 1940 - 2017
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...
Collection: LGBT-068 - Anonymous
Topics: Klinefelter Syndrome
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-068 Anonymous Collection
Date: 2017
Katie Ward was born in 1952 and assigned male at birth. She was drafted after graduating from high school, and spent 22 years in military service, including active duty on a nuclear submarine in the Navy and Air Force National Guard. After Ward...
Collection: LGBT-067 - Ward
Topics: Transgender Experiences
Organizations: TransCentral PA
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-067 Katie Ward Collection
Date: 2017
Sophie Kandler was born in Spring City, PA in 1966. After graduating from high school, Sophie attended Drexel University, but transferred after two years to Pennsylvania State University where she graduated with a degree in Secondary Education in...
Collection: LGBT-066 - Kandler
Topics: Transgender Experiences
Organizations:
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-066 Sophie Kandler Collection
Date: circa 1976
This collection contains an embosser for the PA Governor’s Council for Sexual Minorities. The council was an officially appointed advisory committee created by Governor Milton J. Shapp in 1976. Governor Shapp, by executive order, declared that...
Collection: LGBT-063 - PA State Archives Transfer
Topics:
Organizations: PA Governor's Council for Sexual Minorities
View Item: LGBT History Project: LGBT-063 PA State Archives Transfer Collection
Date: circa 1995
Two rainbow chain necklaces.
Collection: LGBT-035 Anonymous Collection
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item:
Date: 2006
Central PA Vipers dark blue sweatshirt. The front has the Viper's logo, and the back says in white font "Women's Semi Pro Football No Limits - No Boundaries."
Collection: LGBT-032 - Snowden
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Vipers
View Item:
Date: 1990
Handmade chain vest created by Thomas Pfeiffer for Pennsman Inc.
Collection: LGBT-017 - Pfeiffer
Topics:
Organizations: Pennsmen Inc.
View Item:
Date: 2006
The Central PA Vipers', a women's semiprofessional full contact football team, dark blue gym shorts with logo.
Collection: LGBT-032 - Snowden
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Vipers
View Item:
Date: 2006
A white STUDS Magainze t-shirt with "Handsomely Beautiful Men" logo.
Collection: LGBT-032 - Snowden
Topics:
Organizations: STUDS Magazine
View Item:
Date: circa 1972
White matchbook from the Netpunes Lounge in Harrisburg, PA.
Collection: LGBT-006 - Anonymous
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item:
Date: circa 1978
Red matchbook from La Rose Rouge in Harrisburg, PA
Collection: LGBT-006 - Anonymous
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item:
Date: circa 1975
White matchbok from Club 1031 in Harrisburg, PA.
Collection: LGBT-006 - Anonymous
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item:
Date: circa 1990
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."
Collection: LGBT-013 - Selvey
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item:
Date: circa 1972
White and blue matchbooks from the Neptune's Lounge in Harrisburg, PA.
Collection: LGBT-013 - Selvey
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: