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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.
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LGBT History Project
Date: March 22, 2015
Lindsay Snowden was born in Pittsburgh on March 15, 1976. Lindsay worked a bunch of odd jobs and has had an entrepreneurial spirit since a young age. Lindsay joined the military when sirb was 17. Lindsay realized after moving to Harrisburg that...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Coming Out
Organizations: House of Gains
View Item: 
Transcription of LGBT Oral History 110: Lindsay Snowden
Date: March 19, 2015
David Walker was born in 1946 in Lancaster County, where he grew up in a strict Presbyterian family and always knew that he was different. He studied to be a teacher at Lebanon Valley College when the school was more fundamentalist, but after...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Gay Men's Chorus of Harrisburg
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 121: David Walker
Date: March 8, 2015
Maria Warren grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, in a religious family with both her blood-related and adopted siblings. Maria was very involved in her mother’s church, attending Sunday services, Bible study, and choir rehearsal, but realized that...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Coming Out
Organizations: Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 123: Maria Warren
Date: November 25, 2014
Becky Boone, who identifies as heterosexual, was raised in a religious family that was accepting of homosexuality, although they rarely discussed it. Her involvement with the Pembroke United Church of Christ in Harrisburg and as a parent of a...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 008: Becky Boone
Date: November 25, 2014
Mr. Boone is interviewed as an ally of the LGBT community. From a young age, he encountered members of the LGBT community but never judged or discriminated against them. He later joined the board of a Community Center, and through this Center...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 009: Tom Boone
Date: August 9, 2014
This is an oral history with David Payne. It was recorded on August 9th, 2014. David Payne was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Temple University in Philadelphia as a communications major. The focus of his career has...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Gay Men's Chorus of Harrisburg
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 090: David Payne
Date: October 15, 2014
Joseph "Joe" W. Burns is an LGBT activist who actively participated in LGBT organizations, marches, and protests especially throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s. In this interview, Joe discusses his involvement in several of those LGBT and women’s...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Feminism, Lancaster City Ordinance
Organizations: Allentown NOW, Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (Le-Hi-Ho), PA Rural Gay Caucus
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 012B: Joseph W. Burns
Date: October 10, 2014
Sharon Mahar Potter was born in Buffalo, New York and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania, commuting to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the first time when she was offered a position to build the early intervention system for disabled children in the...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Bi, Gay, Lesbian Youth Association of Harrisburg (Bi-GLYAH), LGBT Center of Central PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 094: Sharon Potter
Date: August 2 and 29, 2014
Abstract for Interview 1 (August 2, 2014): Lawrence von Barann was born on June 26, 1928 in Queens, New York to an American mother from New York City and an immigrant father from Germany. Lawrence spent the majority of his upbringing living in...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 120: Lawrence ''Larry'' Von Barann
Date: July 29, 2014
Ann Van Dyke was born in a farming community in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where she was raised in a devout Methodist home. After moving to Mechanicsburg to work at the Methodist Home for Children at age 19, Ann was exposed to the more...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: PA State Human Relations Commission
Organizations: Equality PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 118: Ann Van Dyke
Date: July 22, 2014
Alanna Berger and Blaise Liffick are the co-founders of the Silent Witness Peacekeepers Organization. Alanna was born in 1954 in Hummelstown, PA. Before committing full time to Silent Witness, Alanna by profession worked as a systems analyst...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Silent Witness Peacekeepers Organization
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 007: Alanna Berger and Blaise Liffick
Date: July 2, 2014
Brian Patchcoski was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, brought up in a very strong Irish, German, and Polish Roman Catholic family. Brian progressed through high school, working for a Catholic church for 10 years and expecting to go into the...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 089: Brian Patchcoski
Date: May 8, 2014
Jon Johnson was born in Southern Lancaster county, Pennsylvania and lived on his family’s farm in his early life. Charles (Charlie) Maser was born in Brownstown in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. Jon spent most of his life in Pennsylvania. He went...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations: Lancaster AIDS Project, The Betty Finney House
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 052: Jon Johnson and Charles Maser
Date: March 22, 2014
Barry Loveland was born December 28th, 1956 in Schenectady, New York. After graduating from high school, Barry attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he obtained a Bachelors of Science degree in Architecture and Building Sciences....
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Common Roads, Dignity/Central PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 070: Barry Loveland
Date: March 14, 2014
Teresa “Teddy” Maurer was born in Lykens, Pennsylvania. Following a move to Upper Dauphin County, she grew up and graduated from Halifax High School. From there she worked at the Nedrich shirt factory for a few years before moving onto a job with...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Coming Out
Organizations: LGBT Center of Central PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 077: Teresa ''Teddy'' Maurer
Date: November 12, 2013
Julie Lobur was born in New Kensington, Pennsylvania in 1955 and moved to Harrisburg in 1970. She received her bachelor’s degree from Penn State and added a master’s degree in computer science in 2003. Julie briefly served in the military in 1983...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 068: Julia "Julie" Lobur
Date: October 9, 2013
Born in 1951, Mary Nancarrow grew up in the Harrisburg area, and from a young age, she has been involved in the movements for LGBT and women’s rights, especially for Central Pennsylvania. She has worked extensively with NOW, serving as the...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Women's Rights
Organizations: Pennsylvania NOW, National Organization for Women (N.O.W.), PA Rural Gay Caucus
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 084A: Mary Nancarrow
Date: September 4, 2013
Michelle Probulus, 43, describes her experience with realizing that she is a lesbian at age 40, while married to a man with whom she had two young sons. She discusses the complications of figuring out her sexuality and coming to the realization...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Coming Out
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 095: Michelle Probulus
Date: August 29, 2013
Mark Stoner, born in 1959, grew up and currently lives in Lancaster, where he has worked as a graphic designer for the past 30 years. He came out as gay early in his college years at Penn State University and thereafter became involved in...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Human Relations Commission, HIV/AIDs
Organizations: Pink Triangle Coalition (PTC)
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 111: Mark Stoner
Date: August 28, 2013
Born in Chicago, IL in 1949 to a Catholic family, Mary Merriman joined the Air Force in 1967, where she struggled with her sexuality due to the environment, eventually becoming pregnant and discharging from the military before giving her son up...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs, Human Rights Ordinance
Organizations: MCC Vision of Hope
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 081: Mary Merriman
Date: August 14, 2013
Transcription of Clarke Hess and Lee Stoltzfuss interview. This transcript is incomplete. Please contact archives@dickinson.edu for more information.
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 048: Clarke Hess and Lee Stoltzfuss
Date: July 30, 2013
Larry Lee Thomas was born in Burnham, Pennsylvania in 1941, living there for at least 19 years before spending four years in the military, and shortly thereafter moving to the nearby city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After his first experience...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 112: Larry Thomas
Date: July 24, 2013
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, Pennsylvania, where he worked as a window decorator for Pomeroy’s...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: South Central Aids Assistance Network (SCAAN)
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 096: Bernie Pupo
Date: June 19, 2013
Nancy Datres was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania in 1948 and moved to Harrisburg to pursue computer science after becoming blacklisted by the Altoona Police Department when she was just 27 years old. Thereafter, Nancy moved through several careers...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 020A: Nancy Datres
Date: June 4, 2013
Prior to coming out at the age of 32, Ted Martin had worked for many years for the government and public policy organizations, chiefly in the areas of communications and advocacy. Martin lived in Washington, D.C. and worked for Congress before...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Coming Out
Organizations: Equality PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 074: Ted Martin