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

Ted Martin

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: PDF icon Transcription of LGBT Oral History 074: Ted Martin

Marlene Kanuck

Date: July 1, 2013

Born in 1949 to a Lutheran minister and his wife, Marlene Kanuck married a man, had two children, and got a divorce after 11 years of marriage before realizing that she was a lesbian. In this interview, she discusses her coming out process and...

Collection: LGBT Oral History

Topics:

Organizations: Common Roads

View Item: PDF icon Transcription of LGBT Oral History 054: Marlene Kanuck

Joseph W. Burns

Date: May 24, 2013

From the time Joseph "Joe" W. Burns came out as gay at around 27 years of age, he was involved in gay activism. He was a part of many organizations that have helped to move gay rights forward, including the Mattachine Society and Le-Hi-Ho. He...

Collection: LGBT Oral History

Topics:

Organizations: Lehigh Valley Homophile Organization (Le-Hi-Ho), Mattachine Society of New York

View Item: PDF icon Transcription of LGBT Oral History 012A: Joseph W. Burns

LGBT History Project Logo

Date: March 28, 2013

For the very first interview of the history project, Edmund Good and Thurman Grossnickle describe their coming out stories. Thurman is a retired Scientist Administrator and has spent many years in academia and in health professions, as well as in...

Collection: LGBT Oral History

Topics: Coming Out

Organizations: Dignity/Central PA, Gay and Lesbian Switchboard of Harrisburg, Homophiles of Penn State (HOPS)

View Item: PDF icon Transcription of LGBT Oral History 042: Edmund ''Ed'' Good and Thurman Grossnickle, part 1, PDF icon Transcription of LGBT Oral History 042: Edmund ''Ed'' Good and Thurman Grossnickle, part 2

PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - May 1977

Date: May 1977

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In these minutes general information...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics: PA Senate Bill 83, Abortion Laws

Organizations: PA Rural Gay Caucus, Coalition for Human Rights, MCC Harrisburg

View Item: PDF icon PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - May 1977

PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - April 1977

Date: April 1977

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In these minutes general information...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics: PA Senate Bill 83

Organizations: PA Rural Gay Caucus, MCC Harrisburg

View Item: PDF icon PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - April 1977

PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - March 1977

Date: March 1977

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities."

In these minutes general information...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics: PA Senate Bill 83, Sodomy Repeal Bill

Organizations: PA Rural Gay Caucus

View Item: PDF icon PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - March 1977

PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - February 1977

Date: February 1977

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In these minutes general information...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: PA Rural Gay Caucus, Brethren/Mennonite Council for Gay Concerns, Gay Coordinating Society of Berks County, Reading (GCS Berks)

View Item: PDF icon PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - February 1977

PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - January 1977

Date: January 1977

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In these minutes general information...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics: PA Senate Bill 83, Sodomy Laws

Organizations: PA Rural Gay Caucus

View Item: PDF icon PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - January 1977

PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - December 1976

Date: December 1976

The Pennsylvania Rural Gay Caucus was “an association of interested individuals and groups, formed with the objective of promulgating the concerns and freedoms of gay people and all sexual minorities.”

In these minutes, general minutes are...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics: Sodomy Laws

Organizations: PA Rural Gay Caucus, PA Governor's Council for Sexual Minorities

View Item: PDF icon PA Rural Gay Caucus Minutes - December 1976

The Betty Finney House, American Red Cross Oscar Party, and Art Against AIDS programs

Date: 1991 - 2001

Patricia “Pat” Saunders grew up in the suburbs of Boston, where she became a hairdresser. After Saunders married, she and her family moved to Lancaster, PA, but later she moved back to Boston until moving to New York City for her hairdressing...

Collection: LGBT-062 - Saunders

Topics: HIV/AIDs

Organizations: The Betty Finney House, Lancaster AIDS Project, American Red Cross of Lancaster County, American Red Cross of the Susquehanna Valley

View Item: PDF icon LGBT History Project: LGBT-062 Patricia ''Pat'' Saunders Collection

LGBT Activism Pins

Date: 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: PDF icon LGBT History Project: LGBT-014 Barry Loveland Collection Inventory

Buttons from LGBT-050 Marlene Kanuck Collection

Date: 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....

Collection:

Topics:

Organizations:

View Item:

MCC Freedom Newsletter - April 1984

Date: April 1984

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - April 1984

MCC Freedom Newsletter - March 1984

Date: March 1984

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Lancaster, MCC Harrisburg

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - March 1984

MCC Freedom Newsletter - January 1984

Date: January 1984

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster, MCC Williamsport

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - January 1984

MCC Freedom Newsletter - December 1983

Date: December 1983

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster, MCC Williamsport

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - December 1983

MCC Freedom Newsletter - June 1983

Date: June 1983

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics: Gay Pride

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - June 1983

MCC Freedom Newsletter - April 1983

Date: March 1983

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics: Harrisburg Ordinance #8

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - April 1983

MCC Freedom Newsletter - March 1983

Date: March 1983

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics: HIV/AIDs

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster, MCC Williamsport

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - March 1983

MCC Freedom Newsletter - February 1983

Date: February 1983

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - February 1983

MCC Freedom Newsletter - January 1983

Date: January 1983

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Lancaster, MCC Harrisburg

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - January 1983

MCC Freedom Newsletter - December 1982

Date: December 1982

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - December 1982

MCC Freedom Newsletter - November 1982

Date: November 1982

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, MCC Lancaster

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - November 1982

MCC Freedom Newsletter - October 1982

Date: October 1982

Founded in 1968 in California, the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) began as a Christian outreach to meet the needs of the LGBTQ+ community. MCC Harrisburg (later renamed MCC of the Spirit) and MCC Lancaster (later renamed MCC Vision of Hope)...

Collection: LGBT-001 - Burns

Topics:

Organizations: MCC Lancaster, MCC Harrisburg

View Item: PDF icon MCC Freedom Newsletter - October 1982

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