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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.
Search LGBT History Project
LGBT History Project
Date: January 2000
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
Date: March 22, 2015
Peg Welch was born in December of 1951 near in Chester County, Pennsylvania to her father, a carpenter, and her mother, a candy maker. A young mother to two children, Peg did not graduate from high school, but received her GED and worked at...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: York Area LAMBDA, Lesbian Alliance
View Item: 
Transcription of LGBT Oral History 127: Peg Welch
Date: March 22, 2015
Delma Welch was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Cardiff, Maryland as a Catholic with her three brothers and one sister. Delma began going to NOW [National Organization for Women] meetings in 1975 after becoming interested in feminism from...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Coming Out, Feminism
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 126: Delma Welch
Date: August 22, 2016
Jude Sharp was born in November of 1947 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls. She then attended the Tyler College of Art and studied the art of making jewelry. When she was 21, Jude married...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 106: Jude Sharp
Date: October 4, 2017
Barry Loveland interviews Alex Reber, now 32, who relates fascinating stories of what it was like growing up as an only child of an Evangelical Christian family raised on a farm in Bethel, a rural town between Harrisburg and Allentown and...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Coming Out
Organizations: LGBT Center of Central PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 097: Alex Reber
Date: August 18, 2017
Heidi Notario was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1973, where she was attending college for biology before moving to the United States in 1995. Heidi discusses her disillusion with the ideals of communism as a factor contributing to her desire to go...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 087: Heidi Notario
Date: October 11, 2014
Emily Newberry was born in June of 1944 in St. Louis, Missouri, shortly thereafter moving to West Haven, Connecticut, and then Schenectady, New York, after her parents got divorced—a shameful and hidden family secret—and her dad remarried. Emily...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Transgender Experiences
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 086: Emily Newberry
Date: February 24, 2015
Mary Nancarrow grew up in a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the 1950s and 1960s with divorced parents and two siblings. After graduating from Shippensburg University, she became prominent in the women’s movement and the LGBT movement in...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Feminism, Coming Out
Organizations: PA Governor's Council for Sexual Minorities, PA Rural Gay Caucus, National Organization for Women (N.O.W.)
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 084B: Mary Nancarrow
Date: December 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations:
Date: November 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Womyn's Chorus
Date: October 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Womyn's Chorus
Date: September 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - September 1999
Date: August 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
Date: July 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - July 1999
Date: March 15, 2014
Daniel (Dan) C. Miller’s colorful humor and personality were persistent throughout the interview. He shares his experiences growing up and coming out in his early 30s. His coming out experience was during his time working for Donald L. DeMuth....
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 082: Dan Miller
Date: July 24, 2015
Daniel Maneval was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on October 3, 1947. In this interview, Daniel speaks frankly about his experiences growing up as an only child, about the homophobic violence he has experienced, and the gay organizations he...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Susquehanna Valley Gays United (SVGU), Homophiles of Williamsport (HOW), PA Rural Gay Caucus
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 072B: Dan Maneval
Date: February 6, 2017
Dr. Rachel Levine was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts on October 28th, 1957. With a great sense of humor Dr. Levine discusses her interesting life. She attended Belmont Hill School, where she excelled and engaged in athletic and creative...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Transgender Experiences
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 064: Rachel Levine
Date: June 1, 2017
David Leas was born in 1955 in Columbia, Pennsylvania. He comes from a working class family and described the sense of independence he got from his first job as busboy for the Accomac Inn. This job lead to a foray into the restaurant business,...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Gays United Lancaster (GUL), PA Rural Gay Caucus, Gay Era
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 062: David Leas
Date: October 28, 2015
Lorraine Kujawa was one of the co-founders of the Lavender Letter in Harrisburg during the late seventies and eighties. The Lavender Letter was created to provide events for the lesbian community to attend in Pennsylvania. She started the...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 061: Lorraine Kujawa
Date: February 16, 2017
Colin Kreitzer was born in 1947 in Enola, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania with his parents and his younger sister. He attended West Chester College and moved to Harrisburg in 1977, where he began getting involved in the...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Gay Switchboard of Harrisburg (GSH), Dignity/Central PA, MCC Harrisburg
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 060: Colin Kreitzer
Date: March 25, 2015
Suzanne Kohr, formerly Ott, was raised in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. She is now 60 years old, and resides in Newberrytown, Pennsylvania. Suzanne had two children with her first husband, and has been married to her second husband, Tom Kohr, for...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 059: Suzanne Kohr
Date: October 9, 2016
Nikki Knerr was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1945 and attended York College and Pennsylvania State University where she studied mass communications. In 1967, Nikki opened her first graphic design business which ran for 25 years in Camp...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 058: Nikki Knerr
Date: June 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - June 1999
Date: May 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - May 1999
Date: April 1999
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...
Collection: LGBT-009 - Lavender Letter
Topics:
Organizations: Central PA Womyn's Chorus