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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: November 1998
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 1998
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: Her Story Bookstore
Date: September 1998
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 1998
Date: August 1998
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: Her Story Bookstore
Date: July 1998
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 1998
Date: December 1, 2017
David Klinepeter, father of the late Daniel Klinepeter, gives insight as a parent of a member of the LGBT community. He also speaks about his experience losing his son to AIDS and his advocacy with AIDS Memorial Quilt: The Names...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations: The Names Project
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 057: David Klinepeter
Date: January 16, 2016
Nancy Helm was born in Lancaster Pennsylvania and graduated from Manheim Township High School in 1981. After graduating she worked for a printing company and did other odd jobs before opening a hair salon with her partner. Not long after that she...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 047: Nancy Helm
Date: March 27, 2015
Walter Heiliger was born in 1944 and grew up in rural Carroll County, Maryland, the second of three children. Walter, who describes himself as “severely hearing-impaired,” encountered difficulties in school and in connecting...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Family Unit, Coming Out
Organizations: Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 046: Walter Heiliger
Date: September 20, 2013
Richard H. Hause was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on May 21, 1947, moving to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after he graduated from high school in 1965. After coming out to his family when he was eighteen, Richard began working...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Dignity/Central PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 045: Richard Hause
Date: April 20, 2015
Lori Hatch-Rivera was born in Rockville Central, New York on Long Island in 1958. After Lori’s family moved to South Florida, Lori enrolled into what is now Palm Beach Atlantic University and graduated in 1989 with a degree in...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: MCC Harrisburg, Equality PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 044: Lori Hatch-Rivera
Date: April 25, 2017
Mary Margaret Hart and Lynn Daniels are a married lesbian couple living in Central Pennsylvania. Lynn was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1931, while Mary was born in 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio. Throughout the interview, Mary and...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Family Unit
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 018: Mary Margaret Hart and Lynn Daniels
Date: December 3, 2014
Jerre Freiberg was raised in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His family has close ties to the Lutheran Church, and he has remained affiliated with the church throughout his life. Jerre attended Elizabethtown College for two years...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 039: Jerre Freiberg
Date: June 1998
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: MCC of the Spirit, Her Story Bookstore
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - June 1998
Date: May 1998
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: Stone Soup
View Item: Lavender Letter (Harrisburg, PA) - May 1998
Date: April 1998
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 1998
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: Her Story Bookstore, Central PA Womyn's Chorus
Date: February 1998
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: Her Story Bookstore, Central PA Womyn's Chorus
Date: January 1998
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: Her Story Bookstore
Date: July 27, 2017
Cassidy Frazee was born in 1957 in Cedar Lake, Indiana. Cassidy grew up in Cedar Lake with her younger sister, father and mother. They had a Catholic upbringing, but Cassidy explains she was no longer interested in religious affairs by the time...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: Transgender Experiences
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 038: Cassidy Frazee
Date: March 20, 2015
Paul Foltz grew up in Steelton in a very Catholic household, a background to which he attributes his unawareness of his sexuality until later in his college years. It wasn’t until he went to England to complete his graduate-level theatre studies...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations: Harrisburg Men's Chorus, Lily White & Company
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 036: Paul Foltz
Date: March 26, 2014
John Folby was born in Pittsburgh in 1947. He was the oldest of five children in an Irish-Italian Catholic family. He relocated to Harrisburg in 1975 with his partner. John continues to live with his partner in Harrisburg in a relationship...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: HIV/AIDs
Organizations: Dignity/Central PA, Gay Switchboard of Harrisburg (GSH), LGBT Center of Central PA
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 035: John Folby
Date: February 10, 2015
Kathy Fillman was born in Coatesville, Pennsylvania to an Irish family that had their own business. Although she describes her childhood as idyllic, Kathy lived with her grandparents and three cousins due to her mother’s alcoholism and attended a...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 033: Kathy Fillman
Date: May 15, 2017
Melinda Eash, child psychologist and LBGT rights ally, discusses her upbringing near the New York Metropolitan Area and the influence of the church. As a young adult she attended Susquehanna University, where she made friends with a gay student...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: LGBT Youth
Organizations: Bi, Gay, Lesbian Youth Association of Harrisburg (Bi-GLYAH), Common Roads
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 032: Melinda Eash
Date: November 23, 2015
Benjamin Dunlap was born in Lancaster County Pennsylvania on December 23, 1957. He was born to a family with a mother, father, and sister ten years older than him. Throughout his life he was highly involved with LGBT community life and in...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics:
Organizations: Common Roads
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 031: Benjamin Dunlap
Date: November 22, 2014
MJ Dougherty was born on May 20, 1956 in Syracuse, New York. As a child of parents who traveled extensively for work, MJ had moved around quite a bit before settling into Williamsport, PA where she attended middle school and high school. Upon...
Collection: LGBT Oral History
Topics: 9/11
Organizations:
View Item: Transcription of LGBT Oral History 030: MJ Dougherty