LGBT Oral History 119: Joy Verner

Number of Pages
18
Date
March 24, 2015

Joy Verner was born in 1963 and grew up in Franklin Pennsylvania near Erie, Pa. Joy was one of three children and a mother and a father. She relocated to central Pennsylvania during graduate school where she attended school near Shippensburg. She now resides in in Central Pennsylvania with her partner, and now wife, Sue and their four children. Joy has worked mainly on student affairs and also worked at Dickinson College up until 2013. At Dickinson College Joy was an active staff for creating Pride@Dickinson and providing support for students. She is also active in her community church. Joy Verner comes from a Baptist family background and she struggled a lot with her identity as a lesbian and her strong faith. Today, she is active in her church and attends a Lutheran Church here in Central PA. Most of her life today is now defined by her life as a mother, community member, partner and balancing the intersections of all of those.

People
Year
Time Period
Origin
Gift of Joy Verner
Collection
Location
LGBT Oral History - Verner, Joy - 119

LGBT Oral History 089: Brian Patchcoski

Number of Pages
26
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 priesthood until he left the Diocese of Scranton to get his education at the University of Scranton and Penn State, then continuing on to work at Penn State for five years. Afterward, Brian was the Director of the Office of LGBTQ Services for Dickinson College for two years, then accepting a position as Associate Dean of Students and Director of the LGBT Resource Center at Cornell University. In this interview, Brian discusses his journey managing himself, his sexuality, and his religion. He also discusses how he became involved in social work for the LGBT community in college, how supportive faculty influenced his development, and how he has handled the challenges of educating within largely rural, conservative areas. For the future, Brian hopes we will remember the important strides made by past advocates while acknowledging how much farther we need to go to achieve equality. He also praises the LGBT History Project, hoping it will continue to reveal marginalized voices in Central Pennsylvania.

Year
Time Period
Origin
Gift of Brain Patchcoski
Collection
Location
LGBT Oral History - Patchcoski, Brain - 089

LGBT History Project: LGBT-046 Joy Verner Collection

Number of Pages
2
Date
1997, 2012, 2014

Joy Verner was born in 1963 and grew up in Franklin, PA. She relocated to Central PA to attend graduate school at Shippensburg University and performed her practicums at Dickinson College in the early 1990s. In 2008, Verner became a full-time staff member in the Student Development office at Dickinson College until 2013. While at Dickinson, Verner created the event Pride@Dickinson, which is now known as Out on Britton and takes place on National Coming Out Day. She now resides in Central Pennsylvania with her wife Sue and their four children.

People
General Subjects
Year
Time Period
Origin
Gift Joy Verner
Collection
Location
LGBT-046 Joy Verner Collection