The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection is part of the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine. It consists of collections of personal papers and archives of organizations active in the LGBTQ+ communities of Maine. The manuscript collections date from the 1970s to the present. There are also rare or unique print materials about the community (all 1970s or later), including a unique series of 42 newspapers by community groups around the state. The collection focuses on historical sources, excluding creative works of fiction or art, unless such works document the community.
Collections in the LGBTQ+ Collection
Arranged alphabetically by creator.
ACTUP/Maine Archives, 1976-1995 (LG-MS0012)
ACT UP Maine (Organization)
ACTUP/ Maine, founded in 1990, was a chapter of the national organization, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) that focused on AIDS issues. The goals of the organization were the empowerment of people with AIDS and the establishment of an AIDS Resource Center. The organization emphasized direct action in communities and an open democratic process within the group. The Archives holds organizational papers, books, photos, promotional materials, correspondence, and publications, plus a significant number of publications/papers from ACT-UP chapters in the US and abroad. The bulk of the material spans the years 1990-1994, and there is a good deal of undated material.
4 Boxes (1.75 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
ACTUP/Portland Archives, 1984-1996 (LG-MS0009)
ACT UP Portland (Organization)
ACT UP/ Portland, established in the 1990s, was a chapter of the national organization, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) that focused on AIDS issues. ACT UP/ Portland sponsored several local youth organizations, had a cooperative partnership with Public Health agencies, leafleted extensively, and held media campaigns. The organization emphasized direct action in communities and an open democratic process within the group. The Archives consist of administrative files, programs/activities, and resource materials from the group and its affiliates. Dates range from 1984 to 1996, with the bulk of materials either undated or 1991-1996.
4 Boxes (1.75 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
AIDS Lodging House Archives, 1991-2005 (LG-MS0043)
AIDS Lodging House (Portland, Me.)
The AIDS Lodging House (ALH) provided subsidized housing and support to people living with HIV/AIDS from 1987 until 2007 when the Peabody Center assumed control of the organization. Established in 1987, the AIDS Lodging House was based out of a four-unit apartment building in Portland’s West End neighborhood and was at the time Maine’s oldest independent living program for people with HIV/AIDS. The Archives contain materials relating to the proposal and founding of the AIDS Lodging House, outreach and publicity, media coverage and photographs.
3 Boxes (1.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Object, 1 File Folder
Am Chofshi Archives, 1988-2002 (LG-MS0042)
Am Chofshi (Me.)
AM CHOFSHI was a social group for LGBT Jews and their families and friends in Maine. The Archives contains organizational records of the group.
2 Boxes (1 Linear Foot) + 1 Oversize Box, 1 File Folder, 2 Objects
Tom Antonik Papers, (LG-MS0093)
Antonik, Tom
The Papers consist primarily of his photographs, mounted and unmounted, with t-shirts and other textiles, personal papers, newspapers, publications, and some artifacts. You can listen to an interview with Tom Antonik as part of the Querying the Past Collection.
20 Boxes (19.25 Linear Feet) + 3 Oversize Folders, approximately 80 Objects, 1 Hanging Item
View Selected Digitized Material
Artistic Amazon Bookstore Collection, (LG-MS0141)
Artistic Amazon Bookstore (Cape Neddick, Me.)
Cherie Monnell and Dottie Logue ran the Artistic Amazon Bookstore in Cape Neddick, the only feminist bookstore in Maine. The store carried a wide selection of lesbian fiction, jewelry, bumper-stickers, goddess statutes, and gifts. The collections contains t-shirts, posters, cards, stickers, painted slates, bumper stickers, buttons, magnets, and other items from the shop.
6 Boxes (4 Linear Feet) + 3 Oversize Boxes
William D. Barry and Frances W. Peabody Papers, 1974-1997 (LG-MS0002)
Barry, William David
William Barry is a well-known, published local historian. Frannie Peabody was an early Maine AIDS activist, who established the Peabody House, a center dedicated to assisting individuals living with HIV/AIDS. The papers contain research materials gathered for the writing of the book, “The AIDS Project: a history.” They include correspondence, clippings, photographs, publications, research notes, drafts, and documents from Maine’s largest AIDS service organization.
9 Boxes (4.25 Linear Feet )
Barbara Beckelman and Susan Koen Collection, approximately 1980-1989 (LG-MS0094)
Beckelman, Barbara
The t-shirts in this collection were collected by Barbara Beckelman and Susan Koen during their years of activism working for causes including anti-war, take back the night, and LGBT activism as well as their involvement in women’s music and college groups.
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet)
David P. Becker Papers, (LG-MS0064)
Becker, David P.
David P. Becker is a philanthropist who primarily worked with the LGBT community in the Northeast. The papers document Becker’s philanthropic work.
10 Boxes (10.5 Linear Feet)
Beck-Poland Sherry Papers, (LG-MS0144)
Beck-Poland, Sherry
You can listen to an interview with Sherry Beck-Poland.
1 File Folder
Fred Berger Papers, (LG-MS0125)
Berger, Fred, 1947-
The Papers include copies of Our Paper and other newsletters and clippings. There are two cartoon strips hand-drawn by Pettigrew with text by Fred Berger which appeared in Our Paper. There is a program for a production of Gay Side Story and an advertisement for Our Books, an LGBTQ bookstore in Portland in a program for Bent. There are some photographs and material related to Berger’s city council campaign. You can listen to an interview with Fred Berger.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Allen Bernstein Collection, 1984-2004 (LG-MS0030)
Bernstein, Allen Irvin, 1913-2008
Allen Bernstein was born on June 19, 1913, in Nashua, New Hampshire. He holds an MA in Economics from the University of Chicago. Bernstein enlisted in the Army in 1940 and fought in WWII, doing clerical work in the U.S., until 1944 when he was dishonorably discharged for being openly gay. After the war, he married a woman– who knew he was gay – and had two sons. He then moved to Maine to work for the Maine State Labor Department as a Labor market analyst. After retirement in 1978, he became involved in providing volunteer services to the community. He appealed his dishonorable discharge 14 times from the late1940’s to 1980, and in 1981 was finally successful in gaining his honorable discharge. He was active in his community in his later years – volunteering mainly for the Red Cross. The Collection is based on more recent articles on gay rights and gender equality. Dates range from 1984-2004, with the majority of material in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Publications include AVER (American Veterans for Equal Rights) newsletters, Gender Studies newsletters, The Loving Brotherhood newsletters and brochures, Outword newsletter and Edward Carpenter Community newsletters.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Blackstones Bar Archives, (LG-MS0127)
Blackstones (Portland, Me.)
1 Oversize Box
Roland Blais Papers, 1987-2009 (LG-MS0023)
Blais, Roland, 1939-
Roland Blais was born in Rumford, Maine in 1939, and knew by the time he was in high school that he was “different”. He saved money and moved to Los Angeles in 1958, where he got a job with Broadway Department Store and went to gay bars for the first time. He joined the Navy and served from 1959 to 1963, leaving with an honorable discharge. He then enlisted in the Army, serving 1963-1966, stationed at Walsrode, Germany, working with missiles. He returned to the United States, retrieving the car he bought in Germany from Newark Port, New Jersey, and drove to Hartford, Connecticut, planning to stay overnight with family before heading back home to Maine. While in Hartford he learned that Pratt & Whitney was hiring, so he stayed when he got a job there. He and his partner, Walter Deschamps, bought a home in Bolton, Conn. About 1974, they moved to Lewiston, Maine, to be near Roland’s aging parents. When the Sportsman’s Athletic Club (83 Lincoln St.) had financial difficulties, Roland and his partner took it over, turning it into a gay club. They moved it to 2-4 Bates St. in 1976; Blais sold the club in 2006, and it closed for good in October 2009. It had been the longest-open gay bar north of Boston. The Papers contain primarily clippings and photocopies of newspaper articles, mostly dealing with the effort to pass and retain an anti-gay- discrimination ordinance in Lewiston. Also present are transcripts of testimony to the City Council regarding the ordinance and materials from the group Equal Protection Lewiston.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Folder
Larry Bliss Collection, 1976-2011 (LG-MS0022)
Bliss, Larry
Lawrence (Larry) Bliss was born and raised in California, lived in Maine for twenty years, and returned to California in 2011. He holds Bachelor’s degrees in History and Political Science and a Master’s degree in Urban Public Administration all from the University of California. He has worked as a middle school and high school teacher and coach and as Director of Career Services and Professional Life Development at the University of Southern Maine. He was elected to the Maine Senate in 2008, representing the 7th district, which includes his hometown of South Portland, as well as Cape Elizabeth and part of Scarborough, having previously spent eight years representing South Portland’s 24th district in the Maine House of Representatives. Bliss has been a member of the Board of Directors of The AIDS Project, the Equity Institute of Maine, the South Portland Citizens for Justice, and the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, where he served as Treasurer from 1992-94. He was an advisor to the Equity Fund of the Maine Community Foundation and is a longtime member of the Surfrider Foundation, the Friends of Casco Bay, and the Portland Harbor Museum. Bliss and his partner, Nolan McCoy, have three children. The Collection includes materials related to Bliss’s work in support of the LGBT community in Maine. There are materials related to events and organizations with which he was involved, including the Maine Lesbian and Gay Men’s Symposium (materials for the years 1976-77, 1979-81, 1983-88, and 1991); Equal Protection Portland; South Portland Citizens for Justice; the Matlovich Society; Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance; Citizens for a United Portland; and the Spring for Life Art Auction. Materials include press clippings, correspondence, financial records, internal memos and meeting minutes, brochures, posters, event programs, stickers, buttons, a mug, and other papers. Some material related to efforts to secure same-sex partner benefits for University of Maine employees and L.D. 246 (1993 An Act to Prevent Discrimination) is also present.
8 Boxes (4 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box, 2 Oversize Folders
Ted Bohn Papers, 1976-1980 (LG-MS0069)
Bohn, Ted
Ted Bohn was active in the Portland LGBT community in the 1970s. The Papers contain Maine Gay Task Force newsletters and issues of Mainely Gay from 1976-1980, some marked “Office Copy” and with interior markups; one brochure from 1979 National March on Washington for Lesbian & Gay Rights; one t-shirt with lambda superimposed on an outline of the state of Maine.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Bridges Archives, 1989-1990 (LG-MS0112)
Bridges (Portland, Me.)
1 File Folder
Steven Bridges Papers, (LG-MS0148)
Bridges, Steven N., 1970-
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Gay Side Story Collection, (LG-MS0056)
Bull, Steven G.
This collection contains a scrapbook and photographs from the original cast performance, as well as a DVD recording. Also included are color and black and white reproductions of the scrapbook. You can see items from this collection and view the original performance.
1 Box (1 Linear Foot)
View Selected Digitized Material
Steven G. Bull Papers, 1974 – 2016 (LG-MS0079)
Bull, Steven G.
Maine Gay Symposium
Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays
Wilde-Stein Club (Orono, Me.)
Steve Bull is a lifelong LGBTQ+ and civil rights activist of Maine and California. Papers include correspondence, photographs, publications, and ephemera documenting the beginning of the gay liberation movement in Maine and Bull’s participation in the movement, especially through his involvement with the founding of the Wilde-Stein Club at University of Maine Orono in 1973 and his chairmanship of the first Maine Gay Symposium in 1974. Bull’s research papers document the University of Maine’s reaction to the Wilde-Stein Club and national media coverage and opposition leading up to the first Maine Gay Symposium, and the University’s ultimate acceptance and support of the Club. Organizational records document Bull’s parents’ involvement in Parents of Gays, the Wilde-Stein Club’s early activities and members (including Karen Bye, John Frank, and Sturgis Haskins), and include photographs of the first Maine Gay Symposium. Publications include contemporaneous coverage of regional and national gay liberation, Marxism, labor, and civil rights movements.
1 Linear Feet (2 Boxes)
1 Oversize Folders
Elliot Burton Story, (LG-MS0128)
Burton, Elliot Story
Short story about marriage equality.
1 File Folder
Karen Bye Papers, 1973 – 1978 (LG-MS0107)
Bye, Karen E., 1952-2013
Karen Bye was a founding member and secretary of the Wilde-Stein Club at University of Maine Orono and lifelong activist in Maine and California. The papers include chiefly newspaper clippings, and some brochures, voting guides, and flier, capturing public perception and reception of the gay community during a time of expanding rights and conflict. Topics include the Wilde-Stein Club, Maine Gay Symposium, Maine Gay Task Force, religion, bisexuality, opposition of gay student clubs, California voting issues around gay teachers, and gay bars in Maine and California.
0.75 Linear Feet (2 Boxes)
Casco Gay Men Archives, 1998-2001 (LG-MS0080)
Casco Gay Men (Portland, Me.)
Ed Hurley, the donor of the Archives, was one of the original members of a group called “Get a Life” that began meeting in 1998 in the State Theater Building in Portland, Maine to discuss gay men’s issues. Around 6 members of “Get a Life” decided to keep meeting and opened to others. They started a monthly dessert potluck held in people’s homes, which were “a safe place for men to meet other than the bars or cruising areas”. The meetings became a monthly potluck dinner held on the first Monday of the month with up to 50 guests at Williston-West Church in the West End of Portland. Events took place on other Mondays, including speakers on art, music, and dating. When the church closed, the group continued meeting at Coffee by Design and became Casco Gay Men. The collection contains meeting minutes, mission statement, calendars of events, flyers, email correspondence and other materials related to the group.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Apron from marriage equality campaign charity fundraiser, (LG-MS0113)
Catholics for Marriage Equality (Maine)
Former Governor John Baldacci wore this apron at fundraiser and campaign events sponsored by Catholics for Marriage Equality and the Religious Coalition against Discrimination in October of 2012. The funds raised were donated to homeless charities in Bangor and Portland, although the events were aimed at raising support for the marriage equality referendum on the November 2012 ballot. The Apron has a nametag adhered to it with “John” written on it in marker, and an RCAD lapel pin attached.
1 File folder
Trannychasers: A Skateboard Roadtrip, (LG-MS0153)
Clough, Travis, (Actor)
1 File Folder
View Selected Digitized Material
Lewiston Auburn Gay Youth Collection, 2008-2009 (LG-MS0044)
Conn, Heidi Donkle, 1955-2021
Outright Lewiston/Auburn creates safe and affirming environments for youth aged 22 and under who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and/or questioning. The current Outright Lewiston/Auburn originated in a group of young people and adults who came together in 1996 to form an organization where LGBTQ and allied young people could find support and community, a mission that has expanded with the recognition that the terms those letters indicate are too narrow: Outright is for people of all genders and sexualities. The Edward Little High School Gay-Straight Alliance serves Auburn students grades 9 through 12 from the Edward Little High School community. Some of the material was created by Outright Lewiston/Auburn and some by the Edward Little High School Gay-Straight Alliance. The Collection contains print material, including an Outright Lewiston/Auburn brochure, the ‘zine leftOUT, a Safe Zone sticker, pages from the publication Latitude 44, and a poster for a GLBTQA Dance Party; a CD containing photographs taken by several students on a field trip, and color printouts of the photographs.
2 Box (1 Linear Foot) + 1 Oversize Folder
Ryan Conrad Collection, 2007-2009 (LG-MS0035)
Conrad, Ryan, 1983-
Ryan Conrad is a radical queer activist. He is a co-founder of Naughty North, an inter-generational radical queer/trans direct action collective in Maine. He participates as a volunteer, board member, and/or advisor for several community organizing groups, including Equity Fund (board member 2008-present), Outright Lewiston/Auburn (Special Projects Coordinator and volunteer advisor, 2006-present), Maine HIV Prevention Community Planning Group (2009-present), and Maine Video Activist Network (co-founder and volunteer, 2006-present), among others. Conrad curated the June 2009 exhibition “Future of the Past: Reviving the Queer Archives” at Maine College of Art. The Collection contains materials related to radical queers in Maine and elsewhere and the case of the “New Jersey 4.” It includes newsletters, posters, signs, a halter top, pins, a ‘zine about radical queer moments, literary publications, and videos. Of particular interest are materials from and about the exhibition of Annette Dragon’s photographs which Conrad curated at MECA in 2009.
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet) + 29 Oversize Folders
Cruikshank Feminist-Lesbian Publications Collection, approximately 1970-1979 (LG-MS0006)
Cruikshank, Margaret
Margaret Cruikshank was an early scholar in the field of Lesbian studies and taught a women’s studies course at the University of Southern Maine. She also teaches lesbian studies at the University of Maine in Orono. The Collection contains almost a full run of The Furies, an important 1970s publication in the field, as well as other scattered issues of feminist-lesbian publications from the 1970s.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Margaret Cruikshank Papers, 1974-2004 (LG-MS0029)
Cruikshank, Margaret
Margaret Cruikshank (b. 1940) has not only led a distinguished career in academia but is also the author of numerous works. Cruikshank’s earliest writings include reviews, essays, and articles that have appeared in a variety of periodicals. Other publications include The Lesbian Path (1980), The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement (1992), and Learning to Be Old: Gender, Culture, and Aging (2003). After earning her Ph.D., Cruikshank began teaching English at colleges and universities throughout the Midwest. In 1975, Cruikshank moved to Minnesota where she continued to teach university-level English and helped establish Mankato State University’s first women’s studies department, serving as the director of the department from 1975 to 1977. From 1977 to 1997, Cruikshank taught courses in English as a second language and gay and lesbian studies at the City College of San Francisco. In 1997, Cruikshank moved to Maine and took a position as lecturer in the women’s studies department at the University of Maine (Orono). Cruikshank continues to work for the university as both a lecturer and as a faculty associate at the Center on Aging. In 2001, Cruikshank taught an Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies course at the University of Maine (Orono) which may be the first LGBT course taught in the state. Spanning the years 1974 through 2007, the papers contain material related to Cruikshank’s course preparation and delivery. The papers also contain published and unpublished stories, articles and reviews written by Cruikshank. There are materials related to her personal and professional activities, such as events she attended, photographs from a wedding in San Francisco, along with a collection of clippings and publications not written by Cruikshank.
2 Boxes (0.75 Linear Feet)
Susan Cummings-Lawrence Collection, (LG-MS0096)
Cummings-Lawrence, Susan
Susan Cummings-Lawrence is a community activist and a founder of The AIDS Project. The Collection consists of a wedding photo album and invitation to the wedding of Peaches Rona R.J. Bass-Blessington and Perry S. Sutherland.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
George Daniell Artwork, approximately 1936-1993 (LG-MS0025)
Daniell, George, 1911–2002
George Daniell, photographer, and artist, lived the second half of his life in a coastal community near Bar Harbor, Maine. Originally from Yonkers, he worked as a freelance photographer in New York and Europe for most of his early career. In the 1930s, he made his first visits to Monhegan Island and Grand Manan Island, capturing images in photographs and paintings. For many years he owned a house on Fire Island and spent winters in Key West, and these locations also feature prominently in his work. He is best known for his photographic portraits of well-known artists and literary figures, yet he created an equally, if not more, compelling body of work that highlights images of fishermen and dock workers, swimmers, and scenes of island life. His work is highly regarded by the art community, and in recent years he has received more attention as an influential gay artist, beautifully capturing the strength and sensuality of the male figure. The Artwork consists of a framed watercolor, an unframed copy of a self-portrait photograph, and a framed photograph. [1936], [1950],1993. You can listen to an interview with Mr. Daniell which was conducted as part of the University of Southern Maine Lesbian and Gay Oral History Project.
1 Oversize Box + 1 Hanging Item
Robert Diamante Papers, (LG-MS0051)
Diamante, Robert
Photographs taken by Robert Diamante between 1992-1997 primarily featuring members of the Portland Gay Men’s Choir and drag performers, both staged and candid. The collection also features photos of author John Preston as well as print media related to safe sex. You can listen to an interview with Mr. Diamante.
2 Boxes (2.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
View Selected Digitized Material
Down East Pride Alliance Archives, 2004-2010 (LG-MS0081)
DownEast Pride Alliance (Portland, Me.)
DEPA, a GLBT business networking group meeting monthly in Southern Maine for cocktails & conversation, was started to encourage each other to do business within our community. A large majority of small business owners that attend are working 10-12 hours a day and cannot even afford health insurance. Many in the LGBT community do not have the same access to the traditional social outlets for a business like the golf club, the regular chamber of commerce or fishing buddies. The Archives includes papers, clippings, email communications, and 8 CDs of photographs.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Annette Dragon Papers, approximately 1990-2000 (LG-MS0065)
Dragon, Annette
Annette Dragon moved to Portland in 1990, began work in a camera store, and started shooting photographs for the local gay paper – Our Paper – in 1991. She also became a key activist in ACT/UP Portland and co-founded the queer monthly APEX, which had much more radical content than the other local choices. An exhibition entitled Future of the Past: Reviving the Queer Archives, on view at the Maine College of Art from June 5 to July 3, 2009, recreated her exhibition at the University of Southern Maine, March 2 to 31, 2000, called “Act Up/Fight Back/Take Pictures: Ten Years: Ten Years of Queer Activism in Maine.” The Papers contain photographic prints, including all the mounted prints used in the March 2000 show “Act Up Fight Back Take Pictures,” as well as duplicates of those photographs and others not in the show; promotional materials for the show; files related to the publication of the newspaper APEX and the 1995 anti-gay referendum, general files and correspondence; local and national LGBT publications; and VHS cassettes holding local/state/national news and other programs.
12 Boxes (8.25 Linear Feet) + 4 Oversize Box
View Selected Digitized Material
Brian Dustin Clippings, 2010-2016 (LG-MS0142)
Dustin, Brian
One issue of Lewiston-Auburn Sun Chronicle and 2 issues of Biddeford-Saco-OOB Courier with stories about Brian and his husband Tom Muise re: same-sex marriage.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Eastern Maine AIDS Network Archives, (LG-MS0068)
Eastern Maine AIDS Network
The Eastern Maine AIDS Network (EMAN) is a not-for-profit, community-based organization dedicated to providing comprehensive HIV services. It was founded in 1987 as a grassroots response to the needs of people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS throughout eastern and northern Maine. The organization works to improve the lives of those impacted by HIV/AIDS by providing support services, actively promoting education, prevention, and confidential HIV testing and advocating to attain fair and effective programs and policies. Between 1992 and 2003, EMAN produced three videos about people in Maine living with HIV/AIDS, one of which achieved global recognition through being featured at the 1992 International AIDS Conference. In July 2010, EMAN merged with Penobscot Community Health Care. From its origin in 1987 as primarily an information service, EMAN has evolved into an agency that offers a variety of services and support for clients who are living with HIV/AIDS. Client services include case management, emergency funding, food pantry, social services, support groups, and additional activities. For the general public, the agency offers extensive informational and prevention education as well as HIV antibody testing. Videos, mostly VHS cassettes but a few other formats. There are multiple copies of 2 videos produced by EMAN, tapes of interviews used in the making of the videos, tapes of PSAs and Maine news programs, and videos produced by other entities.
3 Boxes (3 Linear Feet)
Interview with the Grandmas: 34 Year Herstory, (LG-MS0117)
Elliot, Adriana Troxell
Interview with Rita W. Clifford and Sara Eliot. Interview conducted by Adriana Troxell Elliot. Filmed by Elias Gilbert Elliot on July 3, 2015, in South Portland, Maine.
1 File Folder
View Selected Digitized Material
Diane Elze Papers, 1971-2008 (LG-MS0027)
Elze, Diane
A 1978 graduate of the University of Maine, Bangor, Diane Elze began her volunteer career working for the YWCA Fair Harbor Shelter in Portland, Maine. She was an activist in the LGBT community in the Portland area in the 1980s and 1990s. Among other activities, she was a founding member of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance, worked on the AIDS Project, and founded the LGBT youth group, Outright. She also edited the newsletter Moving, The Newspaper of the Maine Association of Handicapped Persons and founded the statewide gay and lesbian newspaper, Our Paper. Elze earned a Master’s degree from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western University, followed by a Ph.D. from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. During her graduate career, Elze’s primary focus of study remained LGBT youth, specifically their mental health and behavioral functioning. Since completing her Ph.D. in 1999, Dr. Elze has held positions as a professor with both Washington University and the University at Buffalo, continuing her research into assisting LGBT youth communities across the Northeast. She remains a prolific writer of articles, editorials, and research on LGBT issues including educational resources for teachers and students on how to approach comfortable assimilation of LGBT-friendly initiatives in the school district. The Papers contain publications & newsletters, materials from events such as the Maine Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, newspaper clippings and materials from various Maine LGBT organizations: National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, Act Now, Act Up, Hysterical Angry Girls Sorority and MLGPA, files on gay topics and organizations in Maine, and personal documents of Dr. Elze, such as correspondence, research, awards, and notes. You can listen to an interview with Ms. Elze.
25 Boxes (13 Linear Feet) + 5 Oversize Folders
Equal Protection Portland Archives, 1989-1992 (LG-MS0020)
Equal Protection Portland (Me.)
Equal Protection/Portland (EP/P) was a volunteer organization formed in Portland, Maine in 1992 that campaigned to uphold a Human Rights Ordinance passed by Portland’s City Council. Ultimately the ordinance was upheld in a referendum vote on November 3, 1992. That year was contentious for LGBT issues around the country and gay rights figured prominently in a presidential election for the first time in the race between Bill Clinton and George Bush. The Archives contains EP/P administrative files and campaign materials, such as flyers, brochures, press releases, survey results, audio recordings, and a bus banner. Articles reflecting national attention to the campaign from publications such as the New York Times and Newsweek magazine are included along with other pertinent articles from 1992. Information about other ordinance and amendment campaigns in the states of Florida, Colorado, and Oregon in 1992, which helped inform EP/P’s campaign, are also included.
3 Boxes (1 Linear Feet) + 2 Oversize Folders
EqualityMaine Archives, 1984-2009 (LG-MS0013)
EqualityMaine (Organization)
The Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA) was formed in 1984 to advocate for LGBT issues and to educate the public, media, and politicians about them. Now known as EqualityMaine, over the last twenty-five years, the organization has worked to secure civil rights legislation, pass hate crimes protection laws, promote workplace equality and ensure responsible HIV/AIDS policies. The Archives contains organizational records of MLGPA and EqualityMaine and other materials.
52 Boxes (30.5 Linear Feet) + 12 Objects
Susan Farnsworth Papers, approximately 1970-1999 (LG-MS0017)
Farnsworth, Susan
Susan Farnsworth earned her undergraduate degree from Bates College in 1969 and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Maine School of Law in 1976. She has worked in several city and state government positions, including Maine State Representative from 1988-1994. Farnsworth has also been active in the LGBT community, serving as a member of the Executive Committee and an organizer of “Yes on 6” PAC in the Statewide Referendum Campaign in 2000. The Papers consist of working papers, publications, and other materials.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Sisters Bar Research Project Collection, 2009-2010 (LG-MS0072)
Forest, Lee
Clare Forstie, 2003 graduate magna cum laude from Bowdoin College, earned a master’s degree in American and New England Studies at University of Southern Maine in 2010. She went on to begin a doctoral program in Sociology at Northwestern University in Illinois in the Fall of 2010. Forstie’s master’s thesis is an ethnographic study of Sisters, a Portland, Maine, lesbian bar open from 1995 to 2005. The Collection consists of a printed copy of Forstie’s master’s thesis as well as the thesis and supporting files in electronic format – audio files of interviews, thesis and brief bio in pdf format, Word documents.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Dawn Fortune Papers, 1988-2002 (LG-MS0033)
Fortune, Dawn
Dawn Fortune revitalized the Gay-Straight People’s Alliance and ran the student newspaper at the University of Maine at Farmington in the early 1990s. The papers contains photographs and contact sheets, 2 folders of Pride materials, 4 VHS videos of programs/events by GASPP, a Central Maine Needs Assessment of LGBT teens compiled in 1996 by Fortune for the group Equal Rights For All (ERFA), and an essay Fortune wrote in 1988 entitled ‘AIDS kills.’
2 Boxes (1 Linear Foot)
David Garrity Papers, approximately 1990-1999 (LG-MS0092)
Garrity, David J.
David Garrity is a Portland-based property owner/landlord and a longtime gay-rights advocate. He served as a Board Member of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance from 1997-98 and was their Vice President from 1998-99 and President from 1999-2001. Garrity has long been closely involved with the Democratic Party, serving in such roles as a delegate from Maine to the Democratic National Convention, member of the Democratic National Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Maine Democratic Party. He was an elector for the 2004 electoral college. He also ran for Portland City Council in 1997, losing a closely contested race to Karen Geraghty. The Papers contain Garrity’s files as well as gay and lesbian local publications and clippings from the 1990s.
32 Boxes (32 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Gay Men Together Archives, 2005-2015 (LG-MS0103)
Gay Men Together (West Gardiner, Me.)
3 Boxes (3 Linear Feet)
GLSEN Archives, approximately 1995-1996 (LG-MS0089)
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network. Southern Maine Chapter
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) is a national education organization working to make schools safer for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. GLSEN Southern Maine is one of two GLSEN chapters in Maine (the other is Downeast GLSEN, in Ellsworth). GLSEN Southern Maine was founded in 1996. Its members consult with school administrators and provide resources and support for the Gay-Straight Alliances in high schools in southern and midcoast Maine. Banner of the Southern Maine chapter of the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Object
GAYLA Archives, 1980-2005 (LG-MS0034)
GAYLA (Saco, Me.)
GAYLA is a brotherhood of gay and bisexual men, “expressly designed to provide mutual support, nurturance, friendship, loving, and mentoring of one another,” to maximize personal and collective growth. It meets annually for a week in the summer at Ferry Beach in Saco, Maine. The brothers sustain their spirit through the year by organizing periodic winter reunions, area social events and potlucks, publishing a newsletter, and establishing a virtual network through email and a GAYLA brother only Yahoo group. The Archives contains documents and artifacts from the annual conferences, including photographs, audio cassettes, video cassettes, schedules, planning and evaluation papers.
3 Boxes (3 Linear Feet)
Ellie Goldberg Videos, approximately 1991-1993 (LG-MS0147)
Golberg, Elinor
Visual recordings documenting Maine Legislative hearings and related media coverage regarding LGBTQ+ bills.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Bob Gordon Collection, (LG-MS0090)
Gordon, Robert E., 1962-
This Collection comprises papers, serials, a coffee mug, and a certificate from Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA), which later became EqualityMaine.
1 Box (1 Linear Foot) + 1 Oversize Folder
Rev. Charlie Grindle Papers, 1987-2006 (LG-MS0078)
Grindle, Charlie
Charlie Grindle grew up in Ellsworth, Maine, moving to Portland to study music at the University of Southern Maine. He performed with the Lyric Music Theater in South Portland as well as serving as music director. Twice he served as music director at Portland’s First Parish UU Church, leaving for a few years between times to pursue an MFA in Musical Theater. He left again in 2006 to attend seminary in New York City, returning to First Parish in 2008 as minister of music. He currently serves as Music Director at First Parish UU in Kennebunk. The Collection contains eight t-shirts from Southern Maine Pride celebrations, a 2006 issue of The Companion, a gay newspaper published in Portland, a 1998 issue of the Gay Agenda, serving Falmouth & So. Portland, name badges from the 2000 & 2001 Pride celebrations, and seven pins from various events and organizations. You can hear and interview with Rev. Grindle.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Harbor Masters of Maine Archives, 1985-2010 (LG-MS0040)
Harbor Masters of Maine
Harbor Masters of Maine, Inc. is a leather/Levi social club that encourages open-mindedness, diversity, and the right to an alternative lifestyle without discrimination, judgment, or persecution. Incorporated in the State of Maine in 1984, the Harbor Masters of Portland, Maine, Inc. is a private nonprofit organization, which was organized to provide a sense of fellowship and to promote mutual respect and tolerance for gay men and women who share an active interest in the leather/Levi lifestyle. While the majority of our members are from southern and central Maine, we also have members from other parts of the state and the Eastern United States and Canada. The Archives consists of organizational records, promotional materials, publications, and subject files.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Interview with Maine Bisexual People’s Network Founder Ginny LaCrow, (LG-MS0149)
Hartford, Kat, approximately 2003-
1 Megabyte
View Selected Digitized Material
Sturgis Haskins Papers, 1966-1999 (LG-MS0007)
Haskins, Sturgis, 1940-2012
Sturgis Haskins is a long-time activist in Gay and Lesbian communities and was one of the organizers of the annual Maine Gay Symposium started in 1974 at the University of Maine, Orono. Haskins was a co-founder in 1973 of the Wilde-Stein Club, the first openly Gay student organization at the University of Maine in Orono. The Papers contain material documenting Haskins’ personal life, pamphlets, correspondence, memorabilia, and information on organizations in which Haskins was interested, and clippings covering topics relating to the Gay and Lesbian communities and homosexuality. You can hear an interview with Mr. Haskins.
28 Boxes (14.25 Linear Feet) + 2 Oversize Boxes, 25 Objects
View Selected Digitized Material
Sarah Holmes Collection, 1995-2013 (LG-MS0066)
Holmes, Sarah E., 1973-
Sarah Holmes is from Maine and attended the University of Southern Maine for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Involved in the LGBTQA Community, both on and off-campus, since the early 1990’s, Sarah served as USM’s first LGBTQA Resources Coordinator from 2000-2002. She returned to the position as Coordinator of the Center for Sexualities and Gender Diversity in 2006. Sarah was one of the founders (along with Jill Barkley and Melissa Heckman) of the Portland, Maine Dyke March, in 2005. She was an adult advisor with the Proud Rainbow Youth of Southern Maine (supporting LGBTQA youth, age 22 and under) until it disbanded in 2013 and is a board member of GLSEN Southern Maine. The Collection contains posters, brochures, publications & reports, t-shirts and an event pass from a Portland LGBT event in 2008.
2 Boxes (3 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder, 1 Object
John Holverson Papers, 1987-2002 (LG-MS0048)
Holverson, John
Former director of the Portland Museum of Art, Holverson was a health care activist and AIDS volunteer in Portland from the 1970s onward, and Head of Prevention Education at The AIDS Project from 1994- 1999. The Papers contain his working papers and materials from various LGBT & AIDS-related organizations, including the Community Planning Group, Maine Speakout, Maine Gay Men’s Chorus, Harbor Masters, and the AIDS Project.
18 Boxes (10 Linear Feet)
Charles O. Howard Memorial Foundation Archives, approximately 2004-2005 (LG-MS0129)
Howard, Charlie, 1961-1984
These materials were donated by a member of the Charlie O. Howard Memorial Foundation Committee. The Archives contains paper records and photographs of the group who raised money to erect a memorial in Bangor on the spot Charlie Howard was killed in 1984, twenty years later. There is also a DVD, Charlie Howard: A Memorial, of the event installing the memorial, including a march. The Archives also includes memorial objects (tile and coffee mugs) with the group’s logo and other audiovisual material. There are records of a workshop.
3 Boxes (2 Linear Feet)
View Selected Digitized Material
John Howard Papers, (LG-MS0133)
Howard, John C., 1952-
Photographs.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Sage Hylton-Lemons Papers, 1996-1998 (LG-MS0052)
Hylton-Lemons-Link, Sage S. 1980-
Sage Hylton-Lemons grew up in Portland, Maine. In high school, Hylton-Lemons found sanctuary as a gay teenager in the youth driven group Outright, where his involvement progressed from attending weekly meetings to being a member of the Board, then President of the Board. As an Outright member and activist, Hylton-Lemons spoke at schools and events, became a peer-advisor, and helped other communities organize their own Outrights. He was instrumental in conceiving and organizing Outright’s first annual prom in 1998. He was profoundly influenced by Christian T. Chenard, a nurse practitioner for the City of Portland Public Health Positive Healthcare Program. The papers include a scrapbook, photographs from the 1998 Outright Prom, a letter from the Maine Assistant Attorney General, a transcript of Hylton-Lemons’ testimony at a Portland City Council hearing regarding funding for Outright, and a transcript of his eulogy at the 2007 memorial service for Dr. Chenard along with other materials from the service.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Beetle’s Lunch An Oral History of the Early Food Adventures of Restauranteurs Norrine Kotts and Cheryl Lewis, (LG-MS0156)
Irving, Janice
1 Megabyte
View Selected Digitized Material
David Swander Jacobs Papers, 1991-2015 (LG-MS0101)
Jacobs, David Swander
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet)
Referendum 6 Collection, (LG-MS0001)
Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine (University of Southern Maine). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ Collection.
The Collection was assembled by the staff of University of Southern Maine’s Special Collections to document the November 2000 State election referendum against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The issue was Question 6 on the ballot and read: “Do you favor ratifying the action of the 119th Legislature whereby it passed an act extending to all citizens regardless of their sexual orientation the same basic rights to protection against discrimination now guaranteed to citizens on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodation and credit and where the act expressly states that nothing in the act confers legislative approval of, or special rights to, any person or group of persons?” The act was overturned (50.38% voted to overturn versus 49.62% to sustain). The Collection includes articles from the Bangor Daily News, Casco Bay Weekly, Portland Press Herald, and Sun Journal; information from the websites of groups opposing the act (advocating “No on 6”); flyers, brochures, a poster, and material from the websites of groups advocating for the act to be upheld via the referendum, including Yes on 6, Maine Coalition for Equal Rights, Maine Council of Churches, MLGPA (detailed chronology of efforts to pass gay-rights bill), and Mid Coast for Human Rights; and other background information about the referendum and surrounding debate.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet ) + 1 Oversize Folder
LGBT Rights Legislation Collection, 1978-1995 (LG-MS0024)
Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine (University of Southern Maine). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ Collection.
The Collection contains materials related to LGBT rights legislation from 1978 to 1995, gathered by Prof. Erica Rand of Bates College. The bulk of the Collection is copies of press articles, with a press kit and campaign materials from Equal Protection Lewiston. The legislation covered includes Proposition 6, also known as The Briggs Initiative, in California in 1978; the 1992 Human Rights Ordinance in Portland, Maine; the Lewiston Anti-Discrimination Ordinance in 1993; and the statewide referendum, Question 1, in 1995. Some articles on LGBT issues other than rights legislation are included.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
University of Southern Maine Lesbian and Gay Oral History Project Collection, (LG-MS0076)
Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine (University of Southern Maine). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ Collection.
Collection of twelve interviews done in the Summer of 1999 with members of the gay community who were politically active in Maine in the 1970’s.
2 Boxes (.75 Linear Feet)
View Selected Digitized Material
Maine Marriage Equality Collection, (LG-MS0085)
Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine (University of Southern Maine). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ Collection.
Susie R. Bock, Director of the Sampson Center, collected these materials during the public debate of the bill before the Maine Legislature in early 2009. Newspapers from around Maine, plus Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal, with articles dealing with the passage of a same-sex marriage bill in the Maine Legislature.
1 Box (1 Linear Foot)
Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, 2016-present (LG-MS0110)
Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine (University of Southern Maine). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ Collection.
Chapkis, W. (Wendy)
Dr. Wendy Chapkis is a professor of sociology and women & gender studies at University of Southern Maine, former Faculty Scholar for the LGBTQ+ collection at the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, and principal investigator of for Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project. The project integrates USM students into the process of community-based research; after being trained each fall, students serve as interviewers and transcribers of the oral histories. The project is intended to add an additional dimension to the LGBTQ+ collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community, and making them available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of the community and provide a resource for scholars working on LGBTQ+ history. Collection contains chiefly digital oral histories and transcript, and documents related to the project.
0.25 linear feet + 41735 megabytes
View Selected Digitized Material
Ephemera From Maine LGBT Legislation, approximately 1990-2000 (LG-MS0121)
Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine (University of Southern Maine). Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ Collection.
Includes buttons, bumper stickers, and other ephemera from various campaigns.
1 File Folder
Jessen GLBT/Women’s Newsletter & Media Collection, approximately 1970-2000 (LG-MS0014)
Jessen, Barbara A.
Barbara Jessen formed the Maine Tradeswomen’s Network, a loose organization of women in the trades and supporting personnel, in 1990, to promote networking, mentoring, and employment. The collection consists of six newsletter titles, plus newspaper clippings, fact sheets, and articles – all covering LGBT and women’s issues in Maine and nationally.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Theodora Kalikow Papers, 2005-2012 (LG-MS0095)
Kalikow, Theodora J.
Theodora Kalikow retired in July 2012 after 18 years as President of the University of Maine, Farmington, and immediately moved into the presidency of University of Southern Maine at the request of system Chancellor Page, a position which she held until July 2014. Kalikow is noted for and has been honored for, leadership and inspiration in higher education, women’s issues/lives, diversity and civil rights, civic engagement, and the environment and green building. She is an inductee of the Maine Women’s Hall of Fame. Kalikow earned her doctorate in philosophy from Boston University in 1974, her master’s in philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1970 and her bachelor’s in chemistry from Wellesley College in 1962. She also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of New England in 2012. The Papers consist primarily of working papers from the Maine Governor’s Children’s Cabinet LGBTQ Youth Commission, which Kailkow co-chaired, and the group LGBTQ Presidents in Higher Education, of which she is a member.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Joe Kapitz Papers, approximately 1970-1989 (LG-MS0049)
Kapitz, Joe
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Bobbi Keppel Papers, 1996-2014 (LG-MS0151)
Keppel, Bobbi
1 File Folder
Rita Kissen Papers, 1984-2001 (LG-MS0058)
Kissen, Rita M.
The Papers contain materials from the groups PFLAG, Equal Protection Portland and Equal Protection Lewiston, MLGPA, and the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus. There are a large number of newspaper clippings dealing with a wide range of LGBT issues, including a small number concerning the Charlie Howard murder. Also included are photographs of activities in support of the Portland anti-discrimination ordinance, EPP pins, and a baseball cap from the Charles O. Howard Memorial Foundation. Eleven t-shirts represent EPP and EPL, GLSEN, PFLAG and MGMC, the Maine AIDS Walks of 1993 & 94 and the 1993 March on Washington.
1 Box (1 Linear Foot)
Susan L. Koen Doctoral Research Papers, 1980-1985 (LG-MS0098)
Koen, Susan
Papers created throughout Koen’s research and dissertation writing. You can hear an interview with Mr. Koen.
3 Boxes (2.5 Linear Feet)
Roland Labbe Poster, approximately 2020 (LG-MS0158)
Labbe, Roland, 1939-
Cruger, Douglas Wright
Roland Labbe was the proprietor of two gay bars in Portland, Maine, Roland’s Tavern and The Phoenix, in the 1970s and 1980s. The framed, handmade poster, titled “What Do You Remember About Roland’s Tavern?” consists of a handmade copy of a drawing of the bar and signed annotations by former patrons. The poster was given to Labbe when Blackstones awarded him the “Icon Award” in 2020. The original drawing is attributed to Rev. Douglas W. Cruger (1941-2016), who gave the drawing to Labbe to use for advertising purposes after he created it in the mid-1970s.
1 Hanging Item
Unprocessed
Robin Lambert Papers, approximately 1980-1999 (LG-MS0028)
Lambert, Robin, 1950-2006
Robin Lambert was politically active in Maine for more than 40 years, was for many years the most prominent Republican to publicly support LGBT civil rights and persuaded many in his party to join him in that struggle. He was one of the founders of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA)(now EqualityMaine) in 1984 and was twice recognized by MLGPA for his outstanding work for civil rights. As an early advocate of addressing the issues surrounding HIV and its impact on the state, Lambert was a founding member of both The Maine Health Foundation and The AIDS Project in Portland and was appointed to Governor McKernan’s AIDS Advisory Committee in 1987, serving for many years. He lived with AIDS for many years and died in 2006 at the age of 56. The Papers include records of the Maine Health Foundation, posters from many events, material on his unsuccessful run for State Senate, a great deal of material on AIDS policy and prevention in Maine, and on the national AIDS Quilt.
6 Boxes (3 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
Robert Lebel Papers, (LG-MS0050)
Lebel, Robert J., 1946-2016
Publications and artifacts related to Maine’s LGBT community, particularly the struggle to retain an anti-discrimination law passed by the Lewiston City Council.
4 Boxes (5.5 Linear Feet) + 3 Oversize Folders
Charlotte Lehmann Papers, (LG-MS0053)
Lehmann, Charlotte, 1961-
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Mitzi Lichtman Papers, approximately 1990-1999 (LG-MS0100)
Lichtman, Mitzi
Mitzi Lichtman is a long-time LGBT activist and coalition-builder working in the Midcoast region and statewide. The Papers contain photocopies of newspaper articles and records of Maine Won’t Discriminate, Common Circle for Human Rights, Maine Coalition for Equal Rights, YES on 6, Camp Chrysalis and other civil rights groups and campaigns, particularly from the midcoast region of Maine, dating from the 1990s.
5 Box (1.75 Linear Feet)
Marjorie Love Papers, 1978-1998 (LG-MS0073)
Love, Marjorie
2 posters, National Condom Week, “Keep a Rubber on Hand”; Gay Men’s Health Crisis” Thank Goodness for Latex.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Lanier Lumbert T-Shirts, approximately 1992-1993 (LG-MS0099)
Lumbert, Lanier
T-shirts promoting local legislative campaigns in Portland and Lewiston.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Maine AIDS Alliance Archives, 1991-1994 (LG-MS0059)
Maine AIDS Alliance
In existence from 1988 until March of 2011, the mission of the Maine AIDS Alliance was to advocate for, support, educate, and inform its members and people affected by and/or at risk of HIV/AIDS. The Alliance distributed funds from state government and grants to its member organizations, and organized events such as the annual AIDS Walk. The Archives consists of 5 VHS videos: a documentary, 2 workshops, a public service announcement, and Maine’s Response to World AIDS Day.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Maine Civil Rights March & Rally Committee Archives, (LG-MS0021)
Maine Civil Rights March & Rally Committee
The Maine Civil Rights March & Rally Committee was formed in response to the February 1998 repeal of the civil rights law which had been enacted in May 1997. They organized a march, rally, and fundraising entertainment event on Oct. 18, 1998. They followed these events with a vigil in memory of Mathew Shepard, with services held in several parts of the state on Oct. 18, 1998. The Committee also sponsored an “Interfaith Vigil Against Hate Violence” in Bangor on Oct. 7, 1999. The Archives contains some records of the Committee, blank cards representative of an effort to have people write messages in support of their mission, stickers and pins, promotional materials for the march and rally, video recordings of the event, programs from the 1999 vigil, and 2 large banners.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet) + 30 Objects
Maine Frontrunners Archives, (LG-MS0039)
Maine Frontrunners
Maine Democratic Party Poster signed by Barney Frank, U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013.
2 Box (1.25 Linear Feet)
Maine Gay Men’s Chorus Archives, (LG-MS0126)
Maine Gay Men’s Chorus
The Maine Gay Men’s Chorus is dedicated to excellence in the choral arts. It is committed to providing a positive, productive, educational, social and entertainment experience for its members, friends, and audience. Through their music, they strive to educate themselves and the community at large by delivering the message of social acceptance and diversity. Its goal is to be the premier community performing arts organization in Maine. The Archives contain records, posters, other promotional materials, videos, CDs, awards, & proclamations.
6 Boxes (4.25 Linear Feet) + 2 Oversize Boxes, 9 Oversize Folders, 16 Objects
Stan Fortuna, Susan Henderson, and Peter Prizer Collection, (LG-MS0111)
Maine Gay Task Force
Some records of the Maine Gay Task Force, including correspondence, finances, and layouts for the newsletter between 1976 and 1980. The majority of the material is gay publications from other states. You can listen to an interview with Mr. Fortuna, an interview with Ms. Henderson, an interview with Mr. Prizer, and an interview with both Mr. Fortuna and Mr. Prizer.
8 Boxes (6.5 Linear Feet) + 6 Oversize Boxes
Maine Health Foundation Archives, 1984-1992 (LG-MS0060)
Maine Health Foundation (Portland, Me.)
The Maine Health Foundation was founded in Portland in 1983, to fund efforts promoting the health of the gay and lesbian community. It ended up funding primarily HIV-related services and activities. The Archives contains administrative records of the organization.
2 Boxes (1 Linear Foot)
Maine Lesbian and Gaymen’s Symposium VIII Collection, (LG-MS0120)
Maine Lesbian and Gay Men’s Symposium (8th : 1981 : Portland, Me.)
The Collection contains a pre-registration flyer and a program.
1 File Folder
Maine Lesbian Feminist Archives, approximately 1970-1989 (LG-MS0005)
Maine Lesbian Feminist (Belfast, Me.)
Maine Lesbian Feminist was a group in Belfast, Maine whose primary purpose was to publish a newsletter. The group existed from 1976 through 1984. The Archives consists of issues of the Maine Lesbian Feminist Newsletter published during the late 1970s-early 1980s, as well as records of the group that published it.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet )
Maine Rural Network Archives, 1994-2002 (LG-MS0070)
Maine Rural Network
The Maine Rural Network’s mission was to promote visibility and security for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and transgender people living in rural Maine, and to work for social, educational and economic justice for all Maine people by creating a statewide network connecting local groups. The group disbanded in 2002. The Archives contains records of the group, as well as computer files, videos, and oral history cassettes from the “Rural Lives Project.”
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet)
Maine Speak Out Project Archives, 1995-2001 (LG-MS0082)
Maine Speak Out Project (Portland, Me.)
Maine Speak Out Project is a Portland-based organization which through presentations promotes respect and understanding of different sexual orientations. “The mission of the Maine Speakout Project is to create a society that is inclusive and respectful of people of differing sexual and gender orientations by providing opportunities for non-divisive dialogue.” [Website] The Archives contains organizational records, including media guides, informational pamphlets, newspaper clippings, meeting minutes, agendas, newsletters, and videos.
30 Boxes (17.25 Linear Feet)
Maine Transgender Network Archives, (LG-MS0046)
Maine Transgender Network
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet) + 2 Oversize Folders
Maine Won’t Discriminate Archives, 1991-2005 (LG-MS0018)
Maine Won’t Discriminate
Maine Won’t Discriminate (MWD) was an organization created to work toward passing LGBT civil rights legislation in Maine and to advocate against/for citizens referenda that would have overturned/sustained such legislation. The Archives contains organizational records as well as print and audiovisual material created and used by the organization. The majority of the materials relate to MWD’s ultimately successful efforts to oppose referendum Question 1 in 2005, which read: “Do you want to reject the new law that would protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit based on their sexual orientation?” The materials include polling data, strategy documents, and action plans, details regarding direct mail campaigns and special events, press clippings, statements of support and testimonials, media plans, correspondence, meeting notes, website plans, and other internal documents. Also present are similar materials related to referendum battles in 1995 and 1997-98, as well as materials regarding L.D. 1116 (1997), L.D. 1196 (2005), and other activities during the period of 1996-99, such as elections during this time, debate over same-sex marriages/domestic partnerships, and collaborations with other groups like the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, Maine Freedom to Marry Coalition, Safer School Coalition of Maine, and Maine’s Law Enforcement Curriculum Committee.
16 Boxes (8.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
Mainely Men Archives, approximately 1980-2004 (LG-MS0102)
Mainely Men (Oragnization)
Mainely Men is a twice-yearly weekend conference in which men gather in a quiet, rustic lakeside settling in central Maine. During the weekend each man may develop new friendships, participate in a program or workshops related to men’s issues, become involved in a talent show, relax, enjoy the woods and learn more about himself. We are an unstructured group that meets in the spring and fall and exists as a group only during the conference weekend. Mainely Men is a twice-yearly weekend conference in which men gather in a quiet, rustic lakeside settling in central Maine. The Archives contains photographs, incorporation papers, t-shirts (lots), membership lists, administrative records.
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet)
Mainers United for Marriage Archives, (LG-MS0155)
Mainers United for Marriage (Organization)
1 Oversize Folder
Nadine Marchand Scrapbook, 1996-1997 (LG-MS0145)
Marchand, Nadine
Scrapbook is related to Nadine Marchand’s brother, Arthur George Lopes.
1 Oversize Folder
Michael Martin Papers, 1989-2001 (LG-MS0026)
Martin, Michael D., 1954-
AIDS Activist Michael Martin served the Southern Maine community as a concerned member of several LGBT organizations, maintaining a leadership role with three groups (the Maine Gay Men’s Chorus, The AIDS Project, Peabody House), as well as a tertiary role in the development of others (EPL, PAWS, Maine Won’t Discriminate).
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
K. Ronald McClinton Collection, (LG-MS0047)
McClinton, K. Ronald
Items related to memorial service including program, guestbook, and a photograph.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet
K. Ronald McClinton Papers, (LG-MS0136)
McClinton, K. Ronald
The papers include personal photographs, correspondence, items related to McClinton’s military service, items from Mr. McClinton’s desk, including his pillbox.
2 Boxes (1 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
Dale McCormick Gay Side Story Oral History Interview, 2023 (LG-MS0160)
McCormick, Dale
MacGregor, Megan A., 1984-
Dale McCormick is an AIDS and LGBTQ+ activist of Maine. Collection includes two copies of an oral history interview (one edited) and an automatically-generated transcript. In the edited version of the interview, Dale McCormick recalls her role as producer of “Gay Side Story,” an adaptation of the musical West Side Story, with Diane Elze, Miles J. Rightmire, Cheryl Ring, and others. The play was performed for two nights in Luther Bonney Hall at University of Southern Maine during the 10th Maine Lesbian & Gaymen’s Symposium in May 1983. McCormick discusses her work on the writing team, the set design, and the positive reception of the production during a time when, in McCormick’s words, “we were a feared and hated minority.”
958 Megabytes
View Finding Aid (coming soon)
Dale McCormick Papers, 1970-2001 (LG-MS0031)
McCormick, Dale
Dale McCormick was the first woman in the country to complete a carpentry apprenticeship with the carpenter union and is a member of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters local 1996, having been a carpenter and contractor for 30 years. In 1988, McCormick founded Women Unlimited, a program that successfully trains women on welfare to compete for high-paying jobs in trade and technical occupations. In 1984, McCormick helped found and became the first President of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (now called EqualityMaine), which advocates statewide for civil rights and better treatment for lesbian/gay/bi/transgender/and questioning people. She was a co-founder of Northeast Women in Transportation, which educated women’s organizations around the country about the opportunities in the Federal Intermodal Surface Transportation and Efficiency Act (ISTEA) for increasing the number of women and minorities in the construction industry. McCormick won a seat in the Maine Senate in 1990 and was re-elected twice in a conservative district. She was elected Treasurer of the State of Maine on December 4, 1996, and served eight years, Maine’s first female Constitutional Officer. In 2005 Governor John Baldacci appointed McCormick Director of the Maine State Housing Authority; she was reappointed to that position in February 2010. She has a B.A. from the University of Iowa and has written two books: Against the Grain: A Carpentry Manual for Women, and House mending: Home Repair For The Rest of Us. She was the second recipient of the Sampson Center’s Catalyst for Change Award. The Papers contain records and newspaper articles documenting McCormick’s political career and her LGBT and AIDS activism in Maine. The collection also includes records and research material associated with McCormick’s work as president of the Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA), along with materials on conferences and events attended by McCormick. Also, there are materials from a course she taught in the spring of 1988 at the University of Southern Maine, “Relating Professionally to Homosexuality.”
14 Boxes (7.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box
Dorn Wagner McMahon Papers, 2003-2017 (LG-MS0137)
McMahon, Dorn Wagner
1 Object
P.J. Mears Papers, (LG-MS0097)
Mears, P.J.
4 Boxes (4 Linear Feet)
K. Max Mellenthin Papers, approximately 1980-1989 (LG-MS0135)
Mellenthin, K. Max
The papers include but are not limited to items related to Gay Side Story and Charlie Howard.
1 Oversize Box
Jim Michaud Papers, 1995-2012 (LG-MS0159)
Michaud, James Peter, 1964-
Jim Michaud lives in midcoast Maine. Includes annotated election results, printed from maine.gov, of the 1995, 1998, 2000, 2005 discrimination based on sexual orientation bill and the 2009 and 2012 marriage equality bill.
0.25 Linear Feet
Unprocessed
Bunny Mills Papers, (LG-MS0087)
Mills, Bunny
2 Boxes (1.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Kathy Mills John Preston Collection, (LG-MS0124)
Mills, Kathy
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Typescript of Sex, (LG-MS0114)
Mitchell, John Cameron
Draft of the screenplay for the film later rewritten as Shortbus.
1 File Folder
W. Jo Moser Photographs, 1989-2019 (LG-MS0140)
Moser, W. Jo
Digital photographs primarily documenting queer families in Maine. The collection includes but is not limited to photos of the annual Portland Pride Parade and Dyke March, as well as photos documenting Equality Maine events, rallies and promotional items. You can listen to an interview with Ms. Moser.
3 Boxes (1.25 Linear Feet)
Mountain Valley Men Archives, 1989-2000 (LG-MS0075)
Mountain Valley Men (Center Conway, N.H.)
Mountain Valley Men is a New England Gay social group. The Archives consists of organizational records of the group.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Susan Nadeau Lesbian Survey, (LG-MS0108)
Nadeau, Susan
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Albert Nickerson Collection, (LG-MS0063)
Nickerson, Albert M.
Albert Nickerson is a long-time Portland businessman and LGBT activist. The Collection contains 43 signed works by John Preston and other Maine authors, David Sedaris, Dale McCormick, and Armistead Maupin; copies of Our Paper, Apex and other Maine LGBT publications; Karen Geraghty’s Mayoral Inauguration program & invitation; obituary & funeral program for John Preston; Armistead Maupin lecture flyer & ticket stub; 1 each desk & wall calendars; and an audio CD of a David Sedaris performance.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Northern Lambda Nord Archives, 1977-2002 (LG-MS0011)
Northern Lambda Nord (Organization)
One of the earliest gay and lesbian groups in the state, NLN began in 1979 as a support network for the rural LGBT community, located in Aroostook County, with members in Maine and New Brunswick. By the mid-1980s, NLN had added an outreach component, working to educate the local community on LGBT identity and acceptance and health and HIV/AIDS issues. They also started a Gay-Lesbian Phoneline which grew into the Maine HIV/AIDS Hotline. The group disbanded in 2000 but re-formed in 2006. The Archives contain an extensive collection of organizational records, promotional materials, photo albums, and artifacts.
14 Boxes (13 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box, 13 Oversize Folders, 33 Objects, ! Hanging Item
View Selected Digitized Material
Northern Maine Pride Archives, (LG-MS0084)
Northern Maine Pride (Bangor, Me.)
Northern Maine Pride, based in Bangor, saw itself as a social action group that celebrated diversity, focusing on education and bringing diverse communities together. The group organized a Diversity Celebration every June during the middle years of the 2000s decade. The Archives contains organizational records and correspondence, checkbook and unused checks, receipt books, and miscellaneous papers.
1 Box (1 Linear Foot)
Christopher O’Connor Collection, (LG-MS0004)
O’Connor, Christopher, approximately 1973-
Christopher O’Connor was the resident director of University of Southern Maine’s Portland Hall dormitory in the fall of 1999 when there was an incident involving anti-gay graffiti in the dormitory. The Collection includes newspaper clippings regarding the incident, brochures, and a letter to the University of Southern Maine community from O’Connor.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Our Paper Photograph Archives, (LG-MS0109)
Our Paper (Portland, Me.)
Photographs used in the publication Our Paper: a voice for lesbians and gay males in Maine.
3 Boxes (1.75 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
OUT Cast Archives, 2018- (LG-MS0154)
OUT Cast (Radio program)
You can listen to past broadcasts and get additional information.
1 Megabyte
View Selected Digitized Material
Out Maine Banner, (LG-MS0134)
Out Maine (Rockland, Me.)
1 Oversize Folder
Out on MDI Archives, (LG-MS0131)
Out on MDI (Bar Harbor, Me.)
The Out on MDI (Mount Desert Island) Archives consists of a notebook. The records include newsletters, correspondence, flyers from events, photographs, and copies of newspaper articles and legislative documents re 1993 anti-discrimination bill.
1 Object
Outright Archives, (LG-MS0062)
Outright (Portland, Me.)
Outright was an organization that supported young people in the Portland area LGBT community. The organization closed at the beginning of March 2006, passing on its mission to PRYSM (Proud Rainbow Youth of Southern Maine), which is run out of the Community Counseling Center. The Archives contains organizational records and other materials, including a large plexiglass sign.
29 Boxes (43.5 Linear Feet) + 2 Oversize Boxes, 1 Oversize Drawer, Approximately 70 Objects, 1 Hanging Item
Emily Paine Papers, (LG-MS0116)
Paine, Emily
Emily Paine is a USM student. The papers consist of a paper: A matter of survival: anti-discrimination policy and school climate for Maine’s LGBTQ youth, Emily Paine, May 2011, Professor Deprez, Maine Policy Scholars [11 p.], and the letter Paine sent to Gov. LePage based on the paper: 2011 Apr 4, Subject: Ensuring Safe School Environments for All of Maine’s Students.
1 File Folder
PFLAG Archives, (LG-MS0118)
Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Mid-coast Maine Chapter
An audiotape of PFLAG on PBS, Memos, News clippings.
1 File Folder
Betsy Parsons Collection, 2002-2010 (LG-MS0152)
Parsons, Betsy, 1954-
Betsy Parsons was a teacher in the Portland Public Schools and a Board member, GLSEN-Southern Maine (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network). She also served on the LGBT Advisory Committee for the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine at the University of Southern Maine and was involved with the Unitarian Universalist Church. She was the Southern Maine coordinator for the Marriage Equality Family Ambassador Project, a grassroots educational initiative to promote understanding of how marriage for same-sex couples will help Maine children, families and communities, supported by Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders and Equality Maine Foundation. The Collection consists of signs used in a Nov. 5, 2005, rally, organized by the Unitarian Universalist Church in favor of LGBT civil rights legislation, as well as printed material from the Maine Won’t Discriminate campaign. The Betsy Parsons Papers, within the Collection, consist of concert programs and promotional materials for the chorus Women in Harmony, one issue of the serial “in Partnership,” the state gov’t publication, “Maine’s common core of learning,” a PRYSM flyer, and papers from the Allen Ave. UU Church. You can hear an interview with Ms. Parsons.
24 Boxes (20.25 Linear Feet) + 2 Oversize Folders
View Selected Digitized Material
John Paynter Papers, (LG-MS0123)
Paynter, John W.
Includes 2 small flags (Stonewall 25 [1994]; 1993 March on Washington), 2 pins, 3 stickers, 1 cap, 2 handmade signs on backs of printed signs, 1 lg lawn sign.
1 Oversize Folder + 1 Hanging Item
Frances W. Peabody Papers, 1981-1999 (LG-MS0038)
Peabody, Frances W.
Frannie Peabody was one of Maine’s leading AIDS activists. Best known in Maine and nationally for her exceptional leadership in the AIDS epidemic, she also gave significant service on historic preservation, child welfare, and gay rights issues. She was a founder of Portland’s The AIDS Project and the Frannie Peabody Center (formerly Peabody House), as well as of Greater Portland Landmarks. The Papers contain Peabody’s personal papers, including her work with The AIDS Project and bereavement counseling.
26 Boxes (13 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box, 2 Oversize Folders, 31 Objects
Elaine R. Pitkin Papers, 1987-2010 (LG-MS0074)
Pitkin, Elaine R.
Dr. Elaine R. Pitkin, Sc.D., now retired, has had many different careers. She has been a Psychologist, Artist, Art Teacher, Framer, Restaurant Owner, Waitress, Administrator, Bookkeeper, Bicycle tour Coordinator, and Bicycle tourist in countries like the Baltic States, Nova Scotia, Scotland and the US. In 2011 Pitkin was inducted into Maine’s Roll of Honor, which recognizes volunteers who donate 500 hours or more of documented service to the community during the previous twelve months. The Papers consist of printouts of 4 papers, 2 written by Pitkin, 2 by Bishop Spong, and a VHS videocassette.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Bob Poirier Papers, approximately 1990-1999 (LG-MS0091)
Poirier, Bob R.
Bobby Roger Poirier is a film producer, director, and actor. He founded Bobby Roger Incorporated, a television and motion picture production company. The company has produced documentaries for Maine PBS, as well as national television productions and independent and educational films. Some of these projects address LGBT issues. Videos, in Beta and Mini-Digital Video Cassette formats, made to document events and legislation of interest. A few are dated 1997 and 1998, most are not dated.
1 Box (1 Linear Foot)
Portland Dyke March Archives, 2007-2013 (LG-MS0130)
Portland Dyke March (Me.)
The mission of the Portland, Maine Dyke March is to create an empowering movement that fosters community and celebration for dykes and the people who love them. The Portland Dyke March seeks to be positive, feminist, diverse and community-driven in all its endeavors. They welcome anyone with a past or present connection to the dyke community. The Archives contains a banner, t-shirts, flyers, and other materials generated by the group.
1 Box (1 Linear Foot) = 1 Oversize Box, 1 Oversize Folder
Barbie Potter Papers, (LG-MS0150)
Potter, Barbara Holden, 1928-2009
4 Boxes (3.25 Linear Feet)
Prevention Works Harm Reduction Services Archives, (LG-MS0054)
Prevention Works Harm Reduction Services
This organization began as Androscoggin Valley AIDS Coalition, became the AIDS Coalition of Lewiston-Auburn, and then Prevention Works Harm Reduction Services, before merging with Coastal AIDS Network. The Archives contains business files, a framed text, t-shirts, and a wooden sign.
2 Boxes (1.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Hanging Item
Rainbow Business & Professional Association Archives, 1999-2008 (LG-MS0138)
Rainbow Business & Professional Association (Portland, Me.)
The Rainbow Business & Professional Association (rbpa) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the vitality, productivity, and growth of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender business and professional community throughout the State of Maine. Established in 1992, it was Maine’s original LGBT business & professional networking organization. The Archives contains operational and promotional documents, rbpa publications, local and national publications, and 3 t-shirts.
4 Oversize Boxes
C. Pedric Rea Papers, (LG-MS0105)
Rea, C. Pedric
15 Boxes (13.5 Linear Feet) + 3 Oversize Boxes, 93 Objects
Lois Galgay Reckitt Papers, approximately 1970-2002 (LG-MS0083)
Reckitt, Lois
Lois Reckitt, Executive Director of Family Crisis Services in Portland, Maine, has been at the forefront of Maine’s efforts to stop domestic abuse and assist its victims. She has been the Chair of the Maine Coalition for Family Crisis Services, the Maine Representative to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and, for six years, a member of the Maine Commission on Domestic Abuse, serving for three years as Chair. She has also served on the Performance Council of the Judicial Branch and is currently Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. She co-founded the first chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in Maine, co-founded the state organization of NOW, the Maine Coalition for Human Rights, Maine Right to Choose, the Maine Women’s Lobby, and the Matlovich Society, an educational and cultural group for gays and lesbians and their allies. Reckitt gained national exposure through her service to NOW, where she has served more than fifteen years on the National Board of Directors, including two terms as Executive Vice President in Washington, D.C. In addition, she helped to organize and served for eight years on the National Board of the Human Rights Campaign Fund and served as the group’s Deputy Director before returning to Maine in 1990. The Papers contain correspondence, writings, newsletters, clippings, and other papers Reckitt gathered between the 1970s and 2002. You can listen to an interview with Ms. Reckitt.
66 Boxes (53.25 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box, 2 Oversize Folders)
Lois M. Reed Charlie Howard Collection, (LG-MS0061)
Reed, Lois M.
2 Boxes (0.75 Linear Feet)
Peter Rees Papers, (LG-MS0132)
Rees, Peter O., 1933-2015
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet)
Religious Coalition Against Discrimination Archives, 1987-2000 (LG-MS0055)
Religious Coalition Against Discrimination (Me.)
The Religious Coalition Against Discrimination (RCAD) is a statewide interfaith network of clergy and lay religious leaders in Maine whose mission is to educate and publicly advocate for the civil and human rights of all people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons, within their diverse Maine congregations and communities. Their education and advocacy is done through the social justice lens common to their faith traditions. Their focus is change in the civic arena through civil discourse and sound political strategies. The Archives contains organizational records and resource materials.
2 Boxes (1.5 Linear Feet)
Penny Rich Papers, approximately 1980-1999 (LG-MS0037)
Rich, Penny, 1946-
Records and artifacts documenting the Maine Lesbian Gay Film Festival and Women’s Community Project of Portland. You can listen to an interview with Ms. Rich.
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet) + 1 Object
Myles J. Rightmier Papers, (LG-MS0119)
Rightmier, Myles J.
Script, poster, program and other materials related to play Gay Side Story. You can see items from this collection.
1 File Folder
Eugene Rochow Papers, 1991-1997 (LG-MS0010)
Rochow, Eugene G., 1953-
Eugene Rochow was an early member and served on the board of the Matlovich Society, a Portland-based organization that provided an educational and cultural forum for the local gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community during the 1990s. The papers document the Matlovich Society between 1991 and 1996 and other organizations and events in the LGBT community. The majority of the papers in this collection are records of the Matlovich Society which Rochow retained after the organization ceased in 1999. The collection also includes documents related to Equal Protection Portland, an initiative in 1992 to pass and protect a Portland city ordinance that barred discrimination against homosexuals, and Maine LGBT newspapers spanning the years 1979 through 1997.
5 Boxes (2.25 Linear Feet) + 2 Oversize Boxes
Roland’s T-shirt, (LG-MS0088)
Roland’s Tavern (Portland, Me.)
Green Roland’s t-shirt with a printed mug of beer. Roland’s was a popular gay bar that burned down in 1977.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Michael Rossetti Papers, approximately 1980-2000 (LG-MS0036)
Rossetti, Rosario Michael, 1950-
Michael Rossetti was chiefly responsible for creating and running Southern Maine Pride and was the grandmaster at the 2006 Pride festival. The Collection contain records and artifacts documenting Southern Maine Pride and other Gay and Lesbian events from the 1980s to 2000.
2 Boxes (2 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Marty Sabol Papers, (LG-MS0032)
Sabol, Marty
Marty Sabol manages the Infectious Disease Program at the Public Health Division of the Portland Department of Health and Human Services. He oversees prevention efforts and healthcare services related to sexually transmitted and vaccine preventable diseases in the Portland area. He has served as vice-president of the Maine Public Health Association, as an advisor to the Equity Fund of the Maine Community Foundation and as a member of the GLBT Caucus of Public Health Workers with the American Public Health Association. In 1984, Sabol co-founded the Maine Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance (MLGPA), now known as EqualityMaine, serving as Secretary in 1984-85. The Papers contain a handmade poster for the play, “Oklahomo,” and the guest book of the Maine Gay Symposium, covering the years from 1975 to 1987.
1 Oversize Box
Sappho’s Sisters Archives, 2001-2007 (LG-MS0122)
Sappho’s Sisters (Saco, Me.)
Includes materials from conferences and newsletters.
1 File Folder
May Sarton Scrapbook, 1983-2008 (LG-MS0015)
Sarton, May, 1912-1995
William Barry is a well-known, published local historian. He had a slight connection with May Sarton through his friend Dorothy Healy, co-founder of the Maine Women Writers Collection. The Scrapbook contains documents relating to his correspondence with Sarton regarding her essay for a memorial book for Healy; documents and newspaper clippings relating to celebrations of Sarton’s life and work; documents regarding Barry’s effort to get Sarton’s essay in Healy’s memorial included in a Sarton bibliography.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
May Sarton Postcards, (LG-MS0115)
Sarton, May, 1912-1995
2 postcards from the estate of May Sarton, from her personal stationery.
1 File Folder
Chuck Sawyer Papers, (LG-MS0106)
Sawyer, Chuck
The Papers primarily contain materials related to Sawyer’s AIDS activism, such as the “Maine Walk” a funder raiser for AIDS, and the badge from 1989 for the AIDS event in Washington, DC, at which he represented Maine. The purple button was for marriage equality in Maine. In addition to political buttons, there is a newspaper clipping about one of the first women in Maine to die of AIDS, and her daughter, who lived openly with AIDs, and who died after graduating from college and a VHS recording of a Channel 6 Memorial Day Special. You can listen to an interview with Mr. Sawyer.
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Howard Solomon Collection, (LG-MS0045)
Solomon, Howard M.
Howard Solomon worked at Tufts University from 1971 to 2004 as a professor in the History Department (focusing on medieval and early modern French history) and Dean. Solomon is an adjunct faculty member in the History Department at the University of Southern Maine, where he served as the Sampson Center Scholar-in-Residence for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection from 2001 to 2007. He continues to speak and write on gay and lesbian issues, as a form of scholarly and public activism. The Collection contains posters from various political campaigns, t-shirts, a banner of the group Casco Gay Men, a file of Abromson scholarship applications, and other materials relating to the LGBT community. You can listen to an interview with Mr. Solomon and view a short film about Mr. Solomon’s life and work. You can see a collection of Mr. Solomon’s WWI posters.
17 Boxes (8.25 Linear Feet)+ 1 Oversize Box
South Portland Citizens for Justice Archives, (LG-MS0008)
South Portland Citizens for Justice (Me.)
South Portland Citizens for Justice was a group seeking a local ordinance against discrimination based on sexual orientation. The group campaigned in support of the proposed Human Rights Ordinance, which was on the ballot in the November 3, 1998, election. The Archives contains newspaper articles (clippings and entire issues) that relate to the 1998 Human Rights Ordinance. Also included are items from the South Portland Citizens for Justice organization, such as correspondence, publications, posters, stickers, and press packets.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Box, 1 Oversize Folder
Southern Maine Mah Jongg Banner, approximately 2004-2005 (LG-MS0139)
Southern Maine Mah Jongg (Cumberland County, Me.)
1 Oversize Box
Bruce Spang Papers, (LG-MS0067)
Spang, Bruce Parkinson
Bruce Spang is Portland’s poet laureate. The papers consist of materials used in creation of a musical about Charlie Howard, including books, clippings and photocopies, as well as a draft of the play, a script [4 c.], and a CD of the libretto.
2 Boxes (1.5 Linear Feet)
Richard Steinman Papers, (LG-MS0071)
Steinman, Richard
Richard Steinman taught the first Social Work course at USM to include LGBT issues in the department of Social Welfare, which later became the School of Social Work. Steinman began teaching at USM in 1966, became a Professor Emeritus in 1987 and continued to teach part-time until he retired in the 1990s. Steinman died in 2006. He was a founding member of the Maine Gay and Lesbian Political Alliance, now EqualityMaine. The Papers include an issue of Transgender Tapestry, Transgender Group brochures, USM course objectives, LGBT articles, Social Work articles, and student work. You can listen to an interview with Mr. Steinman.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Dan Stevens Papers, 1993-2005 (LG-MS0057)
Stevens, Daniel G. D. (Daniel Gregory DuLon), 1948-2021
Dan Stevens is a 3d-generation Mainer and a long-time member of the staff of the Maine Education Association. He was active in numerous gay groups, including serving on the Boards of both the Maine Rural Network and MLGPA. He was an active member of the group Maine Won’t Discriminate, working toward civil rights for Maine’s LGBT community. The Papers contain papers and news clippings regarding at least two anti-discrimination campaigns as well as other civil rights issues in Maine. Also present are general correspondence, notes & maps, and a series of emails posted to the email discussion list Maine GayNet in 1997.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Jean Stickney Posters, approximately 1980-1999 (LG-MS0003)
Stickney, Jean
Stickney was an agent for entertainers. This is a collection of colored posters advertising events of interest to the Gay and Lesbian communities. Many of these events were organized by Wild Iris Productions, Jean Stickney’s business, and held in the First Parish Church in Portland, Maine.
1 Oversize Box
Judith Tator Papers, (LG-MS0143)
Tator, Judith
1 Box (0.25 Linear Feet)
Christine Torraca Collection, 1984-1992 (LG-MS0077)
Torraca, Christine
The collection consists of a nearly complete run of “Out/Look : National lesbian & gay quarterly” and news clippings related to the murder of Charlie Howard and copies of an affidavit of the investigating detective in the trial of Howard’s attackers.
1 Box (0.5 Linear Feet)
Transsupport Archives, 1994-1998 (LG-MS0016)
Transsupport (Organization)
Transsupport is a non-profit, educational, non-sexual peer support group for Cross-dressers, Transsexuals, their families, friends and significant others. The Archives contains organizational papers and newsletters from between 1994 and 1998, plus one issue of vol. 1 of the newsletter, dated 1989.
2 Boxes (0.5 Linear Feet)
Jean Vermette Papers, (LG-MS0041)
Vermette, Jean
Jean Vermette is the founding director of the Maine Gender Resource and Support Service (MeGReSS). Jean won the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance (MLPGA) “Great Pioneer Award” in 2000, “for achievement that embodies bold new vision or courageous breakthrough in our struggle for equality.” (MLPGA became EqualityMaine in 2004.) In 2007, Jean provided testimony with Kael Parker against LD 1589, An Act to Prohibit the Use of Opposite-Gender Bathrooms, Changing Rooms, and Locker Rooms. The bill would have made it a crime in Maine for a person to use a public bathroom, changing room or locker room that was designated for use by a gender different than the gender the person was assigned at birth. LD 1589 died in committee. The Jean Vermette Papers contain correspondence, publications, audio/visual media, legal briefs, books, and material ephemera dating from 1970 to 2011, with the bulk of the material originating from the 2000s. You can listen to an interview with Ms. Vermette.
11 Boxes (5.25 Linear Feet)
Marli F. Weiner Diaries, (LG-MS0086)
Weiner, Marli Frances, 1953-
Marli F. Weiner was Professor of History at University of Maine, Orono, when she died in March of 2009. She had taught at five other institutions of higher education before coming to Maine. She was active in the Maine Humanities Council and a key participant in their literature and medicine program, leading two reading and discussion groups at regional hospitals. The Diaries consist of Prof. Wiener’s personal and professional journals, dating from her childhood. They document her growth into adulthood and, later, her mindfulness of being lesbian. The Diaries are restricted from use until March 2034.
4 Boxes (4 Linear Feet)
Westbrook Citizens for Equal Rights Archives, 1995-2003 (LG-MS0019)
Westbrook Citizens for Equal Rights (Me.)
Westbrook Citizens for Equal Rights (WCER) was a Political Action Committee (PAC) registered in Westbrook, Maine in June of 2002. WCER was formed to promote civil rights in Westbrook, and notably campaigned to uphold the Westbrook Human Rights Ordinance of 2002. The archives contain materials from both the “Vote Yes” and “Vote No” campaigns on the Human Rights Ordinance referendum, such as flyers, pamphlets, campaign signs and stickers, advertisements, volunteer instructions, and correspondence. There is also information on the 2003 election in Westbrook, and on similar ordinance campaigns in Falmouth, Maine, and in Kalamazoo and Traverse City, Michigan, in addition to other resource articles, speeches, and publications.
2 Boxes (0.75 Linear Feet) + 1 Oversize Folder
Barb Wood Papers, (LG-MS0104)
Wood, Barbara A., 1954-
3 Boxes (3 Linear Feet)