LG MS 031 Dale McCormick Papers Finding Aid

Authors

Christina E. Walker

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2014

Keywords

Dale McCormick, MLGPA, Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance, AIDS, Gay Rights, Gay Rights Legislations, Gay Rights Bill, Gay Rights Maine, Homophobia, Hate Crimes, First Female To Complete a Carpentry Apprenticeship, Women Carpenters, Women Unlimited, Treasurer of the State of Maine, Maine State Senate, Director of the Maine State Housing Authority

Abstract

Description:

Dale McCormick was the first woman in the country to complete a carpentry apprenticeship with the carpenter’s 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 Housemending: 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. In addition, there are materials from a course she taught in the spring of 1988 at the University of Southern Maine, “Relating Professionally to Homosexuality.”

Date Range:

1970-2001

Size of Collection:

8.5 ft.

Comments

Provenance:

The bulk of the material was donated by Dale McCormick in 2001, and in 2008 she donated the gay studies materials.

Ownership and Literary Rights:

The Dale McCormick Papers is the physical property of the University of Southern Maine Libraries. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the creator or her/his legal heirs and assigns.

For further information, consult the Head of Special Collections,

susie.bock@maine.edu

.

Recommended Citation

Dale McCormick Papers, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries.