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• 

  Abdurraqib, Samaa

  Iris Sangiovanni and Samar Amhed

  Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation:

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Antonik, Thomas

  Ethan Masselli and Kailyn Braley

  Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Arbor, Kelly

  Alanna Larrivee and Emma Wynn Hill

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Barteaux, Kennedy

  Kayla Woodward and Nathanial Koch

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Berger, Fred

  Wendy Chapkis

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Brooks, Frank

  Rachel Spiegel and Elizabeth Wise Horan

  Frank Brooks is a 64 year old Social Worker and Social Work educator born and raised in Maine. He when came out as gay in 1976, he was in a heterosexual marriage and he has a son from that marriage. He was involved in an LGBT parent's group, LGBT social worker's group, volunteered for the AIDS project, worked on referenda and political campaigns, and was a board member of both the MLGPA (now Equality Maine) and the MCLU (now ACLU of Maine). His life's work has been serving the LGBTQ community through both activism and social work. He's worked extensively with the LGBTQ community as a social worker, done dissertation research on gender nonconforming behavior in boys, and worked to make social work curriculum LGBTQ inclusive.

• 

  Bull, Steven

  Alanna Larrivee and Tracy Payne

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Bunker, Lisa

  Molly Roberts and Jesse Lucas

  Lisa Bunker is an author who lives in Exeter, New Hampshire and worked at WMPG at the University of Southern Maine for fourteen years during her process of coming out as transgender. She is the author of Felix Yz and an upcoming book called Zenobia July, but spent most of her life in broadcast radio before she left to pursue a full time career in writing.

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  Dionne, J. Remi

  Daija Paradis and Johnna Ossi

  J. Remi Dionne is a 42-year-old educator and was born in Northampton, MA but currently residing in Portland, ME with his husband. He spent some time as a professional dancer, touring and performing around the country and the world. J. discovered a passion for education, holding positions in both teaching and administration. He is currently a principal intern at Westbrook High School and is finishing up a post-graduate education leadership program at University of Southern Maine.

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  Ellison, Marvin

  Elyssa Pennell

  Marvin Ellison is a 69 year old gay man originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. He earned his bachelors degree in Religion at Davidson College. He then went on to get his Masters in Religion and Society at The Divinity School at the University of Chicago. Ellison then got his PhD in Christian Ethics at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He was a professor of Christian Ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary from 1981-2012. He was also an Ordained member of the Presbyterian Church (USA) until he retired. In 1988 Ellison was on the Presbyterian Special Committee on Human Sexuality and he wrote a very controversial report at the time, which was very sex positive, feminist and LGBT friendly. His report was rejected by the church, but it sold 400,000 copies. Ellison enjoys doing social justice work in many different disciplines. He has formed two organizations that were very politically active; Religious Coalition Against Discrimination and Maine Interfaith Council on Reproductive Choices.

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  Grindle, Charles

  Gwendolyn Wolf and Johnna Ossie

  Charles Grindle is a 66-year-old man from Ellsworth, ME. He is a piano player, as well as a minister. He has been heavily involved in church, music and theater since childhood. He has also done a lot of traveling- he’s lived in Portland, Boston, San Diego and England. He has years of experience working for churches- doing sermons and weddings, etc. In his earlier years, he played piano at many hopping places- such as The Front Porch and the Inn By the Sea. He worked at Blackstones when it first opened. Other bars that he frequented were Styxx and Rollins. He spent a gap year living in London. In 1988, he was diagnosed positive for AIDS. However, he did not let that get in the way of living his life. Nowadays, he writes columns for the Peabody newsletter, as well as continuing his involvement in church, theater and music. He currently lives with his partner, with whom he has just bought a house. His goals for the future are to stay healthy and continue working.

• 

  Henderson, Susan

  Emma Wynn Hill

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Johnson, Myke

  Marwa Abdalla and Colleen Fagan

  Myke Johnson (she/her pronoun) is a 64 year old Unitarian minister currently living in Portland Maine with her partner of 24 years. She is from Michigan and later moved to Texas and Wyoming with her family. She is the oldest out of 9 children. She grew up Catholic and found herself being an activist during her college years. She became a feminist and was part of the Women's Peace Encampment, March on Washington, Marriage rights campaigns and many more. She got her doctorate degree in the Feminist Liberation Theology Program and became a minister in Massachussets. She then continued to do advocacy work and came to Maine and became a Unitarian Universalist Minister.

• 

  Joy, Drew

  Andrew Volkers

  Drew Joy is a 37 year old living in Portland, ME. They are the executive director of the Southern Maine Workers Center. They have been organizing and participating in activism since early adulthood. They have participated in public housing activism with Survivor's Village in New Orleans, anti-racism work in San Francisco with People Organized to Win Employment Rights (POWER), and now working class issues such as healthcare for all with SMWC.

  Drew has a very 'do it yourself', anarchism grounded ideology in their political beliefs. Their peer environment was in punk music, specifically the radical political sub-genres of queercore punk music.

• 

  Manson, Barry interview

  Alanna Larivee and Emma Wynn Hill

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  McKenzie, Mike

  Wendy Chapkis

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Moser, W. Jo

  Wendy Chapkis

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  O'Day, Janet

  Johnna Ossie

  Janet O'Day is 71 years old. She lives in Maine with her wife, Rosemary. She has one adult son. She was raised in a Catholic Family in Quincy, Massachusettes. She came out later in life after being married to a man and having a son. Religion is important to Janet and she was involved with Dignity in Boston and Maine, an organization that provides Catholic Mass and religious support to Catholic LGBTQ people. Janet continues to stay involved in her church community. During the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Janet worked at the Deaconness hospital in Boston as a discharge nurse with patients with HIV and AIDS. At this time Janet was also a Eucharistic minister and provided communion to people on the HIV/AIDS floor of the hospital, which priests at the hospital would not do. She also stayed overnight twice a week with a patient who had been discharged but needed a friend to stay overnight with him.

• 

  Parsons, Betsy

  Shanisa Rodriguez and Madison Leblanc

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Pezet, Antoinette

  Emily Durgin

  Antoinette Pezet was born in New York April 23, 1937 as William Anthony Pezet. She recognized she was bisexual in her early teens. Her family was accepting of her sexuality very early on. Before enlisted in the military in her early twenties, she married her first wife, Helga. Due to mental health issues, Helga and Antoinette divorced. Antoinette then married her second wife, Emily, and went on to have two children.

  It was not until Antoinette was divorced from Emily that she started dressing as a woman. In her early fifties she had a conversation with Jean Vermette that first gave language to Antoinette; transgender. This language molded her own version of her gender. Antoinette identifies as “a man who lives as a woman.” She notes her strong connection to both men and woman frames her gender identity.

• 

  Rand, Erica

  Demary Danella

  Erica lived in Chicago for many years, but relocated to Maine because of her teaching position at Bates College. She is a Professor of Art and Visual Culture and of Gender and Sexuality Studies, and is acting interim chair of the Gender and Sexuality Studies department. She discussed her coming out process as well as her experiences as a budding activist in ACT UP and a branch of ACT UP, called The Pissed Off Dyke Cell. Erica talked significantly about her previous relationships and how those connections shaped her activisim as well as how her activism shaped her relationships. She spent the second half of the interview discussing her interests and passions for activism in this time of her life, her teaching and her ice skating. Erica also focused on her involvement, both personally and professionally with discovering and expressing sexual desire through her own journey with partners and her work with Salacious which is a queer feminist anti-racist sex magazine that began in 2013.

• 

  Rich, Penny

  Bianca Sturchio and Johnna Ossie

  Penny Rich is a 70-year old lesbian living in Portland, Maine. She recieved a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Southern Maine. She is known for her involvement in major social events such as Portland Pride and the Women's Coffeehouse, as well as her experiences with gay bar culture throughout the 60's and 70's. She spends her time socializing, exercising, reading, and getting involved in local political and social issues that affect the LGBTQ+ community in Portland, Maine.

• 

  Smallwood, Thomas

  Miasarah Miskoon and Winter Devyn

  Thomas Smallwood moved to Portland, Maine in 2002 from Maryland and made the city his home. He has been a nanny for 14 of those years to two boys and watched them grow up under his care and treats them as family. He now nannies for two little girls, volunteers as an Outreach Counselor for the Frannie Peabody Center because he feels it is his duty to his community to educate and spread awareness. Thomas acts, sings and dances in theater, Maine Gay Men’s Chorus and performs as a drag queen, Miss Lajoy, at Blackstones during his free time.

  His love for performing, music and dance started from a very young age and he went

  to Point Park University for Music and Dance for 2 years before dropping out to

  pursue theater. Ever since he can remember, he always knew that he was gay.

  At 16, he came out to his mother. He publically came out at 21. Religion played a

  huge part in his life and he still goes to the First Parish Church in Portland. He spoke

  about BLM, #takeaknee, and what the First Amendment rights meant to him. He also discussed the intersection of being a Black man in a predominantly white city. Thomas is also a strong advocate of the right to bodily autonomy with trans people, women’s rights to birth control and abortions.

• 

  Solomon, Howard

  Richard Morin and Michelle Johnston

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Vaughan, Cait

  Kyle F. Cumiskey and Diane Martin

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Vermette, Jean

  Annie Holland and Olivia Tryon-Nadeau

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Verzosa, Andres

  Brendan Butler and Alexander Blake

  The Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine’s LGBTQ+ Collection includes important papers, photographs, and other artifacts representing four decades of LGBTQ activism, culture, and commerce in the Southern Maine region. The Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project is intended to add an additional dimension to the Collection by collecting and preserving the voices and stories of members of the Southern Maine LGBTQ community. The oral histories are available to the public in an effort to enrich understanding of our community and will serve as an important resource for scholars working on LGBTQ history.

  
  The Principle Investigator for this project is Dr. Wendy Chapkis, Professor of Sociology and Women & Gender Studies at the University of Southern Maine. Professor Chapkis is also the Faculty Scholar for the Sampson Center’s LGBTQ+ Collection (from 2016 through 2018). The LGBTQ Maine Oral History 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.

  Citation

  Please cite as: Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer+ Collection, Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, University of Southern Maine Libraries

  
  For any other questions, please contact the Special Collections Department at: susie.bock@maine.edu

• 

  Waitzkin, Rich

  Kristen Cates and Emma Donnelly

  Rich Waitzkin is a 69-year-old social worker originally from Akron, Ohio residing in Portland, ME. Waitzkin came out as a gay man in his late twenties after moving to Maine. He holds two Masters degrees in both education and social work. Waitzkin has years of experience working both in administration and in the home health care field providing therapy to the LGBTQ community. During the AIDS epidemic, Waitzkin worked as a social worker helping to guide clients on resources and even preparing some for death. Waitzkin also helped establish Portland’s first LGBTQ community center known as the Equality Community Center. Waitzkin has been involved with the political sphere by serving on an advisory board for former Governor John McKernan and fighting the AIDS epidemic in the 80s.

• 

  Wood, Barb

  Issabella Rieger

  Barbra ‘Barb’ Wood is 63 years old and lives in Portland M.E with her partner Carol. Barb realized she was queer her junior year in college when an underclassman that she met at a party took her back to her apartment and kissed her. After this kiss Barb recovered her other queer crushes through her series of romantic friendships with women. After college Barb worked as an insurance inspection agent in the state of Maine and later went on to become a resident of Portland. Barb was instrumental in the creation and distribution of Maine’s first queer newspaper OUR PAPER and would in later years become a founding member of the Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance (now Equality Maine) after the murder of Charlie Howard in 1984. Barb also went on to help Dale McCormick with her campaign for senate and won a seat of her own as the first openly lesbian City Counselor in Portland. Throughout her years as an activist and a prominent person in the queer community, Barb discusses her friends, community and many fun nights dancing and organizing—she even speaks about closing down The Underground/Styxx by throwing Penny Rich a grand 70^th birthday party.