Shearman, Patricia

Interviewer

Larisa Filippov, University of Southern Maine

Files

Description

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Pat Shearman is a 75 year old lesbian currently living in Norway, ME. Although she was born in Waterville, she has lived in other places around the country such as Massachusetts and Ohio. Born to an American Baptist minister, Pat eventually distanced herself from religion as a college student despite her father’s liberal attitude. Years later, she began going to church again, and now identifies as a Unitarian Universalist. Pat was very involved in multiple types of activism during and after college, including antiwar activism and women’s rights activism. Although she does not march anymore, Pat is still politically active in her community. She is a member of the Democratic State Committee and the Maine Federation of Democratic Women. She takes pride in her family history, which is closely related to the history of Maine and New England, and this is part of why she chooses to get involved in her local political communities. Pat has owned multiple of her own business, including a painting and paper hanging business and a video production company. Through the organization, Women Unlimited, she helped teach other women her skills so they could find better paying jobs. She also used her video production company to record oral history interviews with other LGBT+ people. She has donated these tapes, and more, to the LGBTQ+ Collection in USM’s Special Collections. Pat is woman who has done so much for her community, including activism work, political representation, and donating materials, and she plans to continue well into the future.

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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.

Publication Date

11-23-2024

Publisher

University of Southern Maine

City

Portalnd, Maine

Keywords

LGBTQ+, lesbian, LGBTQ+ activism, LGBTQ+ activists, anti-war activism, Ohio University, LGBTQ+ Unitarian Universalists, identity, Women’s National Abortion Action Coalition, Washington D.C., Boston, Central Square, Cambridge Women’s Center, Maine Democratic State Committee, Atlantic Black Box, Mayflower descendent, Women Unlimited, gay-owned businesses, lesbian-owned businesses, Kennebunkport, LGBTQ+ painters, LGBTQ+ films, film production, LGBTQ+ bars, lesbian bars, Buffy Dunker, Portsmouth, lesbian community

Disciplines

History of Gender | Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies | Oral History | Women's Studies

Recommended Citation

Filippov, Larisa, "Shearman, Patricia" (2024). Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection. 142.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/querying_ohproject/142

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.