Earlier this week, Yahoo News released a 30-minute online documentary entitled “Uniquely Nasty: The U.S. Government’s War on Gays.” Based on research by the Mattachine Society of Washington D.C., the film explores the federal persecution of gays and lesbians since the Cold War. Its three chapters tell the stories of […]
Our Blog
52 posts
Looking for a crash course in the history of local gay and lesbian organizing? We invite you to explore our new online exhibit “‘Gay is Good’: Gay and Lesbian Organizing in DC, 1961-1975”: “Gay is Good”: DC-based gay rights activist Dr. Franklin Kameny coined this slogan in the 1960s to […]
(Find this document and other artifacts at our online archives.) In this undated manuscript, perhaps from the early ‘70s, lesbian activist Eva Freund reflects on the turbulent experience of lesbians in the Women’s Movement. As the Movement came to be associated with lesbianism in the 1960s, its leadership balked. “Those inside the Movement,” Freund explains, […]
(Dr. Bonnie Morris shares a photo of herself and her students at the Hung Jury, one of the “lost lesbian spaces” discussed in the panel. Photo by Sarah Welz Geselowitz.) On Tuesday, June 16, the Rainbow History Project partnered with LC-GLOBE to present the lunchtime panel “Lost Lesbian Spaces,” which […]
(Board member Jim Marks poses at Rainbow History’s booth at the Capital Pride Street Festival. In front of him are historical LGBTQ-related artifacts for visitors to browse – including several old newspaper articles by Jim himself! Photo by Sarah Welz Geselowitz.) On Sunday, June 14th, we welcomed the public to our […]
On the morning of Saturday, June 13 – hours before the Capital Pride Parade – Rainbow History board member Jeff Donahoe teamed up with local historian Brock Thompson to offer free walking tours of historic gay DC. Dozens of locals and visitors participated. Photos by Sarah Welz Geselowitz. Click to enlarge: (Jeff Donahoe […]
(Thanks to the DC Public Library for this flier. Click to enlarge.) Rainbow History Project: Collecting and Preserving D.C.’s LGBT History Tuesday, June 30 | 7pm Meeting Room of the Southeast Neighborhood Library | 403 7th Street SE Washington DC, 20003 The Rainbow History Project is the archive for preserving the city’s LGBT history […]
(Portrait of Leonard Hirsch, © Patsy Lynch) Leonard Hirsch, recognized as a 2012 Community Pioneer for his work founding and leading Federal GLOBE (external link), died on June 12, 2015, at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland. He was 59 years old. Born in Queens, New York, in […]
(Bruce Pennington talking into the microphone on Friends Radio, whose broadcasts we are seeking funding to digitize. This photo, generously contributed by Pennington, can be found in our online collection Bruce Pennington Papers, 1947-2003.) The Rainbow History Project is seeking volunteers with grant writing skills to help us fund future projects, […]
(Annie Kaylor, one of this year’s Community Pioneers. Photo provided by the Kaylor family.) 2015 Community Pioneers Exhibit Month of June | 12-6pm (Mon.-Fri.), 11am-3pm (Sat.) Metro DC Community Center (external link), 2000 14th Street NW, Suite 105 Washington, DC 20009 Last month, the Rainbow History Project recognized a dozen Community Pioneers for their […]