University of Southern Maine

December Ad hoc committee meets regarding African American collection

Gerald E. Talbot donates his collection which founds the African American Archives of Maine. The collection is placed in the Gorham Library.

September and December meetings of African American Archives of Maine advisory board

September through February 1996 student Andrew Horvat hired to inventory and pack Talbot Collection

Provost and USM community create the Gay and Lesbian Archives. From this time on there are programs sponsored by the Gay and Lesbian Archives.

February 21, “Multicultural Diversity: The Next Frontier”, reception and presentation by Yolanda King

July, UMS Board of Trustees approves the creation of the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine in the USM Libraries consisting of: African American Archives of Maine, Franco-American Archives (at LAC), Judaica Collection, Gay and Lesbian Archives.

Maureen Elgersman Lee hired as Faculty Scholar for the African American Archives of Maine and Assistant Professor of History

September, Stephen Bloom appointed Library Director and becomes Director of the Sampson Center

Madeleine Winterfalcon hired as a graduate assistant. Acquires and processes collections for the Gay and Lesbian Collection.

February 26, Gay and Lesbian Archive of the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine, opening celebration, lecture and performance by Bayard Rustin “Scenes of Civil Sex”

March, Sampson Advisory Board meeting

Susie Bock is hired as Special Collections Librarian/Archivist. At this time the Sampson Collections (except) the Franco-American are managed by what was known as the Archives Department and is eventually renamed Special Collections.

September, Sampson Advisory Board meeting

October 14 th, the University has an event to celebrate the creation of the Sampson Center

David Andreasen hired as part time Library Assistant in Special Collections and half his time is devoted to the African American Archives in Gorham. The following year Andreasen becomes full time.

March 2, “Act Up Fight Back Take Pictures, Ten Years of Queer Activism in Maine”, opening celebration for exhibition of Annette Dragon photographs

March 2, “Act Up Fight Back Take Pictures, Ten Years of Queer Activism in Maine”, opening celebration for exhibition of Annette Dragon photographs

November 20, We Were There, history of a gay summer compound on the coast of Maine in the early 1900s, talk by author Vance Muse

Abraham Peck becomes Scholar-in-Residence in the Judaica Collection

April 6, “Full Frontal Exposure: Visibility, Anxiety, Solidarity, and Pride” celebration of the Michael Rossetti Papers donation

November 20, We Were There, history of a gay summer compound on the coast of Maine in the early 1900s, talk by author Vance Muse

April 7, “How Will We Tell Our Story”, presentation by Susie R. Bock, 8 th Annual N.E. GLBTQA College Conference

May, June, August, October, and December, meeting of African American of Maine advisory board. There are no further meetings.

March, September, July Provost holds breakfast meeting of Friends of the Gay and Lesbian Archives. Several committees are created: Programming, Acquisitions, Fund Raising, Scholarship. Programming mounts some events and Fund Raising meets but not much is accomplished. Susie sends out 15 email postings to those who added the Provost’s meetings and others interested in the Gay and Lesbian Archives

October 11, “Coming Out: The History, and Future, of an Idea”, lecture by Howard Solomon

November 8, GLBT Academic Spotlight Series Presentation, by Professor Karin Schoenpflug

November 30, “The Radical Faeries”, slide presentation and lecture by Keith Gemerek

February 14, March 14, April 11, GLBT Academic Spotlight Series Presentations

April, “Pre-Stonewall Gay Literature”, lecture by Michael Bronski

June 1, “Southern Maine Pride”, Gay and Lesbian Archives of the University of Southern Maine, booth at festival

Howard Solomon becomes Scholar-in-Residence in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection

African American Archives of Maine changes name to African American Collection of Maine (not positive about this date)

Director of the Libraries/Sampson Center Bloom resigns from USM

July, meeting of Head of Special Collections, Provost, Interim Libraries Director about the Sampson Center and work begins on a governance document

Susie Bock appointed Director

February 26, GLBTA student lunch, presentation on Gay and Lesbian Archives by Susie R. Bock

February 28, “Women’s History Resources in Maine” at University of Maine, Orono, presentation by Susie R. Bock on women’s collections in gay and lesbian archives

May, Sampson Board meeting

July 1 through September 9, “Hurricane Fran: Frannie Peabody’s Life of Service”, exhibition, Area Gallery, Woodbury Campus Center

October 22, Presentation to Class: HRD664 Culture, Tradition, Diversity

December 19, “Not in Our Town, Not in Our State” press conference on hate groups in Lewiston

September 20, “Africana Women in Maine”, conference

February, Monthly meetings of Director and Faculty Scholars begin and continue during the academic year.

Gay and Lesbian Archives renamed the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Collection

March 1, “Preserving the Pride: Archive Your Records”, workshop by Susie R. Bock, Northeast Regional Pride/Follow ME And Celebrate Diversity

July, meetings with Provost, Libraries Director, Associate Librarian, Director of Sampson Center regarding the Governance Document and the structure of the Sampson Center

July, Franco-American Heritage Collection removed from Sampson Center

August, Southern Maine Pride Event

September, Maureen Elgersman Lee tenured and promoted to Associate Professor of History

September, November meetings of Provost, faculty scholars, Sampson Director, Libraries Director to establish administrative structure for Sampson center

October, David Nutty begins as Libraries Director

November, Sampson Center Governance Document accepted

February 2 through March 29, African American Collection of Maine “Home is Where I Make It: Race and Labor in Lewiston and Auburn, Maine”, reception and exhibit

April, African American Collection of Maine moved from Gorham into the new Special Collections facility. Other Sampson collections also moved into new facility.

April 2-3, “Charlie Howard 20 Years Later: How Far Has Maine Come, Anti-Gay Discrimination and Violence in Maine, 1984-2004”, Charlie Howard Conference & Traveling Exhibition

April 20, Fair Housing in Maine Panel Discussion

May, first meeting of Sampson Center Steering Committee

June 16, Southern Maine Pride Week, Open House & Booth at Deering Oaks Park

June 24, “Program to Honor the Gerald E. Talbot Collection & Recognition of the 50 th Wedding Anniversary of Gerald and Anita Talbot”, reception and party

June 24, “Program to Honor the Gerald E. Talbot Collection & Recognition of the 50 th Wedding Anniversary of Gerald and Anita Talbot”, reception and party

November 20, Transgender Day of Remembrance

November 18, Sumner Bernstein Papers, presentation by Susie R. Bock, for ENG 150 “Reading Other People’s Mail” class

January 25, MLK, Jr. Celebration “A Call to Action: A Community’s Dream”, presenters included Maureen Elgersman Lee

February, “Old Wine in New Wine Skins: Bringing Out the African American Collection”, annual exhibition and reception

March 17, “Women of Color in the Americas” panel discussion with Maureen Elgersman Lee, Eve Raimon, and David Carey

April 14, “STONEWALL: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution”, lecture & reading by David Carter

April 23, Sandra Wachholz’s Criminology Class, presentation by Susie R. Bock

June 15, Open House for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection, with Howard Solomon and Susie R. Bock

July 18, GLAD Reception, for Maine community to meet new executive director

July 18, through October 14, “Act Up/Fight Back/Take Pictures: Photographs of Annette Dragon”, exhibition

October 13, 2005, “Equal Rights for ME: the 30 Year Struggle for LGBT Rights in the Maine Legislature,” lecture by Adjunct Lecturer in Political Science and State Legislator Herb Adams

October 27, 2005, “The Ties That Bind: Experiences of Family in Maine, 1900 to Present”, opening reception for Sampson Annual Event

October 27, 2005-January 27, 2006 “The Ties That Bind: Experiences of Family in Maine, 1900 to Present”, exhibition

November 1, "Migration, Mortality, and Maturation: Three African American Families of Bangor and Portland ", lecture by the Faculty Scholar for the African American Collection of Maine, Maureen Elgersman Lee

November 8, “If Not Jerusalem, Then at Least 'The Jerusalem of the North': Continuity and Discontinuity in Three Portland Jewish Families," lecture by Scholar-in-Residence in the Judaica Collection, Abraham J. Peck

November 14, “Engaging Maine’s Diversity: Bringing African American, Jewish, and LGBT Materials into the Classroom”, workshop on using the Sampson Center collections

November 15, "Ozzie and Harriet, Same-Sex Marriage, and the Culture Wars: LGBT Families in Maine, 1960 to the Present," lecture by the Scholar-in-Residence in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Collection, Howard M. Solomon

November 19, Transgender Day of Remembrance

December 1, Creating Portland, by Joe Conforti, reception to celebrate publication

February 1-April 30, Annual African American Collection of Maine, exhibition

February 3, Black Bangor, by Maureen Elgersman Lee, reception for Annual African American Collection of Maine exhibition and book signing

March 21, Engendering Mayan History by David Carey Jr. book signing and reception