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LGBTQ+ Activism and Culture Resources in Smith College Special Collections

Guide to materials in Smith College Special Collections related to LGBTQ+ activism, culture, and community.

Theology

Virginia Apuzzo papers

SSC-MS-00711

1940 - 2012

Virginia (Ginny) Apuzzo entered a convent at the age of 26. After leaving, she came out publicly as a lesbian, and dove head first into movement politics. 

Mary Daly papers 

SSC-MS-00637

1928 - 2024

Mary Daly was a radical lesbian feminist philosopher, theologian, author, lecturer, and professor of religious and women’s studies, who referred to herself as a Positively Revolting Hag.

Rev. Dr. Chris Davies queer clergy trading cards and related material

SSC-MS-00848

2014 - 2018

The Rev. Dr. Chris Davies is a white, queer clergyperson and a member of the United Church of Christ. Davies created the Queer Clergy Trading Cards in 2014 in order to highlight queer members of the clergy and to humanize them and their roles in Christian ministry. The Rev. Dr. Chris Davies queer clergy trading cards and related material document Davies’ work in highlighting queer members of the clergy through the Queer Clergy Trading Cards and some of her ministerial work in the 2010s.

Jane Garrett papers

SSC-MS-00497

1938 - 2003

Jane Garrett was a Priest involved with the Episcopal Church. Approximately half of collection consists of files pertaining to homosexuality and same-sex marriage, notably the struggle within the Episcopal Church to come to terms with these issues.

Rosemary Keefe papers 

SSC-MS-00680

1960 - 2011

Rosemary Keefe (1940-2012) was a feminist scholar and pioneer in the field of women’s studies as well as a social justice activist. She was a former Catholic nun who left her order, married, had a daughter, divorced and ultimately came out as a lesbian.

Kathleen O'Shea and Sarah Alida Conde O'Shea papers

SSC-MS-00578

1893 - 2013

Kathleen O'Shea is an author, Lesbian activist, Social reform advocate and was a Catholic nun. Her mother, Sarah Alida Conde O'Shea, grew up in a working-class Catholic family in Kansas.