Through a Rainbow Lens documents the City of Lynn’s LGBTQ+ history through interviews, photographs, newspapers, and memorabilia. It features the diverse lives, experiences, and perspectives of city residents who had significant impact on Lynn’s LGBTQ+ past. The project is organized by United Lynn Pride and funded by the Mass Humanities “Expanding Massachusetts Stories” grant program. The interviews and documents uncover hidden stories of identity, self-discovery, trauma, community, and liberation. Through a Rainbow Lens advances United Lynn Pride's mission of uniting, empowering, and educating the LGBTQ+ community.
Project Team
Jim Moser
He/Him
Project Director
Jim Moser has lived in Lynn, MA for 23 years and loves the city more each time he meets another neighbor. In addition to serving on the Board of United Lynn Pride Inc, Jim is an active volunteer with his church, St. Stephen’s Memorial Episcopal and the community organization the New Lynn Coalition. Born in the conservative Pennsylvania Dutch country, Jim first came out when he attended Haverford College. He later moved north to Massachusetts to attend M.I.T., where he holds a Masters in Perception and Brain Science and studied tactile speech perception. Jim then joined a startup working on speech recognition and, once the product was launched, worked on applications with early customers. He continued in this line of work and has served for several software companies as a User Interface Architect. Jim and his partner of 24 years, Bill Mulcahy, a LifeLong Lynner, own a hilltop home overlooking Flax Pond. They call it “Deer Hill” after discovering the historic title found on a 19th century map. Now retired, Jim enjoys his free time devoted to his passion, the Deer Hill Gardens. Deer Hill Gardens is full of hundreds of varieties of Daylilies, Daffodils, and Hostas that Jim has hand-planted and tended to for years. Some favorite hobbies of Jim’s include sailing, listening to Jazz, reading, shopping for plants, wine & dining, photography, and videography. Jim looks forward to continue serving the Lynn community.
Cristian Recinos
They/He/She
Site Design/Event Planning
Cristian is the Executive Director of United Lynn Pride & a LifeLong Lynn resident. They serve in a number of organizations throughout the City of Lynn, and has also served with various LGBTQ+ organizations across Massachusetts. " I hope that in my work in assisting in this project, that members of the community feel acknowledged and that the community continues to grow from understanding more about our local LGBTQ+ History"
Andrew Darien, Ph.D
He/Him
Humanities Advisor
Andrew Darien comes to the project with more than two decades of experience as an oral historian and Professor of modern United States history. Telling stories from marginalized communities has been at the center of his work, beginning with his research on the integration of African Americans, Latinos, and women into the New York City Police Department, which culminated in Becoming New York’s Finest, published by Palgrave MacMillan in 2013. Since 2007, Darien has served as the project Director for Student, Citizen, and Soldier, which has recorded and shared dozens of interviews with college veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also the project director for the Temple Sinai History Project on behalf of the synagogue’s seventy-fifth anniversary and the publication of Building the Sacred and the Progressive (2014). Additional oral history projects include The Towne Family Association and the Salem Witch Trials (2017), World Historians Speak Out: Perspectives, Projections, and Pedagogy (2010), and The House of 7 Gables Settlement Home: Polish Community and Immigration.
Patricia A. Gozemba
She/Her
Advisor
Pat brings to the project four decades of university teaching and writing as well as many years of documenting history and promoting activism in democratic movements. Laser focused on creating change, achieving social justice, and documenting our histories, she co-authored Pockets of Hope: How Students and Teachers Change the World (Bergin&Garvey) and Courting Equality: A Documentary History of America’s First Legal Same-Sex Marriages (Beacon). She has held leadership roles in her union, environmental organizations, women’s studies, LGBTQ+ organizations—in short, movements focused on building people power. In the 1970s, Pat began researching Lynn women in unions and then in the LGBTQ+ community. Interviews with patrons of Lynn’s Light House Cafe (Fran’s Place) inspired her and Janet Kahn to coauthor “In and around the Lighthouse: Working-Class Lesbian Bar Culture in the 1950s and 1960s” (Gendered Domains, Cornell Univ. Press). She is privileged to call Massachusetts and Hawai’i home, both places of incredible beauty, cultural vibrancy, and committed activism to democracy. While in Hawai’i, she works on Hawaiian Sovereignty. In Massachusetts, she works on environmental issues, LGBTQ+ history, and spends time birdwatching. Her garden in Salem Willows and all gardens are her spiritual refuge and sources of renewal.
Sponsor
This project is made possible by a grant from Mass Humanities, with funding from the Barr Foundation.
... Mass Humanities, a non-profit foundation based in Northampton, creates opportunities for the people of Massachusetts to transform their lives and build a more equitable commonwealth through the humanities. Since its founding in 1974, the organization has provided millions of dollars in support of thousands of humanities projects across the Commonwealth. Established as the state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Mass Humanities is an independent programming and grant-making organization that receives support from the NEH and the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as private sources. Based in Boston, the Barr Foundation focuses regionally, and selectively engages nationally, working in partnership with nonprofits, foundations, the public sector, and civic and business leaders to elevate the arts and creative expression, to advance solutions for climate change, and to connect all students to success in high school and beyond. Founded in 1997, Barr now has assets of $1.7 billion, and has contributed more than $838 million to charitable causes.
Partners
Lynn Museum
... In the heart of Lynn’s Arts & Cultural District, the Lynn Museum was founded in 1897 to collect, preserve and illuminate the city’s remarkable history. The museum has evolved into a vibrant cultural center, expanding its footprint to include the LynnArts building at 25 Exchange Street. The Lynn Museum/LynnArts offers changing exhibitions and innovative youth and adults programs, which engage and enrich Lynn’s diverse community. The Lynn Museum encourages active participation in exploring the city’s past while shaping a vision for its future.
The History Project
... The History Project is Boston's LGBTQ+ community archives. The History Project is focused exclusively on documenting and preserving the history of New England’s LGBTQ communities and sharing that history with LGBTQ individuals, organizations, allies, and the public. The History Project is a community archives - a repository, historical society, and museum for the LGBTQ+ community's history. THP is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1980 that holds LGBTQ+ historical records and ephemera, supports LGBTQ+ history research, and shares LGBTQ+ history through public exhibits and events.
Salem State University
... Known as the Commonwealth’s civic engagement university, Salem State University, established in 1854, is a comprehensive, public institution of higher learning located approximately 15 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. One of the largest state universities in the Commonwealth, Salem State enrolls about 6,500 undergraduate and graduate students. It offers 32 undergraduate programs and graduate programs that offer degrees in 24 fields. The university also has a continuing education division that offers both credit and non-credit programs. Salem State proudly participates in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement and has shown a student voting rate above the national average, earning it a Silver Seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. In 2020, Salem State received Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. The university is designated a Best for Vets College by Military Times.
Contact
For General Inquiries and additional questions about the project please send us an email at: ThroughARainbowLens@UnitedLynnPride.com
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
We thank the many people who helped us with this project.
Alex Brown
Andrew Elder
Bill Gendron
Bob Goldman
Carla Moniz
Christopher Locke
Cristela Guerra
Daniel Bell
David Conner
David Rowand
Doneeca Thurston
Ellie Tamplin
George Chakoutis
James Moser
Jay Nakhai
Jim Zipper
Joe Antonelli
Karen Kahn
Kathy Day
Kevin Glick
Lynn Public Library
Marilyn Humphries
Mary Goukas
Melissa Stockbridge
Over the Rainbow Social Club
Patrick Gecoya
Renee Matheson
Rob Stewart
Roddy Williams
Seth Albaum
Steve Harrington
Susan Shepherd
The National AIDS Memorial
Tim Deegan
Tony the Tiger
Wendy Essery
Worcester County Historical Museum
Alexandria Michaud
Andrew Elder
Billy Mulcahy Moser
Boston Public Library
Charlie Gallo
Coco Alinsug
Cristian Recinos
Dave Granese
David Levasseur
Deb Barber
Dr. Andrew Darien
Emily Rosenberg
Guillermo Avila-Saavedra
Janet Kahn
Jennifer Almonte
Jimmy Ray
Josh Judkins
Katherine Stevens
Ken Turino
Kirsten Freni
Marcia Hams
Marissa Hanson
Mass Humanities
Nat Brennan
Pat Gozemba
Paul Zipper Jr
Reverend Daniel Bell
Roberta Seymour
Sam Valentine
Sidney St. Ives
Steve Sklavounos
T Nash
Theresa Hurley
Tish Sterling
Trae Young
Wendy Robinson
Zack Ellis
Ana Tinajero
Andrew T. Darien
Bluiston DeYoung
Brian King
Charlotte McDonald
Connie Moser
Dani Vittori
Dave Granese
David Newton
Denae Ramos-Pachuki
Dr. Stephanie Yuhl
Emily Sherwood
Jackson Davidow
Jay Collins
Jerry Cooksey
Joan Ilaqua
Judith Durant
Kathy Clay
Kerra Daniels
Lillian Faderman
Margot Abels
Marissa Hanson
Melinda Wilson
Olivia Werth
Pat Kelly
Peter Abate
Reverend Donna Spencer Collins
Robin Tobin
Sandra Broughton
Stephanie Yuhl
Susan Edwards
Ted Grant
Tia Cole
Tom Dalton
Vicky Barstow
Wendy Rouse