{"id":8015,"date":"2021-10-12T08:15:08","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T12:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.dlg.galileo.usg.edu\/?p=8015"},"modified":"2021-10-12T08:13:07","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T12:13:07","slug":"new-collection-about-pro-and-anti-lgbtq-activities-in-cobb-county-georgia-circa-1995-available-freely-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dlg.galileo.usg.edu\/?p=8015","title":{"rendered":"New collection about pro- and anti-LGBTQ activities in Cobb County, Georgia circa 1995 are now available freely online"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pro- and anti-LGBTQ activities and demonstrations in Cobb County circa 1995 are the main component of a new digital collection belonging to Georgia State University Special Collections, funded by a <\/span>competitive digitization grant<\/span><\/a> awarded by the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG). GSU Special Collections received a service grant awarded in 2020 to broaden the DLG\u2019s engagement with diverse institutions and collections across the state of Georgia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Carol Brown Papers, 1993-2012 (bulk 1993-1994)<\/span><\/a> document pro- and anti- LGBTQ+ activities and legislation in Cobb County, and belong to Georgia State University Special Collections\u2019 LGBTQ Digital Collection, available at <\/span>https:\/\/digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu\/digital\/collection\/lgbtq<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In July of 1993, in response to complaints by residents, Cobb County Chairman Bill Byrne challenged county funding for Marietta\u2019s Theatre in the Square, particularly as two of its plays– David Henry Hwang\u2019s <\/span>M. Butterfly<\/span><\/i> and Terrence McNally\u2019s <\/span>Lips Together, Teeth Apart<\/span><\/i> — included mild gay themes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In August, Cobb County commissioner Gordon Wysong led the Cobb County Board of Commissioners to two anti-LGBT+ resolutions: one specifying that funding would only be provided for art that promoted \u201cstrong community, family-oriented standards,\u201d and the other stating that \u201clifestyles advocated by the gay community should not be endorsed by government policymakers, because they are incompatible with the standards to which this community subscribes; and that gay lifestyle units are directly contrary to state law.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marietta civic leader and activist Jon Greaves and local community members immediately responded by organizing together as the Cobb Citizens Coalition (CCC) to challenge the resolutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The CCC gained important allies in February 1994, when Atlanta-based activists Pat Hussain and Jon-Ivan Weaver established Olympics Out of Cobb County (OOCC). Their mission was to persuade Atlanta\u2019s Committee for the Olympic Games not to hold the women\u2019s volleyball competition in Cobb County as planned. Their efforts succeeded: ultimately, the women\u2019s volleyball competition was held in Athens at the University of Georgia instead, and the Olympic torch bypassed Cobb County altogether.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While CCC was active, CCC member and Marietta resident Carol Brown documented the organization\u2019s activities and those of OOCC by recording protests, marches, and local news coverage, using audiocassettes, videotape, and photography.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She also saved almost-daily newspaper reports, providing a wide range of coverage of events as they unfolded in Cobb County. The audiovisual materials have been digitized and described by the DLG as part of its service grant, and the newspaper reports were digitized in-house at Georgia State University.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carol Brown also recounted her personal memories in an oral history that is part of the Activist Women\u2019s Oral History Project. Together, they provide a rich and powerful narrative about a small community\u2019s response to local discrimination that garnered international interest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carol Brown\u2019s materials are unique and significant to Georgia because so much of Georgia\u2019s recorded LGBTQ+ history has been Atlanta-focused. Carol Brown\u2019s materials focus on pro-and anti- LGBTQ+ activities in traditionally conservative Cobb County. They are also important because they highlight several challenging backstories about art censorship, community protest, and the 1995 Olympic Games that garnered national and international interest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

View the collection online<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

###<\/b><\/p>\n

More about the Carol Brown Papers, 1993-2012 (bulk 1993-1994) Collection<\/b><\/p>\n

Digitization of audiovisual items from the Carol Brown Papers, 1993-2012 (bulk 1993-1994) focusing on pro-and anti- LGBTQ+ activities in traditionally conservative Cobb County and the campaign to move 1996 Olympic events out of the County. Furthermore, in a time of daily protest that we find ourselves in now, the collection illustrates the power of creative, peaceful protest.<\/span><\/p>\n

About the Georgia State University Special Collections and Archives (Women\u2019s\/ Gender and Sexuality Collections)<\/b><\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s Collections chronicle women\u2019s activism and advocacy in Georgia and the Southeast. Within this curatorial area are several notable collections: the Donna Novak Coles Georgia Women\u2019s Movement Archives, the Lucy Hargrett Draper Collections on Women\u2019s Rights, Advocacy and the Law, and the Archives for Research on Women. For more information, read the Women\u2019s Collections research guides at <\/span>research.library.gsu.edu\/womenscollections<\/span><\/a>. The Gender and Sexuality Collections document LGBTQ+ communities in Georgia and the Southeast. For more information, read the Gender and Sexuality research guide at <\/span>https:\/\/research.library.gsu.edu\/c.php?g=912561<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

About the Digital Library of Georgia<\/b><\/p>\n

Based at the University of Georgia Libraries, the Digital Library of Georgia is a<\/span> GALILEO<\/span><\/a> initiative that collaborates with Georgia’s libraries, archives, museums, and other institutions of education and culture to provide access to key information resources on Georgia history, culture, and life. This primary mission is accomplished by developing, maintaining, and preserving digital collections and online digital library resources. DLG also serves as Georgia’s service hub for the<\/span> Digital Public Library of America<\/span><\/a> and as the home of the<\/span> Georgia Newspaper Project<\/span><\/a>, the state’s historic newspaper microfilming project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Visit the DLG at<\/span> dlg.usg.edu<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Facebook:<\/span> http:\/\/facebook.com\/DigitalLibraryofGeorgia\/\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter:<\/span> @DigLibGA<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Selected stills from the collection:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Image
Image courtesy of Georgia State University. Special Collections Title : [Press conference to announce rally on Square, June ’94. Raw footage. CD ???] Description: Still image from a video recording of a press conference held to announce a demonstration entitled “And justice for all, Cobb rally for human rights” to be held on August 28, 1993, the 30th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Leaders from three co-sponsoring organizations, the Marietta Interfaith Alliance, the Network for Social Responsibility, and the Cobb Citizens Coalition, give statements and answer questions from the press about the rally and their reasons for holding it, which is for the Cobb Commission to change or rescind an anti-LGBTQ+\/anti-gay resolution negating the human rights of gay citizens of Cobb County, Georgia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Image
Image courtesy of Georgia State University. Special Collections Title : [Stop Hate Politics seminar 11\/6\/1993. Meg Riley, Hans Johnson, Loretta Ross. Tape 1] Description: Still image from video recording of a portion of the “Stop Hate in Politics” seminar entitled “Righting the Wrongs of the Religious Right…Can We?” which took place on November 6, 1993. The recording presents speakers (including civil rights activist and public intellectual Loretta Ross, shown in this image) who discuss the manner in which right-wing Christian fundamentalists have weaponized their response to American liberal politics, and the importance of building common ground against violent right-wing trends.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pro- and anti-LGBTQ activities and demonstrations in Cobb County circa 1995 are the main component of a new digital collection belonging to Georgia State University Special Collections, funded by a competitive digitization grant awarded by the Digital Library of Georgia (DLG). GSU Special Collections received a service grant awarded in 2020 to broaden the DLG\u2019s … <\/p>\n

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