May 1st, 2008 Open Forum Invites Remebrances
Date: April 4, 2008
Press Contact: Jeanne Scheper, Research Director, Palm Center, 805-893-5664, jscheper@palmcenter.ucsb.edu
SANTA BARBARA, CA., April 4, 2008 - The Palm Center and the CUNY Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies are sponsoring an open forum to share in remembrances and appreciations for the impact and legacy of Allan Bérubé’s work and to celebrate his life. Allan Bérubé (1947-2007) was an independent historian and community activist, and author of the Lambda Literary Award-winning Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II. Bérubé’s work was the foundation for the 1994 documentary film co-written with director Arthur Dong, Coming Out Under Fire.
DATE: Thursday, May 1st, 2008
TIME: 7:00 to 9:00 P.M.
PLACE: Skylight Room | Graduate Center, The City University of New York
This event is free and open to the public
We invite you to join us in an open forum to share in remembrances and appreciations for the impact and legacy of Allan Bérubé’s work and to celebrate his life. The evening will combine scholarly consideration of his work with personal reminiscences of Berube’s incalculable impact on LGBT studies inside and outside academia.
Our invited speakers will address Allan Bérubé’s immense contributions to working-class studies, the history of sexual minorities in the military, and a deeper understanding of the lesbian and gay past.
Speakers:
Aaron Belkin, The Palm Center
Thomas Glave, Binghamton University, SUNY
Amber Hollibaugh, National Lesbian and Gay Task Force
Jonathan Ned Katz, OutHistory.org
Moderator: Sarah Chinn, The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies
Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II recounted the personal experiences of gay GIs from that war. His work brought to light the formative influence of wartime mobilization and military life on both gay culture and the broader spectrum of American society. Bérubé’s work was the foundation for the 1994 documentary film co-written with director Arthur Dong, Coming Out Under Fire. Bérubé’s activism in the gay liberation movement started in the late 1960s, and Bérubé co-founded the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay History Project. He was remembered by John D’Emilio, professor of history at the University of Illinois at Chicago, for his “great pride in his role as a community historian,” and having written a book that “made a difference in the world” despite being authored by a college dropout.
In 1996, Bérubé was the recipient of the prestigious genius grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which allowed him to begin work on a history of gay men in the Marine Cook and Stewards Union. Bérubé’s presence as a valuable and inspirational member of the community will truly be missed.
For event location and directions contact CLAGS at , or clags.org.