Making Gay History | LGBTQ Oral Histories from the Archive

When news broke in 1952 that Christine Jorgensen, an ex-GI from the Bronx, had undergone gender-affirming surgery, she became a global sensation. In this 1957 interview, meet the thoughtful woman behind the frenzied headlines as she took on the burden of educating the public about trans people.

Visit our ⁠episode webpage⁠ for background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as a transcript of the episode.

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Audio source: Christine Jorgensen Reveals, an LP recording of a 1957 interview between Christine Jorgensen and Nipsey Russell (credited as R. Russell), released in 1958 by J Records, New York, NY.

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MGH is back for another dive into the archives! Drawing from Eric’s own collection of rare interviews and other repositories of LGBTQ history, we’ll bring you the voices of seven LGBTQ change-makers and allies whose stories will take you from 1920s Harlem to the halls of power in 1980s D.C. 

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Audio sources:

- Christine Jorgensen Reveals, an LP recording of a 1957 interview between Christine Jorgensen and Nipsey Russell (credited as R. Russell), released in 1958 by J Records, New York, NY.

- Mabel Hampton Oral History Collection, used by permission of the Lesbian Herstory Archives.

- Barney Frank interview via the Making Gay History archive.

- "Lou Sullivan and Dr. Ira Pauly Interview, Part 1," January 1988, GLBT Historical Society Film & Video Collection, courtesy of the GLBT Historical Society.

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Today, the National Trust for Historic Preservation designated the Stonewall National Monument in NYC as one of America’s "11 Most Endangered Historic Places." As an antidote to the threat of erasure facing the country’s only national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history, MGH is re-releasing its season about the Stonewall uprising with the support of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Parks Conservation Association.

MGH's Stonewall 50 season first aired in June 2019. Visit our ⁠season webpage⁠ to access background information, archival photos, and other resources, as well as episode transcripts. 

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In this final episode, we reflect on why there are so few testimonies from LGBTQ people who survived the Nazi era and on the responsibility we have to honor the testimonies we do have in the face of the unfolding dark times here at home.
Visit our episode webpage for additional resources, archival photos, and a transcript of the episode.
For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community.
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-Audio of the 1990 interview with Josef Kohout used by permission of QWIEN, the Center for Queer History in Vienna. 
-The Josef Kohout book excerpt is from Heinz Heger’s The Men with the Pink Triangle, Haymarket Books, Chicago, 2023. Used by permission of the publisher. Original German edition Die Männer mit dem rosa Winkel © 1972/2014 MERLIN VERLAG Andreas Meyer Verlags GmbH. & Co. KG, Gifkendorf, Germany. English translation by David Fernbach © 2004 MERLIN VERLAG Andreas Meyer Verlags GmbH. & Co. KG, Gifkendorf, Germany.
-Audio of Dr. Walter Reich and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum from the October 10, 1996, ceremony courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. 
-RG-50.030.0841, oral history interview with Gary H. Philipp, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Oral History Archive, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. For more information about the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, go here. 
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Charismatic German Jewish athlete Fredy Hirsch dedicated himself to inspiring and protecting children imprisoned by the Nazis. In this episode, survivors of Theresienstadt and Auschwitz whose lives were made tolerable, sometimes even joyful, thanks to his selfless efforts share their memories.
Visit our episode webpage for additional resources, archival photos, and a transcript of the episode.
For exclusive Making Gay History bonus content, join our Patreon community.
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-The following interview segments are from the archive of the USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education: 

Dina Gottliebova-Babbitt, © 1998 USC Shoah Foundation 

Michael Honey, © 1997 USC Shoah Foundation 

Peter Mahrer, © 1998 USC Shoah Foundation 

Helga Ederer, © 1997 USC Shoah Foundation 

Yehudah Bakon, © 1996 USC Shoah Foundation 

Melitta Stein, © 1996 USC Shoah Foundation 

Eva Gross, © 1996 USC Shoah Foundation 

Chava Ben-Amos, © 1997 USC Shoah Foundation  

For more information about the USC Shoah Foundation, go here.
-The following interview segments are from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Washington, D.C., courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Foundation:

RG-50.030.0488, oral history interview with Ursula Pawel

RG-50.477.0497, oral history interview with John Steiner, gift of Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties

RG-50.106.0061, oral history interview with Rene Edgar Tressler

For more information about the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, go here.
-The Rudolf Vrba audio was drawn from footage created by Claude Lanzmann during the filming of Shoah. Used by permission of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, Jerusalem.
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