Maria Helena Dolan papers
Scope and Contents
This collection contains materials collected by Maria Helena Dolan that document her work in LGBTQ+ and feminist organizations, her personal life, events she attended, her work at MARTA, as well her various other interests, including gardening, arts, and travel. Specific causes documented include AIDS awareness and safe sex, domestic violence, civil rights, and LGBTQ+ rights. Organizations represented include Atlanta History Center, Charis Books & More, Pride, ACLU, and Atlanta Lesbian and Gay History Thing, amongst others. Types of papers in this collection include correspondence, periodicals and articles, business records, and organization and event ephemera. Dolan saved drafts of articles she wrote for local publications, the bulk of which she submited to Southern Voice. Of note are agendas from the Cobb County Board of Commissioners when Cobb County was planning to hosts events for the 1996 Olympic Games. LGBTQ+ organizations that Dolan was involved with, including Cobb Citizens Coalition, fought to convince Olympic organizers not to hold events in the county in response to existing anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
Dates
- 1970-2007, undated
Creator
- Dolan, Maria Helena, 1954- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. All requests to publish, quote, or reproduce must be submitted through the Kenan Research Center.
Administrative/Biographical History
LGBTQ+ and feminist rights activist Maria Helena Dolan (1954- ) was born to Helene Nina Esposito Dolan (1935-2010) and Larry Joseph Dolan (1933-1994). In 1978 Dolan was a leader of the approximately 2,000 picketers who protested Anita Bryant, an anti-LGBTQ+ activist, when she spoke at the Southern Baptist Convention at the Georgia World Congress Center. Dolan was also one of the featured speakers at the rally. She served as an Automatic Train Control Foreman and then as a Safety and Quality Assurance Engineer with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA). Additionally, Dolan was the Southern Regional Organizer for the first and second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1979 and 1987. In 1995 she served as the Atlanta Pride Grand Marshal. Dolan is a supporter of feminist and lesbian arts and helped to found the Mother of the Sisters of No Mercy theater troupe and Mother of Lucina Music. She was also a member of the gardening group Digging Dykes of Decatur. A prolific columnist, she wrote articles for the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Alliance ALFA newsletter; Gabriel; Gazette; Cruise; Etc.; and Southern Voice. Other organizations Dolan helped establish include Southern Ladies Against Women (SLAW), Georgia Lesbian EcoFeminists for Animal Rights, and Triangle Video. She served as an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Georgia board member and co-chaired the Privacy and AIDS committee. In the 1990s Dolan helped found the Atlanta Gay and Lesbian History Thing, a nonprofit group that worked to preserve LGBTQ+ history in Atlanta; documents collected and generated by the project were donated to the Atlanta History Center.
Extent
4.587 linear ft. (11 document cases, four oversize folders, 5 cassettes, one reel-to-reel, and one 3 1/2" floppy disk)
Language
English
System of Arrangement
This collection is arranged alphabetically according to titles supplied by staff.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Audio recordings were made on cassettes, 3 1/2" floppy disks, and reel-to-reels and can be made accessible only through conversion to digital surrogates. Patrons who request access to the audio content in this collection are responsible for digital conversion costs.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift, 1999, with subsequent additions
Description Control
This collection was processed in 2020.
- AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention
- American Civil Liberties Union
- Atlanta Lesbian and Gay History Thing (Ga.)
- Cobb County (Ga.)
- Dolan, Maria Helena, 1954-
- Feminism -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Gardening -- Georgia
- Gay activists
- Gay community -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Gay liberation movement -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Gay liberation movement -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Gay rights -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Gays -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- Georgia
- Homosexuality -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Lesbian feminism
- Lesbianism -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Lesbians' writings, American -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
- Olympic Games. (26th : 1996 : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Second-wave feminism -- Georgia -- Atlanta
- Women -- Political activity -- Georgia
- Title
- Maria Helena Dolan papers
- Author
- Leah Lefkowitz
- Date
- February 2020
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository